blashyrkh Posted August 3, 2020 Report Share Posted August 3, 2020 I have a big wooden block that is about 9 cm thick, that's about 3.54 inches. I need to reduce it to 6 cm (2.36 inches). What type of saw or machine do I need to have? Here is a photo of the wooden block: https://imgur.com/a/WhyYA5J I need to reduce the thickness otherwise the guitar body will be too thick. The full size of this block will be: Height: 45 cm (17.72 inches) Width: 34 cm (13.39 inches) Depth: 6 cm (2.36 inches) Thanks for your help. Btw, this will be my first build ever :-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bizman62 Posted August 3, 2020 Report Share Posted August 3, 2020 You can do it with a hand saw. Agreed, it will be a tough job but much cheaper than getting a big band saw. Guides attached to the saw blade have been used for making guiding grooves the depth of the width of the saw blade. However, your block is so thick that it allows for some inaccuracy. Start by drawing the sawing line all around the block. Then saw each corner down to the center of the line or at least close to it. Then saw the new corners in the center to move them back to their original places, turning the block while you go. That will minimize the force needed. The kerf in the image below was made with a table saw. If you have a circular saw, using it for a starting groove will help. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blashyrkh Posted August 3, 2020 Author Report Share Posted August 3, 2020 Thank you @Bizman62 that seems logical. I just need to buy that handsaw tomorrow Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bizman62 Posted August 3, 2020 Report Share Posted August 3, 2020 The first 10 minutes will show what a good handsaw can do: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mistermikev Posted August 4, 2020 Report Share Posted August 4, 2020 lots of dif ways you could do this... if you had a big bandsaw... if you had a power planer, or if you had a router... make a router sled. Personally I try to use the wood i have so I'd be inclined to reduce weight somehow and use it as thick as is... but that'd probably require making it hollow and putting a top on it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bizman62 Posted August 4, 2020 Report Share Posted August 4, 2020 7 hours ago, mistermikev said: use it as thick as is. A solid body 3.5" thick LesPaul... For weight lifters only! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mistermikev Posted August 4, 2020 Report Share Posted August 4, 2020 2 minutes ago, Bizman62 said: A solid body 3.5" thick LesPaul... For weight lifters only! yeah... that'd be a hair heavy. but a 3.5" thick hollowbody les paul... now that'd be pretty cool. a mini es175 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bizman62 Posted August 4, 2020 Report Share Posted August 4, 2020 2 minutes ago, mistermikev said: a 3.5" thick hollowbody les paul... now that'd be pretty cool. a mini es175 That reminds me of @Urumiko... He was building something like that, wasn't he? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blashyrkh Posted August 4, 2020 Author Report Share Posted August 4, 2020 Alright thanks for your feedback guys. I've started on sawing the wood so it will be a bit thinner. I'm using that KERF method that @Bizman62 said. But wow, this takes a long time I'm working on my arm muscles. I've made some mistake by cutting in the wood too deep. I guess I can fix that with my (hand) planer tool. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bizman62 Posted August 4, 2020 Report Share Posted August 4, 2020 @blashyrkh sounds like you're going to find a couple of muscles you didn't know to exist... These conversations tend to spin off pretty easily. It's not because of the community being rude and stealing your threads, it's just the nature of freely flowing ideas which may even return to the original subject in a refined form. Bear with us... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mistermikev Posted August 4, 2020 Report Share Posted August 4, 2020 2 hours ago, Bizman62 said: That reminds me of @Urumiko... He was building something like that, wasn't he? i don't think his was quite 3.5" thick... 2 hours ago, blashyrkh said: Alright thanks for your feedback guys. I've started on sawing the wood so it will be a bit thinner. I'm using that KERF method that @Bizman62 said. But wow, this takes a long time I'm working on my arm muscles. I've made some mistake by cutting in the wood too deep. I guess I can fix that with my (hand) planer tool. yeah... doing things by hand... sounds like work: I'm out. I bought my power planer on craigslist with a stand for $100... and new blades for $60 so just sayin'... easily saved me from doing $160 worth of work so far! ;) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bizman62 Posted August 5, 2020 Report Share Posted August 5, 2020 9 hours ago, mistermikev said: power planer Planing 1.3 inches off isn't too easy either plus there'll be a lot of unusable waste. Agreed, the block in question isn't a fancy example of quadruple A grade tonewood. Still an inch thick board of it can be used in many ways other than shavings. My cutting boards are all thinner than that... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mistermikev Posted August 5, 2020 Report Share Posted August 5, 2020 4 hours ago, Bizman62 said: Planing 1.3 inches off isn't too easy either plus there'll be a lot of unusable waste. Agreed, the block in question isn't a fancy example of quadruple A grade tonewood. Still an inch thick board of it can be used in many ways other than shavings. My cutting boards are all thinner than that... true it would waste some wood and take quite a few passes but it would def save some work. I would do just about anything to not have to do that by hand! I guess bandsaw would be the best for this but you'd need a pretty tall bandsaw to resaw that entire thing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Urumiko Posted August 10, 2020 Report Share Posted August 10, 2020 Oh hai.. lol Mine was/is one piece wenge 2"thick, with a 3/4" cap. I'll post a vid at the end of this post for reference. Doing things in the wrong order is always the biggest challenge of a first build I've found. Hand sawing the block is valid. I'm thinking of buying some steel bars and bolting them together with washer spacers to make a mitre block, so you can really put some muscle in to it. Hand planing the boards before gluing them would have probably been quite therapeutic.. Just thinking outside the box a little. If you wanted to go the inexpensive over complicated and lazy route. You could saw it in half so it will fit through a hobbyist planer thicknesser, then joint it back together Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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