I was going to rebind my first guitar. When built, I scraped the ivoroid too thin in places. I was going to try to rebind it and replace the herringbone too. I discovered the falling bearing syndrome. I considered the non-bearing rout as a solution.
The Stew Mac bearing design will allow a little shimming, not much. the bearing fits on a shaft that's 1/4" long. It can be moved only a little. In my case, not enough for stability or for my comfort level.
Since we pay so much for these tools, I'd like not to have to buy them twice. SO, if anyone is making a new cheaper version (THANK YOU, BTW..) It's functionality should accomodate most operations. Some prefer to do binding first, or in some cases, repair work dictates methodology.
FYI, The LMI stock photo APPEARS to have more separation than the Stew Mac model. Too pricey for me to own an almost duplicate set. The upside is that you can cut channels that will also accomodate glue & swelling with out shimming with tape (One time tape came loose, and I almost had a heart attack. a 1" long piece of masking tape ripping through the air at 30,000 rpms sound like a jet flying through your shop. I thought the cutter had exploded. And YES I DID wrap it the right direction!!
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This forum is a great place to get input so we can all get, manufacture, & or redisgn the best tools we can get our hands on. (Preferably before production
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Thank you all for teaching me so much!
I hope my experiences can be useful as well.