Knightro Guitars 2015

[Prostheta]

Been busy over at Infinity Tools then, I take it? Good to see your work hasn't had any more explodey bits!

[psikoT]

Nice clean build... I love the woods, the templates, the tools, the shop...  you lucky!

[KnightroExpress]

Thank you! I used the shop's full-size Bosch plunge router for the pickup routs... I noticed some wiggle in the depth stop as I was working, so I think that's the source of the bites. I'm still saving up for/researching my own full-size router, so I can avoid that one soon.

I do own the Makita 1.25HP palm router though, and I can't recommend it highly enough. It doesn't have LEDs, but it does feature rack and pinion depth adjustment, which I love. At 100USD, I can't see a reason to buy any other palm router. 

I'm a student at the University of Tampa here and have access to their shop, so that's where I've been working

[Prostheta]

I hear you on those points. I'll bear them in mind when we look at buying tools in, so thanks. Yeah, I've been relying on school equipment for the last three years whilst I completed my degree work. Unfortunately it meant that when I graduated (woohoo, manufacturing woodworker) I ended up with an incomplete toolset on some of the real basics like routers. I have limited ongoing access for small jobs since I'm doing a second degree on top of my first one as a professional woodworker, and maybe next year I'll fast track the masters. Anyway. That's another story.

I can't rely on the Bosch POF1200 I have for the same reasons as yourself; bad play in the mechanism and an awfully high centre of gravity. I tell you what though....I'd happily ditch plunge routers in favour of fixed base swappable! Something like this:
http://www.boschtools.com/Products/Tools/Pages/BoschProductDetail.aspx?pid=1617EVSPK

Fixed base is perfect for things like cleaning up the bottom of cavities. Zero slop and super low centre of gravity. The most they need is a little more patience for depth adjustments and a starter hole with a Forster bit or whatever. They're like holding a router table in your hands. :-D

Huh, no LEDs on the Makita? I'll have to re-do my reading up on that one. Thing is, nobody stocks palm routers here in Finland....unless you want to pay over double the price you'd pay getting them from Germany or the UK, etc. A lot of my decision-making is restricted purely by availability which in so many ways is a good and bad thing. For one, it focuses my writing on the things that everybody can lay their hands on but it means that I can't easily write about stuff that I can't but everybody else can! What router lift are you using there? I've been internally debating over whether the Incra router lifts are a realistic addition to workshop development....are they too specialist/expensive for the average Joe?

http://www.incra.com/precision_fences-router_system_accessories.html

[KnightroExpress]

If you want to get your hands on one of these Makitas, I'd be happy to ship one over to you. I'm sure we could work together to figure out the customs procedures and whatnot. 

The router table is this Bosch thing, which is functional, but pretty crappy. The lift places all of the router's weight on a single C-clip when making adjustments, so it fails pretty reliably. I've had to fix it at least 10 times. Good quality lifts are really expensive as far as I've seen, so I've been researching suitable alternatives for a while now.

I'm personally leaning toward a 2.25HP Triton with this router table insert.  The router features rack and pinion adjust and above-table adjustment capability, the plate is predrilled to accept this router and its above-table tool. I'll get the router first, then the plate when I have my own space and can make a table to suit. This way, the router itself acts as a lift when table-mounted, but I can also use it by itself when necessary. 

[Prostheta]

We're 220/240VAC here so a 120VAC tool would get a little warm....I appreciate the offer though. The tools prices over in the US are usually a far better deal than they are over here. How much does a full Bosch Colt knock you guys back for these days? A hundred fifty maybe?

Woodpeckers make spectacular one-time tools, so if that is anything to go by the router insert should be stellar. Its got to be said though, the Incra lifts are equally out there.

Does the lift rely on the Triton's own plunge mechanism? I'd do a bit of information hunting about the model's suitability. A few comments I've read around and about mention that some routers don't like working upended. I suspect this is simply down to airflow and waste falling into vents which are otherwise protected by gravity. Without direct experience with that model, I can't say either way. My primary concern would be reliance on a unibody router's plunge mechanism....any play and you start losing perpendicularity.

The router table where I study is completed hosed. It's a 10-position RUWI fitted with three motors:
http://ruwi.de/en/produkte/milling-machine-large/

Hold your breath. It's an absolute piece of shit. The worst router table I have ever used in my life. I've seen self-made tables better than that one. The table is unribbed aluminium, so it flexes under the weight of a workpiece or moderate downforce. So much so, that the central motor can easily drop 1/32" or so. Certainly no good when you're doing a fine 1/8" roundover. Additionally, tool storage is under the cantilevered table which the fence mechanism prevents you from opening. So, to grab a tool from storage you have to remove the fence.

In two years of use, two of the motors have died. The third still works but the height adjuster mechanism is screwed.

Did I mention NO FINE HEIGHT ADJUSTMENT? The height adjustment is done using those lower knobs to turn an eccentricly-mounted aluminium cam against the vertical adjuster.

Seriously. No engineer had a look in with that thing. It was designed by a committee, clearly. It's a total dust magnet to top things off.

Total. Piece. Of. Shit.

hashtag.

[Prostheta]

On top of that, the cost of the thing is means you could buy more than one high quality router lift and have change for a couple of kickass routers to drop in. Either that or a full Incra lift and fence setup.

There is no justice.

dot com

[KnightroExpress]

Hahaha I was in the Army for the last 6 years, so I'm very familiar with expensive garbage designed by committee. 

The Triton is explicitly designed for table use and has several features aimed to improve the table routing experience, so I'd hope that it holds up. It also had the least amount of runout in a recent group comparison, so I take that as a sign of quality. Whenever I'm able to get one, I'd be happy to do a little review if you think it'd be useful. I can do one for my Makita as well, it's a seriously great little router. 

[Prostheta]

Excellent. I know there was a rumble of discontent around Triton a few years back, but this model is outside of that revision line so it should be good. I'll see what's available in January. Real-world reviews are always welcome. Sounds like a great idea. PM me.

[verhoevenc]

It took me the longest time to gain an appreciation for the 6-in-line headstock style. I never used to like them until I heard someone talking (I want to say Ken Parker) and they explained that you want the longer lengths on the higher strings as it makes bending easier. This added length also pulls behind the nut when bending and thus you have more string length to stretch on.

Are there some benefits to a reverse headstock that I'm missing? You see them more on metal-style guitars... and although I'm far from a metal head I seem to remember hearing a lot of low-string HEAVY vibrato, to the point I might call it bending.

Just curious,

Chris

[verhoevenc]

Also: I just replaced all the bearings on my original (aka: from when I FIRST started building hahaha) Bosch 1617. I'm still not SUPER happy with how it's performing and sounding after that though. So I may be looking for a new router soon. I'd love to hear more about the Triton!

Chris

[KnightroExpress]

Thanks Chris! I'll definitely do some sort of review when I pick one up. 

I don't know if I'd be qualified enough to speak of any benefit, to be honest. I've read conflicting opinions on string compliance as a function of length beyond the actual scale length, many from some well-respected names, so I'm not sure what the reality may be.

At this point, I do the reverse headstock because I think it looks cool, which is a decent enough reason for me 

[KnightroExpress]

Today's update: a little bit of routing and a whole heap of carving!

I got this little baby size template bit (1/8" CL) to use for the cavity cover ledge, it worked like a charm.

Now for the fun stuff: the body carve! I recently purchased StewMac's big coarse Dragon rasp. It's a big gnarly medieval looking thing.... I feel like I should be wielding it while chasing Hobbits. 

It cuts very quickly, but I find it very controllable and enjoyable to use.

After the bulk of removal, I spent a few hours making the carve flow the way I wanted.

Obligatory mineral spirit shot

It looks very guitar-esque at this point!

Still needs a lot of refinement, but it's damn comfy. 

Thanks for looking! Next week- the neck carve. 

[Prostheta]

I'm more or less of the opinion that string length behind the nut makes no big difference either way for bends. Unwanted sympathetic resonance of the remaining free length is annoying, especially when they are cranky overtones. Longer light gauge lengths seem to cause more of a problem than heavier ones so perhaps that is good reasoning for reversed headstocks?

[Andyjr1515]

That's a really nice looking carve..... and done in between dispatching a few orcs too 

Apparently, Orc slime makes for a great green wood stain 

[Prostheta]

It is, isn't it? I reckon @psikoT has got competition when it comes to sexy Wengé carves!

@KnightroExpress - did the rasp throw any teeth? The expensive Liogier rasp I used threw a few in Wengé. Not sure if it was a combination of aggressive work and incorrect picking size or a problem with the blade. I genuinely don't suspect the latter....Liogier rasps are amazing tools and super high quality.

[KnightroExpress]

Thanks guys!

@Prostheta- I just went and inspected the rasp, nothing missing or bent. I can't believe the Liogier lost a few teeth! 

[Prostheta]

I can believe it. The tooth geometry is slightly difference to that of the StewMac Dragon rasps. The picking on the Liogier is longer to create larger gullets for each tooth. Basically so it can handle more waste per cutting stroke before clogging and becoming ineffective during it. That might affect the tooth shape, however I am not an expert in that type of toolmaking. I understand the basics, but nothing more and certainly not enough to make a valid strong reasoning.

What I can say is how much I pushed the rasp when I was doing the destructive testing. Wengé is hard and coarse as hell. I expected it to be unkind to the tool, so I went at it on that basis. Teeth get thrown from a few good punches, not half an hour of playful slaps ;-)

It would be more useful for me to compare the two side by side. I'm still using that Liogier for various jobs and the teeth are still a little scary to touch. I worry about losing a knuckle or ripping a palm off.

[ScottR]

That looks like a stack of guitars in some pics. I love the way the streaking in the black limba tie in with the black and white ebony. judging from the end grain I would have guessed a few more streaks were going to show up. Limba is a great candidate for a dark grain filler, you get some very exotic zigzag patterns, which now that I think of it, would tie in very nicely with the wenge.

SR

[psikoT]

I like that wengé top flushing with the body... very nice. And the headstock looks killer!

[Prostheta]

I think what impressed me most was how the Wengé was already cut within the bounds of the contour. That has my applause.

[KnightroExpress]

Thanks everyone! I'm pretty happy with the carve overall, it just needs a bit of fine tuning in a few spots before I'll call it done.

The stop-top (my catchy name for buying a piece of wood that was slightly too narrow) was a bit of an experiment, honestly. I'm glad it turned out alright and it's good to know that I can utilize something that I may have passed over before. I love one-piece bodies and tops, so this makes finding cool tops a bit easier.

[KnightroExpress]

Hey all! I've spent my last two shop days getting the neck all shaped up. Unfortunately, Photobucket decided to scramble the order of my process pics and randomly duplicate some of them 4-6 times, so I've got a bit of a mess to sift through.

Here are the latest few shots:
 

Thanks for looking!

[Norris]

I'm not the only one having PhotoBucket issues at the moment then!

That's smoothing up nicely. Gorgeous grain

[Prostheta]

You guys do know that you can simply attach images to posts, right? Double-click them in the post editor and you can edit size, add links, etc. Far easier than relying on Botophucket, especially when it comes to image link rot.... @curtisa spent weeks sifting through a decade of posts, cleaning up threads that had become barren and empty from that issue :-)