Having a body cut

[little.dipper]

Hello, I'm brand new here and I'm about to venture into my first build. I'm planning on a telecaster with a purchased neck (not quite ready for that yet). My question has to do with cutting out the body. I have a basic handheld jigsaw and some basic woodworking skills - would I be better off having someone cut the body for me on a bandsaw? I was looking thru the tutorial on building a body and noticed that the guy had the body cut at a local capentry shop for cheap. Is that something that's easy to have done? Just wondering if that's common (to have a place like that locally) and how much it may cost me.

I'm sure I'll have lots more questions over the coming month or so, but I guess this is where I start. Thanks for any help.

Dave

[Hotrock]

would I be better off having someone cut the body for me on a bandsaw?

That's OK if you want to cheat

That is certainly an option. I took my body blank to a cabinet maker to have it chopped to the right thickness and had a bit of bandsawing done for my neck. Didn't cost me anything (friend of a friend sort of thing) but I got him a bottle of wine for the effort.

You can certainly do it with a jigsaw, it's what I have done with my JP but as you tyrn corners (even tiny ones) the blade won't stay vertical and will bend in. This means that the sides of the axe wont be square. You'll have to make a template up and run round that with a router and flush cutting bit. Sounds scary but isn't too bad at all.

Hope this helps and good luck

[little.dipper]

The router bit idea doesn't sound bad to me at all. In fact, that was one of my initial ideas. I just didn't know if a bit would be long enought to cover the entire piece of wood.

[Hotrock]

No mine wasn't. You could buy a long bit, I'm sure someone here will tell you where to get it, or you could clamp it on the top lining it up with the centre line, then clamp it on the bottom, lining it up with the centre line again. This method is rife with the possability of ballsing it up though, but it's still how I'm doing it.

Originally I cut down as far as the router could then finished off with a surform and sandpaper.

[mynamesucks]

when i cut my body i used a jig saw it took a long time but going slowly you can get it pretty square and then sand the edges square. my advice to you would be if u use a jig saw take the edges 3 to 5mm away from the line and sand with some 80 grit to get it on the line.

If you decide to use a router and template which will get the job done faster and will produce very god results. rough cut with the jig saw and then create a temlate of the body shape to the best of your ability then route it with a tob bearing bit. A good bit i have is a trend c121 bit (search c121 here to see it) if you have a 1 3/4" thick body blank you can just about do the hole thick ness with a safe amount of the shank in the colletif it still doesnt go the whole way through you can use a bottom bearing bit and turn the work over and remove the rest following the partially routed shape

i hope that helps you

si

[PerryL]

The router's the way to go IF you don't have a bandsaw. Get a ballbearing Pattern cutting bit and cut around your template, screwing it down where you are mounting your pickup and bridge so the screw holes won't show when you mount your hardware. Cut down the length of the bit, around the entire template, then remove the template and the ballbearing should ride around the body where you've cut the outter shape previously, cutting it perfect. You may have to raise the body blank off your workspace to give you the extra room for this cut.

Edited September 4, 2004 by PerryL

[MzI]

actually, i use a bandsaw and a router, its the best way imo, first i make the template, draw it on the blank go to the bandsaw, rough cut it to within 1/8- 1/4 inch around the line and then go put my template back on and route with a 2" pattern bit

MzI

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