Mickguard Posted January 10, 2005 Report Share Posted January 10, 2005 For my next Bocaster, I want to make a Thinline version. One way to do that is simply rout out the guitar and cap it with another kind of wood. Another way--and the one I'd prefer: I'd like to slice off most of the back of the guitar (I'd leave the neck area as is), rout out the insides but leaving the edges, then glue the back panel back on... Is this feasible? Possible? I have access to a band saw, it looks like it's tall enough...and I'm sure we could invent a support for sending the body in straight through. Unless there's already a tool that's made for this? Thanks for suggestions! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ToneMonkey Posted January 10, 2005 Report Share Posted January 10, 2005 You could route off the back and then hollow it out using a router. There was a discussion about this sort of thing a few weeks back and the general concensus was that you cannot do it with a bandsaw. Have a search around for 1way's first thread (I think it was in that). BTW, To hollow out my cheep strat (to make the polished-turd-ocaster) I routed out the body and routed out a lip to put a cap on. I did it all freehand (but neatened the edges of the lip with a chisil) as I was just playing about. It worked though and with a bit of filler you couldn't tell. I wouldn't really recommend this method though (especially the freehand bit). Kaj Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mickguard Posted January 10, 2005 Author Report Share Posted January 10, 2005 (edited) There was a discussion about this sort of thing a few weeks back and the general concensus was that you cannot do it with a bandsaw. Have a search around for 1way's first thread (I think it was in that). Heh heh, thanks for the tip-- I actually was involved in that discussion, but only at the end after you guys had already convinced him to abandon the idea...-didn't know he was planning to do the same thing I wanted to do (hell, with his stubbornness, he sounds like me! ) Guess I'll go back to plan A : cutting out the back from an old acoustic and using that... Edited January 10, 2005 by idch Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
erikbojerik Posted January 10, 2005 Report Share Posted January 10, 2005 It is common to use a bandsaw to resaw wood in the way you described, but even the best of cuts still need to be run through a planer to get uniform thickness. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rhoads56 Posted January 10, 2005 Report Share Posted January 10, 2005 Self explanitory. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maiden69 Posted January 10, 2005 Report Share Posted January 10, 2005 Perry, did you rout it out? I think the bandsaw is kinda akward for this! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rhoads56 Posted January 10, 2005 Report Share Posted January 10, 2005 Yup Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigdguitars Posted January 10, 2005 Report Share Posted January 10, 2005 thats cool. if you get a monster band saw you can take off the whole top and route and reglue. go take a look at a GL they do this. you need a good shape blade and height of at least 13 inches and go at it. make sure you have a good fence and can resaw really well or you are going to be SOL by ruining a nice peice of wood Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frank falbo Posted January 10, 2005 Report Share Posted January 10, 2005 I've seen the Woodworks guy from DIY make veneer that way. It's all about the blade and the fence. I think it's a great idea, if for no other reason than you'd have a pretty good grain matchup, even though you'll lose about 3/16" to the blade and the planer. You'll have to plane both sides. I don't know if you'll even need 13" for the bocaster because you slimmed it down when you squared it off. It looks like it's probably 11" wide. Plus you'll have straight edges to run along the saw table. Lucky you! Incidentally I had a tool specifically made for this, it was a highly trained band of termites. Unfortunately one day they were having a sauna in my oven, set to 105 degrees, and my wife inadvertently decided to cook a frozen pizza. They found that chewing through a glass door proved to be much more difficult than a plank of nicely dried Alder. Three escaped, and I'm breeding them to try to make a new fleet, but the three that escaped weren't that good. They couldn't ever really master the "straight line" so we'll see if they can lead another group to success. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mickguard Posted January 10, 2005 Author Report Share Posted January 10, 2005 Hey Rhoads, excellent idea...I didn't think about doing it like that, just taking wing panels off. I'd take it a step further and take a panel off the bottom too. No need to route out the center core. I'm guessing it's much easier to keep the body steady and straight for the smaller cut . And yeah, Frank, the Bo' is just about 11 inches wide. So the cuts would only be about 4 inches into the body on either side of the neck .... I don't mind losing a bit of width making the cut. And maybe I could route out the glue line and put some binding in there....that could look cool... All right, so the idea is back on the table? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DannoG Posted January 11, 2005 Report Share Posted January 11, 2005 The previous thread dealt with a set neck/carved top IIRC. Since you've got the stable rectangle body, with a flat top (once the hardware is off), and can get the neck out of the way, I'd say it could work on a bandsaw. I'd do a few test cuts on some scrap wood and find out how much wood you'll lose to the blade wondering. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mickguard Posted January 11, 2005 Author Report Share Posted January 11, 2005 I'd do a few test cuts on some scrap wood and find out how much wood you'll lose to the blade wondering. We used the bandsaw to make the cuts and the inserts for the Bocaster 1...the saw's pretty stable in terms of wandering (it's a heavy duty industrial job...it's huge). I'd want to come up with some kind of jig to send the body through straight. I'm not too concerned about loss though--the body is already pretty thick, it could stand to lose as much as 5 mm without problem. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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