How Would You Go About Carving This Recess?

[j. pierce]

I'm working on a plan for a future build - a flat topped electric, but I think a tailpiece might look nice, and I'm considering taking the approach that Rickenback has in the past, recessing the area for the tailpiece (not the bridge) so that the break angle behind the bridge is enough. Like the 325 in the link below uses for the trem or many of their semi-hollows use for the "R" tailpiece.

http://www.rickenbacker.com/model.asp?model=325C58JG

http://www.rickenbacker.com/gallery_image....llery_year=1980

http://www.rickenbacker.com/gallery_image....llery_year=1980

I'm thinking up some fairly complex router jigs followed by a fair amount of sanding, and then wondering if files and planes aren't just the way to go . . . There's certainly a bunch of ways to do this task, and it's not rocket science, but nothing I've thought of seems to be the "magic bullet" answer. Just curious how someone else would go about it. I'm probably overthinking it.

[Hector]

i would keep it simple, and do it using nothing but some pencil lines, a sharp chisel, a rasp and then sandpaper.

it shoudn't be too hard. it's a pretty simple carve.

[Hector]

I started thinking about this for a minute and realized that there's soooo many ways to do this.

router.

safety planer.

hand plane.

rasp.

sandpaper.

handheld sander.

orbital sander.

gouges.

saws.

etc etc etc. lol.

and many many combinations of the ones above.

[sb guitars]

I started thinking about this for a minute and realized that there's soooo many ways to do this.

router.

safety planer.

hand plane.

rasp.

sandpaper.

handheld sander.

orbital sander.

gouges.

saws.

etc etc etc. lol.

and many many combinations of the ones above.

i would go with the good ol'hand planer-then back to the paper

[MiKro]

I'm working on a plan for a future build - a flat topped electric, but I think a tailpiece might look nice, and I'm considering taking the approach that Rickenback has in the past, recessing the area for the tailpiece (not the bridge) so that the break angle behind the bridge is enough. Like the 325 in the link below uses for the trem or many of their semi-hollows use for the "R" tailpiece.

http://www.rickenbacker.com/model.asp?model=325C58JG

http://www.rickenbacker.com/gallery_image....llery_year=1980

http://www.rickenbacker.com/gallery_image....llery_year=1980

I'm thinking up some fairly complex router jigs followed by a fair amount of sanding, and then wondering if files and planes aren't just the way to go . . . There's certainly a bunch of ways to do this task, and it's not rocket science, but nothing I've thought of seems to be the "magic bullet" answer. Just curious how someone else would go about it. I'm probably overthinking it.

Occam's Razor!

"All things being equal, the simplest solution tends to be the right one."

mk

[Prostheta]

I'm working on a plan for a future build - a flat topped electric, but I think a tailpiece might look nice, and I'm considering taking the approach that Rickenback has in the past, recessing the area for the tailpiece (not the bridge) so that the break angle behind the bridge is enough. Like the 325 in the link below uses for the trem or many of their semi-hollows use for the "R" tailpiece.

http://www.rickenbacker.com/model.asp?model=325C58JG

http://www.rickenbacker.com/gallery_image....llery_year=1980

http://www.rickenbacker.com/gallery_image....llery_year=1980

I'm thinking up some fairly complex router jigs followed by a fair amount of sanding, and then wondering if files and planes aren't just the way to go . . . There's certainly a bunch of ways to do this task, and it's not rocket science, but nothing I've thought of seems to be the "magic bullet" answer. Just curious how someone else would go about it. I'm probably overthinking it.

Occam's Razor!

"All things being equal, the simplest solution tends to be the right one."

mk

Occam's Razor does by it's nature introduce the assumption of "all things being equal" :-D

I personally would agree with chisels, rasp and sandpaper although I do prefer to form shapes by making a template in MDF and using a router. You could always shim one side to get the angle, perhaps even use something similar to David Myka's neck pocket jig....

[Mickguard]

I believe that recess slopes. And yeah, I think it's a nice solution. Would work great with a bigsby too.

The way I'd do it:

Draw your lines/prepare a template.

Use a sloped sled for the router to get the angle you want. Route all but the edges.

Use a rounded bit for the edges of the depression. The diameter of the bit would determine the look.

I think you'll get the most machine-perfect look that way. If you want a hand-carved look, that different.

[RobSm]

I 'carved' the SG with a B&D powerfile lots of pencilled guidelines and went very slowly as the powerfile is quite aggressive.

[komodo]

Whelp . . .Router on an angled jig would give you a clean cut but would probably still need a tiny bit of handwork. Planes or chisels and lots of handwork would look rougher at first but still get you there and look as good as anything if you are good enough.

BUT, chisels and planes would make you feel more satisfaction in the end, plus if you farged it up somehow, the router would look like a screwup or trash the body. A handwork screwupwould just be "character".

(I say this after spending much of the day finishing my shop built pin router jig)

komodo

[Prostheta]

Excellent! You can farge things up quicker and more efficiently now :-D

I can't see a router messing this job up as you're only taking what...1/4 of wood at a time? Reducing it even further to 2x 1/8" cuts means tearout would be negligible at best, maybe a few disturbed fibre bunches from endgrain on the surface....

[komodo]

tearout would be negligible at best, maybe a few disturbed fibre bunches from endgrain on the surface....

Isn't that enough reason to take her out back and burn her?

Heh.

Edited October 15, 2007 by komodo