Regius meets RG: first build in progress

[KnightroExpress]

Ouch, that's never a good moment. As long as you're not injured and keeping positive, everything will be fine! Besides, you already showed us the backup blank 

[Prostheta]

Holy shit.....time for a repair I think. Either an infill, a solid colour or cut it off, joint and make it into a three-piece body.

[2.5itim]

I agree, Fix it! That's kind of my favorite part of all this is trying to figure out how to solve these issues. Glad you didn't get hurt!

[Rockhorst]

The router was well behaved, cut through the template like butter I do take safety seriously, also glad I already owned a semi-pro gas/dust mask, this stuff is messy!

I don't and won't have the supplies and tools to do solid colors, but I will try to rescue the alder body. I might be able to match one of the off cuts to make a near invisible seam. I also don't have a jointer or a plane. I did see a method using a fence and sanding paper though. Any other suggestions?

I already rough cut the mahogany blank. That stuff puts up quite a bit more fight than alder, it's a lot harder!

[Prostheta]

A plane would make your life easier for that, definitely. Sandpaper can work, however it's too easy for it to create rounded edges on the surfaces being flattened leaving bad seams.

Mahoganies are more difficult but not much harder as such. The issue is that the grain spirals both ways and interlocks. For pieces like that I tend to take many shallow passes after putting a couple of layers of tape around the border of my template. If possible. That means you can done a final finishing pass by climb cutting (don't do this unless you fully understand the safety implications and dangers to the workpiece) or normal direction.

[Prostheta]

Looking at the uncut sections, I'd add that it would be better to remove as much stock on the bandsaw as is possible. Routers are better as shaping tools rather than being expected to remove larger quantities of material. It's kinder to the workpiece, your router bits and nerves in general. 

[Rockhorst]

Time for some lessons learned...if anyone has anything to add please do. I'm going to meditate on this for a few days and then get back to it. Here's a picture of the butchered template:

I think I should add that really all the power tools I have at my disposal are the router and a jig saw. No room for band saws and such. I tried to cut close to the outline with the jig saw, but next time I'll try to file/rasp even closer.

Routing counter clockwise sometimes seems very logical, at other times it feels very odd. I once accidentally moved the router clockwise and I think that caused one of the snags on the left. Clueless on how the snag in the upper right happened. Routing around the horns is a bit tricky. I think it would be a good idea to have a bit of extra wood next to the body blank for the router base to ride on, so it doesn't accidentally tilt or tip. Also, I noticed connecting a vacuum cleaner doesn't do much. Visibility is also another concern. I can't really see where the bit is let alone where it's going. I've read that taking the plastic guards off the Triton might help with that. Lastly, the safety switch I think is a good idea, so the router can't be switched on accidentally. However, turning it off is a bit of a pain.

Edited April 24, 2016 by Rockhorst

[Prostheta]

Okay, right. First of all, I would recommend copying master templates to plywood or MDF stock, however you have access to a laser so you can recut. That's cool. Generally I prefer a thicker template in the order of at least 3/8" or 10mm. It might get you out of a bind that you wouldn't otherwise foresee.

Did the Triton come with any guide bushings? If so, they're gems for creeping up on finished dimensions. Use a cutter which is as close to the bushing size as possible. The bushing rides against the template and the cutter takes you within spitting distance, at which point you can then do the finishing passes. Bushes are great in that you are no longer constrained by the location of the bearing on a cutter or the length of the cutter itself. I have three templating bits which I use A LOT. A 15mm cutter length and a 25mm cutter length. The last one has a bearing on the end rather than on the shaft. The smaller bit lets me do passed at about 1/8"-1/4" depending on the material. I know more can be cut at once, however wood disappears instantly when things go wrong.

I only ever climb cut if I know that the restraint placed on the router will be greater than the torque of the cutter trying to climb. When it's exceeded, you no longer have control and the router opens the grain like a book. I'm very very selective about climb cutting, and prefer not to unless I know for certain I can maintain control. Even then, it is always just optional.

[Rockhorst]

I have a template bit with a bearing. Could you post a pic of what you're talking about? I can have the templates cut directly into MDF as well, actually a lot cheaper as the material is cheaper. Routing from the master into MDF might get me into the same trouble as it did now, although there of course is no grain to screw things up. Anyway, a pic of the bushing you're talking about would be appreciated (did not come with router, but then I know what to get).

Edited April 24, 2016 by Rockhorst

[2.5itim]

i also don't have a bandsaw and use a jigsaw to rough shape all of my bodies. I draw a line around my template and then put my calipers at .375 and scribe a line all the way around my body shape, this is where I cut with my saw. I like this amount of wood being left because it isn't to much and jig saws have a tendency to cut at an angle and mine isn't near as bad as .375 so it gives me a little room to play with. But because I still have to leave so much extra wood to route off I actually take probably 5-6 passes with the router before I get to my template taking minimal cuts. 

This is the bushing that pros is talking about. 

Edited April 24, 2016 by 2.5itim

[Prostheta]

Yep.

[Rockhorst]

Looked into the bushings, but have decided to go a different route for now...I decided to have the template lasered on 9mm MDF, that's a lot cheaper than acrylic and should give me a bit more of a margin. Also invested into some sanding drums for my drill press, so I can get closer to the template before routing. Work will continue next week(end?).

[Prostheta]

Look forward to it!

[Rockhorst]

Spent some time the past couple of days investigating methods to keep the dust levels down a bit. I haven't got a workshop, so everything is done in a spare room in the house. Bought plastics sheets to cover stuff up, made a table for the drill press with a chamber underneath that connects to a vacuum cleaner, got some cheap painters work overalls etc. Also made an O'Brien router bit and did some tests with that . I didn't have a lot of tools before I started this project, only stuff used in pedal building (drill press, soldering iron)...so all of this is a bit of an investment. However, I'm not one to go into projects like this half arsed. I also realized after last weekend that I must use more protetive gear (already have gloves, goggles, gas/dust mask), because I've got a little cough from the little bit of work I did...I've got hay fever and eczema, so I'm probably quite prone to becoming over sensitized. So I took some time to take some common sense measures.

 

Also, I think I want to step away from the body for a bit and research neck building. I've got a blank that is just over 7/8" thick and 4" wide that would be a nice test piece. I don't know if it's stable enough for a final neck, but it'd be ideal for practice. I really like the Ibanez-style scarf joint, where you get the parabolic shape where the two pieces meet. I find that very attractive, so that's what I'd like to try.

Got a few questions I hope people can help me with. The procedure I think should look like this:

1. Cut blank at 10 degree angle for scarf joint

2. True up pieces and create glue surface. Is going to have to be sandpaper on a sturdy flat surface I'm afraid. No power tools.

3. Route truss rod channel. Can anyone recommend a good type router bit for this?

4. Taper neck from heel to nut (router with guide bearing?)

5. Add neck contour using faceting with shinto rasp.

6. Shape headstock

Is this the proper order to follow?

Also, here's a picture of the single action truss rod I've got...

Anybody got a good tutorial on installing this thing? I've tried to read up, but am still a bit mystified. Is this for a straight channel (hope so) or curve, and where does it 'grip'? Is that only the little bushing the end where the nut is? Seems like not a lot of surface area? Pointers more than appreciate (in fact, necessary before I proceed ).

Edited April 29, 2016 by Rockhorst

[2.5itim]

The way that I do my necks are as follows, 

 

1. Cut the scarf joint with a Japanese pull saw at whatever angle you want. 

2. True up the mating surfaces (I use a router and a jig that I made). 

3. Glue scarf joint.

4. cut truss rod slot. 

5. Thickness fretboard to .25"

6. Cut fret slots. 

7. Glue on fretboard

8. Cut the shape of the neck out of the fretboard and neck blank (using a router). 

9. Cut headstock shape (also router). 

10. Thickness the neck (I use a router with a sled, I raise the neck up a bit at the #1 fret with some veneer to give me the taper that I want running from #1 fret to where i want to start to taper into the heel. 

11. Shape back of neck using rasp, cabinet scrapers and sand paper. 

12. Radius fretboard. 

There are lots of different ways you can go about it, this is just what works for me. 

[Rockhorst]

6 minutes ago, 2.5itim said:

2. True up the mating surfaces (I use a router and a jig that I made).

You wouldn't happen to have a picture of that jig, would you?

[2.5itim]

I had just gotten a new phone, it's on my old one. I will go thru my build threads and see if I can find one. 

[2.5itim]

Yep, here you go!! I have to use a extra wide router base, I just made it out of 1/2" plywood. 

[2.5itim]

The sides that the router base runs along are at my 12* angle. 

[Rockhorst]

Looking at that it makes a lot of sense. I'm a router noob, what type of bit?

 

[incidentally, just watched O'Brien's truss rod video, starting to make a lot more sense]

Edited April 29, 2016 by Rockhorst

[2.5itim]

This is the bit that I use but mine is 1", I normally wouldn't use a router bit this big with a 1/4" shaft but with cleaning up these scarf joints it's actually taking a very minimal cut so it's not to sketchy. 

 

http://m.woodcraft.com/product/828679/freud-16106-mortising-router-bit-14-sh-114-d-2964-cl.aspx

[Prostheta]

It's worth fitting a guide bushing or doing something else to make sure you don't clang the bit into the jig walls. Bad things happen at that point....!

[2.5itim]

^^this is true! I don't have a guide bushing on mine and while I haven't had any bad things happen my jig has been cut quite a few times and I actually need to make a new jig because of it. 

[Rockhorst]

I'm not entirely sure, but if I read things correctly, the 'standard' bushings aren't compatible with the Triton. They have their own set. I'll (re)consider it...right now, working on a mini-air purifier with some hepa filters and a bathroom fan. I read up on dust, the things you come across would almost be enough to shelve the project (just like googling 'router accident').

[2.5itim]

Lol that is very true but where would we be if we lived life in fear?!? Not saying you shouldn't be afraid of things just use that fear to work more safely. 

I'm a machinist, I spend all day every day with pieces of carbide spinning extremely fast thru metal with steel, aluminum and brass flying all over the place and even still routers scare the crap out of me lol.