Prostheta Posted May 3, 2016 Report Share Posted May 3, 2016 Wood isn't isotropic. Rout one part and it's like butter, turn a corner and it explodes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steve1556 Posted May 16, 2016 Report Share Posted May 16, 2016 (edited) Hey Rutger, fancy seeing you on here! Small world eh? I love the plan you have for your build (especially as I love the RG style bodies) and can't wait to see the final result! Hopefully the body is an easy repair for you. Edited May 16, 2016 by steve1556 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rockhorst Posted May 17, 2016 Author Report Share Posted May 17, 2016 Hey Steve! The internet is a small place indeed. Glad you like the plan. Â I hope to post some progress over the weekend, been doing a little work (an hour here and and there) and am going for my next router attempt soon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rockhorst Posted May 17, 2016 Author Report Share Posted May 17, 2016 (edited) I would like some advice on health/safety. So after my first routing experience, I made the mistake of taking my dust mask off after the work was done, but before clean up. Stupid in hindsight, as dust gets stirred up during clean up. I had a bit of a cough for a week or so after that, and it subsided. Today I used sanding drums with 120 grit paper to get close to the template line on a piece of yellow poplar. I've build a sanding table for my drill press to which I can attach the vacuum cleaner. It takes away a lot of the dust. Also I have a fan running with a hepa filter near by and I worked outside on my balcony. Afterwards I left the area for an hour before I came back for clean up so air could be refreshed. I took a stroll outside to the supermarket. I wear a tight fitting halve face mask (Moldex 7002) with P3 filters. And still, after working...the cough comes back. It's like a dry sort of cough and it feels like there's something floating around in my windpipe (difficult to describe). P100 filters just came in through the mail, but I doubt the difference between P3 (99.95%) and P100 (99.97%) is going to make a big difference....but that could be ignorance speaking. Suggestions for better protection? Edited May 17, 2016 by Rockhorst Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2.5itim Posted May 17, 2016 Report Share Posted May 17, 2016 Hmm that's strange! I never get a cough and very rarely were a dust mask, the dust masks just don't do much for me with the big beard. I don't know if it's possible to be allergic to poplar? But maybe that could be it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chuck_Chill-Out Posted May 18, 2016 Report Share Posted May 18, 2016 Have you worked with poplar a lot in the past? You may be sensitized to it. I'll investigate from my end. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rockhorst Posted May 18, 2016 Author Report Share Posted May 18, 2016 I'm thinking it's dust left in my shirt. As soon as I changed the shirt the cough disappeared. So I think I have to get into the habit of changing into a set of fresh clothes after even minor bits of work. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chuck_Chill-Out Posted May 18, 2016 Report Share Posted May 18, 2016 6 minutes ago, Rockhorst said: I'm thinking it's dust left in my shirt. As soon as I changed the shirt the cough disappeared. So I think I have to get into the habit of changing into a set of fresh clothes after even minor bits of work. I'm glad to see you found the cause. I hope that it continues to work. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rockhorst Posted May 28, 2016 Author Report Share Posted May 28, 2016 Finally found the time (and conditions) to do some work on this. Someone suggested practicing on a piece of yellow poplar, as it's cheaper but similar to alder. Quite liking the wood I have to say. I rough cut the body with a jig saw, sanded to within 2 mm of the template and made a successful pass around the body. Flipped it around and also did the other side. Sanded the sides of the guitar to get smooth curves (the template was a bit segmented). So far so good. I proceeded with a 1/2" roundover on the back. I was using some cut off pieces for router support, but they were working against me a bit, so I foolishly decided to work without them. Went ok, except for the horns. Really should have supported the router base better in those spots, as this is a bit of a pity:   I'm hoping to be able to blend this in by hand, any suggestions on that? Also will take some time to contemplate on this issue before I attempt routing a binding channel on the front. This kind of a mistake would be a real problem there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rockhorst Posted May 28, 2016 Author Report Share Posted May 28, 2016 (Also looking at the pictures I'm only now noticing that I'm to close to the center line at the bottom of the neck pocket with the roundover) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2.5itim Posted May 28, 2016 Report Share Posted May 28, 2016 It's kind of hard to tell the depth of that boo boo on the horn, doesn't look to deep. but id probably suggest trying to smooth it out and tie it in with a rasp and files. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rockhorst Posted May 28, 2016 Author Report Share Posted May 28, 2016 The ridge you see in the boo boo is 1 mm at it's deepest point. If I had a nice way of thicknessing the body, I'd probably just take a millimeter of and redo it, but I'm afraid that I can't keep the back flush. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScottR Posted May 28, 2016 Report Share Posted May 28, 2016 That should be simple enough to blend in with some 80 grit and a foam rubber sanding pad. 10 or 15 minutes will see it done. Poplar is friendly stuff. SR Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2.5itim Posted May 28, 2016 Report Share Posted May 28, 2016 I agree with Scott, something that's not that deep I would just go at it with sand paper. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prostheta Posted May 28, 2016 Report Share Posted May 28, 2016 For future reference, it's a good idea to keep the scrap pieces bandsawn from the body as a way of providing additional stability for your router base. Obviously, don't let the cutter hit them. Ask me how I know this. If your router base has a way of attaching scrap as a leveller, do that. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prostheta Posted May 28, 2016 Report Share Posted May 28, 2016 Poplar is fine wood. Soft and easy to work, but in my opinion better than Basswood. The only downside that I can remember with it is the mineral content in that it tends to suck them up into the wood, meaning your tools take a beating. I might be thinking of Aspen. Aspen smells like olives boiled in cat piss when you cut it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rockhorst Posted May 28, 2016 Author Report Share Posted May 28, 2016 Prostheta, that sounds like a very good idea. This is a picture of my router base, not sure how to go about it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SIMpleONe89 Posted May 29, 2016 Report Share Posted May 29, 2016 Rockhorst I use double-sided tape to tape scrap wood to one side of the router base and that gives me a lot of stability. For the horns where they're more tricky, I like to find some scrap that can fit in between the horns with about 10mm clearance between the scrap and the body. Stick it down and it will be stable to route the horns. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prostheta Posted May 29, 2016 Report Share Posted May 29, 2016 Yep, exactly that. If you're doing a lot of bodies, removing two of the baseplate retention screws and fitting two longer ones through the scrap in countersunk holes would be a way forward. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rockhorst Posted May 29, 2016 Author Report Share Posted May 29, 2016 The awesomeness that is double-sided tape never ceases to amaze me I'll give it a shot. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prostheta Posted May 29, 2016 Report Share Posted May 29, 2016 It's pays for itself, that's for sure. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rockhorst Posted May 31, 2016 Author Report Share Posted May 31, 2016 Made sort of a jig from cut off pieces, double sided tape and a plate of MDF to support the router while cutting the binding channel. Worked like a charm, wish I had taken the time to set this up (basically identical, but mirrored) when doing the round over. Would've been perfect then. Lesson learned. Build is now progressing nicely I have to say. I pre-drilled the control cavity and will route that somewhere in the next couple of days. Then on to the belly contour before moving on to the neck. I'm going to postpone routing the humbuckers and neck pocket until I have the neck (close to) finished. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SIMpleONe89 Posted May 31, 2016 Report Share Posted May 31, 2016 That's a nice picture! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prostheta Posted June 1, 2016 Report Share Posted June 1, 2016 I like the lighting and soft bloom. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prostheta Posted June 1, 2016 Report Share Posted June 1, 2016 Yeah, that's a really nicely set up way of routing over the edges. The alternative is of course an offset router base.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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