Jdogg Posted December 5, 2016 Report Share Posted December 5, 2016 2 hours ago, Skyjerk said: I dunno. I also have AutoCAD. Emachineshop is actually a lot easier and simpler to use. I dont need a lot of features to design in 2D and emachineshop is a LOT more intuitive. Took me about 15 minutes to figure how to do what I wanted. I STILL havent figured out AutoCAD That's 100% fair. use what works for you right?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skyjerk Posted December 7, 2016 Author Report Share Posted December 7, 2016 A clearer notion of where this build is heading 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2.5itim Posted December 7, 2016 Report Share Posted December 7, 2016 Gorgeous, I love that top! I do see where you get a hint of a prs in it, when I look at it I can't help but think it looks a lot like my carve top flamed maple build I've got going on before I dyed it. They could almost be twins. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScottR Posted December 7, 2016 Report Share Posted December 7, 2016 Is it just the lighting or is that some fairly dark maple? SR Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skyjerk Posted December 7, 2016 Author Report Share Posted December 7, 2016 Yeah, nobody that is familiar with a PRS will ever mistake this guitar for one, but theres definitely similarities. Not enough for Paul to send me a C&D letter, though Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skyjerk Posted December 7, 2016 Author Report Share Posted December 7, 2016 (edited) 4 minutes ago, ScottR said: Is it just the lighting or is that some fairly dark maple? SR Both, actually. I wiped it with some naphtha to highlight the figure which darkens it some, and its lit with a not very bright, but quite very warm color temp CFL bulb (probably around 2600k) at just above the height of the top to make the carve more obvious and causes more shadows Edited December 7, 2016 by Skyjerk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skyjerk Posted December 7, 2016 Author Report Share Posted December 7, 2016 By "both" I mean that both the lighting and the naphtha are making it look dark. The maple itself isnt particularly dark 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skyjerk Posted December 10, 2016 Author Report Share Posted December 10, 2016 Ended up needing a little ear anyway. Lost a chunk right off the tip while routing the headstock worked out fine :-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andyjr1515 Posted December 10, 2016 Report Share Posted December 10, 2016 Nice work . I don't rout head stocks anymore...too many 'incidents' . I cut close with a bandsaw and then finish off with micro-plane rasps. Still has its downsides but at least disaster happens in slow motion rather than in a nano-second 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScottR Posted December 10, 2016 Report Share Posted December 10, 2016 Nice save. I'm getting to where I rarrey route anything but cavities anymore. And I see the true maple color in that last shot--looks just like maple. SR Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr Natural Posted December 10, 2016 Report Share Posted December 10, 2016 +1 on the nice save dude- and this ax is shaping up nicely. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skyjerk Posted December 11, 2016 Author Report Share Posted December 11, 2016 Radiused the fretboard on my radius jig, sanded off the toolmarks, slotted it, and cut it to shape... and a quick mock-up. I'll be doing the inlays next in the next day or two... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Norris Posted December 12, 2016 Report Share Posted December 12, 2016 Nice work Are you slotting your fretboard on a table saw? Very brave if so! I assume it's quite a thin blade... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skyjerk Posted December 12, 2016 Author Report Share Posted December 12, 2016 6 minutes ago, Norris said: Nice work Are you slotting your fretboard on a table saw? Very brave if so! I assume it's quite a thin blade... No bravery required. I have a stew mac fret slotting blade for my table saw. It has a kerf of .023" which is perfect. i have a jig I made where I attach the fretboard to the stewmac slotting template. The template notches fit into a pin on the jig. perfect slots every time, and it takes about 3 minutes. As long as you have the blade height set properly, which imtest on scraps before putting the real board on, you really can't mess it up :-) Bravery is slotting a board by hand! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2.5itim Posted December 12, 2016 Report Share Posted December 12, 2016 Norris, I've been seeing quite a few people using a table saw to slot fretboards and it seems like people are liking it. I don't quite understand how they know where to make the cut but is interesting. Also that fretboard radiusing jig is pretty damn cool! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Norris Posted December 12, 2016 Report Share Posted December 12, 2016 8 minutes ago, Skyjerk said: No bravery required. I have a stew mac fret slotting blade for my table saw. It has a kerf of .023" which is perfect. i have a jig I made where I attach the fretboard to the stewmac slotting template. The template notches fit into a pin on the jig. perfect slots every time, and it takes about 3 minutes. As long as you have the blade height set properly, which imtest on scraps before putting the real board on, you really can't mess it up :-) Bravery is slotting a board by hand! In that case replace "brave" with "cool" 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skyjerk Posted December 12, 2016 Author Report Share Posted December 12, 2016 (edited) 1 hour ago, 2.5itim said: Norris, I've been seeing quite a few people using a table saw to slot fretboards and it seems like people are liking it. I don't quite understand how they know where to make the cut but is interesting. Also that fretboard radiusing jig is pretty damn cool! Its actually pretty simple. Theres a steel template (Stewmac) that is notched along the edge. The notches are spaced according to the scale length you are going for. I have several templates for various scale lengths. I made up a jig that slides into the guide slots on the table saw and is perfectly square to the blade.,, I attach the fretboard to the template like this. I actually radius the board first because if I slot the board and then put it on my radius jig the router might cause a lot of tearout along the slots. To prevent the radiused board from rocking I simply attach a small block at either end of the template. Keeps the fretboard flat when its face-down. Once its flipped over, a indexing pin on the guide/fence fits into the notches along the edge of the template... with the pin in the slot, and the whole shebang flat against the guide, and the blade at the right height, I just slide it over the blade. Cuts the perfect slot in one smooth motion in exactly the right place. Then I pull it back, move the template over one notch, and make the next cut. Takes about 4 minutes to perfectly slot the board I did them all the "old fashioned way" when I first started out, but I'm all about saving time and effort where I can. I have no room for CNC stuff so most of the work is still done the old fashioned way, but between the radius jig and the slotting jig I cut hours of tedious work down to about 15 minutes and have arguably a better result Edited December 12, 2016 by Skyjerk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2.5itim Posted December 12, 2016 Report Share Posted December 12, 2016 (edited) That's actually a pretty great method it seems like. I've been thinking about getting a new miter box for my fret slotting but I may have to rethink that and go with the table saw blade. Thanks for sharing! Edited December 12, 2016 by 2.5itim Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skyjerk Posted December 12, 2016 Author Report Share Posted December 12, 2016 2 minutes ago, 2.5itim said: That's actually a pretty great method it seems like. I've been thinking about getting a new miter box for my fret slotting but I may have to rethink that and go with the table saw blade. Thanks for sharing! Stewmac sells the blade and the templates. I tried to avoid buying the blade from them because they charge a lot, but I couldnt find one with a thin enough kerf anywhere else so I bit the bullet and bought it. It only hurt till the first time I slotted a board in 3 minutes, then I felt a lot better Always glad to share. I learned all this stuff from other people that shared Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
meatloaf Posted December 12, 2016 Report Share Posted December 12, 2016 I'm loving that radius jig, now that's got me thinking. Do you think you could share some details about it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skyjerk Posted December 12, 2016 Author Report Share Posted December 12, 2016 (edited) 29 minutes ago, meatloaf said: I'm loving that radius jig, now that's got me thinking. Do you think you could share some details about it? No problemo Its a pretty simple design. I dont actually have any plans as such that I could hand out. I didnt invent the thing. I just saw something similar that was built by another builder and the concept was simple enough that I just figured out how make my own. Hopefully based on my description and these pix you should see the concept pretty clearly and be able to build something similar. Its basically a box with a board in the middle suspended by a bolt on either end. the board pivots on those bolts. The distance from those bolts to the top of the board where the fretboard sits is the radius. I include the thickness of the fretboard in that calculation. I always use .25" for my fretboards, so for a 12" radius that bolt is actually 11 3/4" from the top of the board. I have different holes that are different distances from the top, and therefore different radiuses (radii?) The router sits on top on a sliding platform. Its centered along the length of the center board and can slide from one end to the other. I use a toggle clamp and some screws to lock it in place so its really easy to put it on and take it off. This jig will do a compound radius as well simply by putting the bolts on either end in different holes, of course you are limited to the radiuses that you've built the jig to make. I've done 9.5 to 12, and also 12 - 16, and they came out perfectly. anyway, you just lower the bit from the router until its just touching the top of the board dead center, then lock it. then lift the whole router enough to pivof the board to the side, put the router back in place and turn it on. Rock the center board back and forth to make a cut. then slide the platform down (how far depends on the bit you have in your router. I use a 1/2" cutter so I slide it just shy of 1/2". Cut, slide, cut, slide, cut, slide. etc till you get to the other end of the board and youre done. Usually takes me 5 or 10 minutes depending on how big a hurry I'm in You'll have some tool marks on the board, but you can sand them off in a minute or two of light sanding. Obviously when you measure where you will drill your holes in the sides and the center board of this jig, precision is paramount Also you need to make sure that your sides are perfectly parallel to each other and the whole jig is square (90 degree corners) and plum If the jig is racked out of square or plum, or your holes arent accurately spaced from the top, you wont get good results. Edited December 12, 2016 by Skyjerk 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
meatloaf Posted December 12, 2016 Report Share Posted December 12, 2016 @Skyjerk that's perfect, with your description and the picks I can see how to make one. Looks like I'll be making another jig for my router ( can't have too many router jigs). For me it's not about time saved but about getting a better result. Thanks for sharing Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Norris Posted December 13, 2016 Report Share Posted December 13, 2016 Colour me impressed! Great ideas on both the fret slotting and board radiusing Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2.5itim Posted December 13, 2016 Report Share Posted December 13, 2016 No joke Norris! I was thinking the fretboard was stationary and the area where the router sides on top would be radiused but being able to rock the fretboird and put it at different heights for different radiused is just genius!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skyjerk Posted December 13, 2016 Author Report Share Posted December 13, 2016 2 hours ago, 2.5itim said: No joke Norris! I was thinking the fretboard was stationary and the area where the router sides on top would be radiused but being able to rock the fretboird and put it at different heights for different radiused is just genius!! Agreed. Wish I could claim I came up with the concept, but I just stole the idea from another builders video that I saw Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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