Router

[thewongster]

probably a dumb question but, what do you use a router for? I think you use it for cavities, but what else?

[unclej]

probably a dumb question but, what do you use a router for? I think you use it for cavities, but what else?

for guitar building a router can be used for not only the neck pocket, pickup and control cavities but to put roundovers on the edges. some of the guys here will use a router and patern bit with a template to do their final shaping of the body outline as well. i've built a couple of guitars with wood pickup covers that i made with a band saw and router. if you make your own pickguard you can use a router to put the bevel on it.

in other words, lots of stuff they're good for.

[Mattia]

Routers = the most versatile power tool I can think of. Routing cavities, template routing, joinery, profiles, thicknessing, planing, rabbets (binding), the list goes on. Google 'router jigs', and consider the fact there's an actual magazine called (IIRC) 'Router', and you'll start getting the idea.

[RGGR]

Router is also piece of equipment that loves to eat fingers (or parts of it.)

So be careful using it.

Wear safety glasses, check regulary if bit still is attached properly. And only touch bit with power unplugged.

[Mattia]

All tools that move at high speed are to be respected, and safety measures taken. Oh, and wear earplugs/hearing protection, because they're whiney, lound, annoying beasts.

Honestly, because I'm aware of what power tools can do, I've never been bitten. Rasps, on the other hand, look innocuous, but your knuckles may feel otherwise if they slip...

[Guitarfrenzy]

I agree with what you guys are saying, a router is the most important tool to have in guitar building. It's unlimited as to what you can do with one, and the right jigs..

[Mickguard]

All tools that move at high speed are to be respected, and safety measures taken. Oh, and wear earplugs/hearing protection, because they're whiney, lound, annoying beasts.

Honestly, because I'm aware of what power tools can do, I've never been bitten. Rasps, on the other hand, look innocuous, but your knuckles may feel otherwise if they slip...

Don't forget a respirator --routers can kick up a lot of dust too, and you really don't want to breathe that stuff. In fact, I wear the respirator any time I'm working, it's not uncomfortable.

One very important thing I learned about using the router : Make sure the bit has stopped turning BEFORE you move the router. The most dangerous moment of using the router --at least as far as the work is concerned--is when you've just finished routing and you're tempted to lift the router away.

But the bit is still spinning, and if you don't lift it right, you'll catch the edge of what you've been working on...(not to mention there's the potential of routing yourself).

Other than that, I found the router to have the easiest learning curve of the various tools --especially because of bearing bits and guide collars.

[soapbarstrat]

I use a router to machine a perfect curved radius on the bottom of nut blanks.

And the other things I use a router for is endless. But setting everything up so you only machine material exactly where you want it machined doesn't always make it the fastest tool to use, which is why I call the router bit a "carefully nudged cutter" (CNC)

[kiwigeo]

One thing to watch if youre buying routers. Some brands come with 1/4" collets and they also call 6.35mm collets "1/4". Routers with 1/4" imperial collets wont take 6.35mm cutters. When you buy your router, poke in a few cutters while youre at the shop and make sure theyre going to fit.

I bought a UK made Trend router here in Australia which came with 8mm and 1/4" collets. It wont take the cutters Ive got which are mainly 6.35mm shank.

Cheers and happy routing

Martin

[PunkRockerLuke]

What type of dremel bit can be used for cavity routing? And will dremel bits work in a regular drill?

Edited April 27, 2006 by PunkRockerLuke

[Guitarfrenzy]

What type of dremel bit can be used for cavity routing? And will dremel bits work in a regular drill?

Are you talking about using a dremel with a dremel bit to route out a cavity? If so, a dremel is way too underpowered in my opinion for that job. If you are talking about using a dremel bit in a regular router, then that's still not a good idea, even if it did chuck up right, it's made to be used with a dremel, not a big router. Just my opinion though. A dremel is good for inlay work, polishing frets, and a few other small things, but routing even a truss rod with one wouldn't be fun.

[PunkRockerLuke]

I'm talking about a regular drill. Are there any router bit that will fit in a regular drill for cavitys(pickup,control,neck pocket, etc.)?

[Mattia]

If you want to route, GET A ROUTER.

Dremels are good for...inlay. And not the best at that either. Not powerful or accurate enough for a whole lot else, IMO. Drill presses move far, far too slowly to give you a good cut with router bits, even at top speed, and a 3-jawed chuck is not the most stable of toolholding bits. Drill presses aren't really designed to take lateral loads (though they work OK with, f'r instance, sanding drums), and the chuck head can and probably will fall off if pushed too hard towards the side. Forget even trying to use a drill press, and you're completely out of your mind if you were pondering a hand-held drill. There are some 'milling' type bits desinged for 'drill routing', and those might be OK, though not great, but NEVER EVER put a real router bit in a drill press.

Not trying to be harsh, but I do want to impress upon you the danger of what you're suggesting.

[soapbarstrat]

According to his profile, he's around 14-15, in which case you can't blame him for thinking a Dremel can do more than it really can. I bought my first Dremel when I was 12, and because of Dremel's TV ad at the time, I thought a Dremel could do ANYTHING.

If harbor freight ever has those orange trimmer routers for $12.00 again, they're certainly worth the price. The "round out" of the chuck is pretty horrible, but not much of an issue when using ball-bearing bits.

maybe too easy to handle. I once took a small piece off the end of my thumb with one.

[Mickguard]

I once took a small piece off the end of my thumb with one.

You'd make a fine salesman

[Nitefly SA]

that one guy did make that WHOLE dinosaur using ONLY his dremel

[!WOOD!!]

I rough out carvings with a rotozip which is like a big angry dremel.The problem with them is the diameter of the bits.You can only go so deep before the lateral pressure snaps them.I do make all my cavity and trem templates with a rotozip and guide point bits into masonite and with a light touch you do next to no damadge inside the host guitars cavities.They look like they have been lazer cut.A dremel would do the same.Always show the utmost respect to a tool that spins at 25000 rpms;has no guard and has razor sharp bits

[kiwigeo]

If you want to route, GET A ROUTER.

Dremels are good for...inlay. And not the best at that either. Not powerful or accurate enough for a whole lot else, IMO. Drill presses move far, far too slowly to give you a good cut with router bits, even at top speed, and a 3-jawed chuck is not the most stable of toolholding bits. Drill presses aren't really designed to take lateral loads (though they work OK with, f'r instance, sanding drums), and the chuck head can and probably will fall off if pushed too hard towards the side. Forget even trying to use a drill press, and you're completely out of your mind if you were pondering a hand-held drill. There are some 'milling' type bits desinged for 'drill routing', and those might be OK, though not great, but NEVER EVER put a real router bit in a drill press.

Not trying to be harsh, but I do want to impress upon you the danger of what you're suggesting.

Mattia's right. Dremel way underpowered for routing out cavities for an electric. Do yourself a favour and save up for a router and get the best one you can afford. I use Dremels but only for light work such as intricate sound hole rosettes on acoustics. Stewmac sell router and rossete attachments for Dremels but I prefer doing these tasks with a router....router gives a much cleaner cut than a Dremel.

Cheers Martin

that one guy did make that WHOLE dinosaur using ONLY his dremel

The guy was probably a Dinosaur by the time he finished

[PunkRockerLuke]

I mean using either a brace and bit or a mandrill with a router bit for routing. Would that work?

[stageleft]

No, not if you are using a dremel type tool. They don't have the guts for that type of work. What part of get a proper router don't you understand?

[Mickguard]

No, not if you are using a dremel type tool. They don't have the guts for that type of work. What part of get a proper router don't you understand?

I think this is just a transition point that some of us have to go through to get to the 'other side'.

When I first got the idea of building my own guitar, I'd never even HEARD of a router. Seriously. And the idea that I would get one and learn how to use it seemed completely absurd.

But after spending a little bit of time trying to find some other tool to use, I finally broke down and bought a router and learned how to use it. So give him time, he'll come around.

[Setch]

If you can crank the bit and brace at 24,000 rpms without wobbling, go for it.

Seriously, if you want to route, get a router and stop trying to find ways round it. Listen to the people who are trying to save you wasting time and energy on things which don't work, and follow their advice.

[Mattia]

If you can crank the bit and brace at 24,000 rpms without wobbling, go for it.

Seriously, if you want to route, get a router and stop trying to find ways round it. Listen to the people who are trying to save you wasting time and energy on things which don't work, and follow their advice.

Indeed. Even the cheapest of routers is 10 times better than a dremel for any serious wood removal, and drill presses and the like just aren't safe.

[Mickguard]

Indeed. Even the cheapest of routers is 10 times better than a dremel for any serious wood removal, and drill presses and the like just aren't safe.

And there are some built in safety features to a router --they may be unintentional but they're there.

For one thing, my router came with a plastic attachment for hooking up a vacuum cleaner --but it has the added benefit of trapping the bits of wood that sometimes chip off --and it'll help stop the bit itself if it breaks (and I had a bit break on me when I first started using the router).

I also routinely use the guide collar --it's a circular plate that attaches to the bottom of the router, with a lip to serve as a guide along a template. I use the guide collar especially when I'm routing down toward the template, i.e., when I need to take off a lot of wood --saving my expensive bearing bit only for the last millimeter.

Well, yesterday that guide collar probably saved my life--or my eye or my nuggets-- because the bit I was using slipped --I must not have tightened the chuck down enough. But because the guide collar was on there, the bit had no where to go. I was able to get the router stopped with no incident.

Now, put router bits or similar into a drill press or hand drill or dremel and you have NONE of this kind of protection.

[Mattia]

I never use the guide collar, because I get close enough with sawing and a bit of rasp touchups to get almost exactly where I need to be. And I'd never, ever rely on a guide collar for any kind of accuracy, as there's absolutely no guarantee that it's centered properly on the collet.

I've had bits slip before, if the collet was dirty and/or not tight enough, and while not pleasant, they've hardly flown off in weird directions. Just...dropped out the bottom, spinning quite rapidly. Or messing up a top I was routing, leading to creative inlay solutions (all inlays on bodies I've done have grown out of pure necessity).