fyb Posted August 25, 2006 Report Share Posted August 25, 2006 It's easy enough to joint and plane 7" wide pieces for 2 piece bodies, but how can you ensure that a piece wide enough for a 1 piece body is planed perfectly flat and uniformly thick? As I understand it, a planer won't solve cupping/warping problems, though I suppose it'd at least be uniformly thick. I may have a really good deal for a huge mahogany board lined up ($25 for 16" x 2"x 12' ) , and I'd love to do some 1 piece guitar bodies. The board is rough though, so I'd have to plane it and everything and I'm not quite sure how to go about it. Thanks for the help!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nitefly SA Posted August 25, 2006 Report Share Posted August 25, 2006 (edited) Bigger planers for bigger jobs, plus theres always hand planes. Edited August 25, 2006 by Nitefly SA Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Southpa Posted August 25, 2006 Report Share Posted August 25, 2006 I built a 1 piece maple tele a few years back. I glued 4 sheets of 40 grit sandpaper to a perfectly flat table and sanded the board flat after initial rough planing and measuring. Lots of elbow grease required but it worked like a charm. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Setch Posted August 25, 2006 Report Share Posted August 25, 2006 Router thicknessing jig, and a jack plane: I'm working on a version of the Myka neck jig which will do dual service as a router thicknesser/planer. Once it's done ands I've ensured it's worked I'll be posting it on my blog for comments/questions/etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prostheta Posted August 25, 2006 Report Share Posted August 25, 2006 (edited) I would do that after thickness planing anyway as I deem them to be "coarse" tools which shouldn't be relied on to work less than 1/16" from the final cut, so to speak. One incidence of tearout and the piece needs to be worked around or scrapped! I prefer to thickness plane, and if possible get a better levelling cut from the jointer before hand sanding same as yourself. Same results, all said and done. I just spend more on the tooling as I have less time to put in the elbow grease! You beat me to the mark there Setch - that is a great jig man. I just wish I had more space in the workshop :-( Edited August 25, 2006 by Prostheta Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ToneMonkey Posted August 25, 2006 Report Share Posted August 25, 2006 I took mine to a place with a big machine, only took a couple of minutes and only cost a bottle of wine Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaycee Posted August 25, 2006 Report Share Posted August 25, 2006 I took mine to a place with a big machine, only took a couple of minutes and only cost a bottle of wine I concur with T M, find a local joiner with a large planer/thicknesser machine and ask him to do it. I took a few pieces to a joiner that I considered needed to be planed flat and thickened to the correct size ( i.e. fretboard planed to 6mm ) and it cost a few pints, small price to pay and a lot less hassle Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fyb Posted August 25, 2006 Author Report Share Posted August 25, 2006 I took mine to a place with a big machine, only took a couple of minutes and only cost a bottle of wine I concur with T M, find a local joiner with a large planer/thicknesser machine and ask him to do it. I took a few pieces to a joiner that I considered needed to be planed flat and thickened to the correct size ( i.e. fretboard planed to 6mm ) and it cost a few pints, small price to pay and a lot less hassle How did you go about doing this? Did you just look someone up in the yellow pages and call the number? Or do you show up with beer just in case? I'm pretty new to the area I'm in now, and I don't know anyone that could do this kind of stuff without checking the yellow pages. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prostheta Posted August 25, 2006 Report Share Posted August 25, 2006 I think this makes call for a social engineering thread on befriending local companies with "the gear" ;-) Call for a How-To guys? A lot of the companies hereabouts aren't your home business types, so finding your way past the "business face" around to the back door where the real people work is more difficult. I guess as far as one-piece bodies go, I think there is something to be said for making two-piece bodies in that you have a guaranteed centreline to work with. I don't really dwell in the land of "glue line = tone killer", more "neat tricks = happy builder". I might even go as far as to say I'd turn a one-piece into a two-piece for this lazy reason. For reference, what advantage (if you're not natural finishing lets say...) is there to a one-piece body really? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
low end fuzz Posted August 26, 2006 Report Share Posted August 26, 2006 why opposed to the yellow pages? your not going to find someone specializing in planing your wood, but look for cabinet makers, or a place that sells dressed wood; theyre the ones with the equiptment, especially if theyre small they appriciate the simplicityof running your stuff in while they do thir own ;for a price of course! or if your really against looking someone up, you could pick random streets in your town and knock on every door till you find someone with what your looking for; to cut down on time only try the houses with big sheds/garages j/k Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Racer X Posted August 26, 2006 Report Share Posted August 26, 2006 I built a 1 piece maple tele a few years back. I glued 4 sheets of 40 grit sandpaper to a perfectly flat table and sanded the board flat after initial rough planing and measuring. Lots of elbow grease required but it worked like a charm. did something similar to the Chandler Solist body I bought on Ebay. Wanted to ensure it was perfectly flat, since it was used, so I double-back taped several full pages of sandpaper to a large pane of plate glass, attached the handle I use to hang the bodies, so I had something to control the sanding with one hand, while I applied pressure with the other hand (the plate glass was double-backed to the work table). Then, I just took my time, and triple-checked my work, as I went along. Worked much better than I had anticipated, really. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prostheta Posted August 26, 2006 Report Share Posted August 26, 2006 you could pick random streets in your town and knock on every door till you find someone with what your looking for; to cut down on time only try the houses with big sheds/garages j/k Anyone local to me can always pop down and I'll thickness plane and/or joint wood for em :-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Desopolis Posted August 26, 2006 Report Share Posted August 26, 2006 the suppy house charges 5.00 to plane with the machine they use.. of course when you buy the piece its allredy planed to spec, but if you want it cut again.. also ony charges $10 to cut out the outline of the body.. Id start there.. or just sit inside with those guys and as random cabinet makers come in, ask them lol.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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