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Routing A Thin Channel?


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Following on from my current W.I.P, I want to look at routing a narrow channel down the glue line joining the two halves of the body. A thin fillet of hardwood sandwiched between 2 pieces of cream plastic binding, total 4-5mm thick, and 4-5mm deep.

Is there a tool for doing this job? I don't have a dremel or a router bit narrow enough. I have a small router bit maybe 7mm across but no bearing to run aliong a template or straight edge.

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Following on from my current W.I.P, I want to look at routing a narrow channel down the glue line joining the two halves of the body. A thin fillet of hardwood sandwiched between 2 pieces of cream plastic binding, total 4-5mm thick, and 4-5mm deep.

Is there a tool for doing this job? I don't have a dremel or a router bit narrow enough. I have a small router bit maybe 7mm across but no bearing to run aliong a template or straight edge.

for a one time job like that i'd buy the proper sized..non-carbide router bit and then clamp a straight edge to the body blank for the outside edge of the router base to run along. one careful pass and you're done.

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halves of the top or of the body? like, down the centerline, or between the top and body?

if the second, you could allways use a dremel cutoff wheel, make a rig like the one I did in the tool tutorial section(cheap dremel base) and make the base run over the top of the flat body, set the depth of the wheel, and hold the long piece over the body to support the dremel

OHH I just got how to do it if its the centerline and its allready glued, but you need a stewmac fretting table saw.. the rest should be obvious..

explain more, maybe I can come up with a better ghetto rig..

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Any particular reason you couldn't just slap that material in between the two halves of the top before you glue it together, so they go all the way through the thickness of the top? I personally think it would look less weird...

Agreed but the two halves have already been glued together and the body shaped and carved.

I'll do the front with a tiny saw, the flat back might be easier just clamping a straight edge and using a narrow router bit.

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Having a nice accent running down the centerline makes for a nice touch! I did that on my Model 07LTD with ebony. Adding the binding in the slot should be pretty nice indeed.

What I did was use my truss rod slotting jig. Pretty simple really. I used a 1/4" spiral bit with a 1/2" bearing on the shank. The jig has a 1/2" slot in it. Basically the bearing holds the bit in a straight line and the bit makes the cut.

After the slot was done I made the ebony strip carefully shaving it's width until it fit snugly. You could do the same thing with whatever bit you have then adjust the width of your wood piece to make up the space between the binding.

If you don't have any bearings around to fit the bit, then maybe you have a set of router bushings that screw into your router base. You could use any size so long as it matches the width of your template slot. So if you have a 1" bushing, then make sure the template you make has a 1" opening.

Should you choose to go the template route, you can use it for the front of the guitar too. I know there are several ways to make a slot like this, but I happen to be a big fan of jigs that keep the router in place and mitigate any chances of wander.

-Doug

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