MescaBug Posted January 9, 2008 Report Share Posted January 9, 2008 (edited) Does it really worth 115$?? I mean, do I really need to pay that much to get a good radius? I always buy my fretboards radiused. But I got a nice birdseye board that I need to radius because LMII don't radius maple boards. Anyone have experience with the cheapest 8" wood blocks? 115$ to save some sweat is a little too much for me... Edited January 9, 2008 by MescaBug Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rick500 Posted January 9, 2008 Report Share Posted January 9, 2008 What radius do you need? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xanthus Posted January 9, 2008 Report Share Posted January 9, 2008 Would it be better to make a radiusing jig? Definitely cheaper. I'm thinking either one of those pendulum things that swings over a belt sander or a router setup that rides along two rails. I think either of those is preferable to spending such an amount of money, especially for a one-off project. ::EDIT:: I just realized how poorly I described those setups. Maybe someone could jump on here with some links to the tuts floating around? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MescaBug Posted January 9, 2008 Author Report Share Posted January 9, 2008 (edited) Don't worry, I know what you're talking about. I always radius to 12". The wood blocks are very cheap, but I wonder if they can be accurate... I hate building jigs. It's a waste of time. I'm not at all against it, not just my way of doing things. Edited January 9, 2008 by MescaBug Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon Posted January 9, 2008 Report Share Posted January 9, 2008 Jigs are a requirement in guitar building. Like it or not, you have to use them one way or another or you're going to cost yourself a lot of time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xanthus Posted January 9, 2008 Report Share Posted January 9, 2008 I agree with Jon. Honestly, I'm about halfway through my second build and I make a jig for EVERYTHING. Thank god I have so much scrap wood and corian cutoffs (talk about dead level! ), or I'd get NOWHERE. I mean there are really two options: buck up and learn to at least tolerate the building of jigs as a constructional necessity, or not. I've seen the work of someone who never uses jigs... *shudder* Not to come off sounding like your mom or anything, though. But in answer to your question: I bought a 12" radiused fretboard and an 8" long block from StewMac just to be on the safe side. I checked the board against the wood block and it was perfect. Granted, a nice machined piece of aluminum won't need a bit of touch up sanding to remove the uncommon splinter, but hey. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
guitar2005 Posted January 10, 2008 Report Share Posted January 10, 2008 (edited) Does it really worth 115$?? I mean, do I really need to pay that much to get a good radius? I always buy my fretboards radiused. But I got a nice birdseye board that I need to radius because LMII don't radius maple boards. Anyone have experience with the cheapest 8" wood blocks? 115$ to save some sweat is a little too much for me... I radius my boards with the 8" blocks. Works fine. Edited January 10, 2008 by guitar2005 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MescaBug Posted January 10, 2008 Author Report Share Posted January 10, 2008 (edited) Jigs are a requirement in guitar building. Like it or not, you have to use them one way or another or you're going to cost yourself a lot of time. I really don't agree with that. Here is my last built. Took me less than a month. I didn't use any jigs. Only clamps to hold the body/neck or whatever I was working on, power tools and my hands. I would rather take more time to make something than use a method I don't like. I won't build a bridge to get over a rock, I'll just take another way. People have been building guitars for years using very basic methods and tools. Thanks for the advice about the sanding blocks. I just ordered one from Stewmac. I've seen the work of someone who never uses jigs... *shudder* My work without jigs is satisfactory enough for me. I don't know how you can say something like this. It's not because you don't take the 'usual path' that your work is lower quality. Lots of masterbuilders don't even use power tools! Or maybe I'm just too lazy to make jigs Edited January 10, 2008 by MescaBug Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon Posted January 12, 2008 Report Share Posted January 12, 2008 Don't get me wrong, I'm not offended because you aren't doing something my way. Personally, I plan on building custom basses one day and I like repeated results and the ability to test my work from build to build. Not only that, but I do not only build guitars and have been branching out to different kinds of wood work which definitely require jigs here and there. Good work, nonetheless. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Woodenspoke Posted January 12, 2008 Report Share Posted January 12, 2008 One thing a jig creates is consistency. Would I want to bandsaw and route a body with a jig more than bandsaw and hand sand or scrape, you bet ya I would. I have found jigs to increase the accuracy of the work and thus you get a more professional result. Builders used jigs and patterns since long before any of us were born and the claim that I did it all with a chisel does not really impress me. The pictures shown seem to look like a machine was employed for many operations. Besides buying a piece of MDF is not a life altering experience to make a pattern, in fact any design mistakes can easy be corrected long before you build. Back to the original post. I agree the aluminum radius block is a tool only a rich professional builder would need and the wooden blocks work fine, in fact up till last year thats all you could buy. Most likely a professional builder would employ a swing arm sander such as the one Grizzly sells which can also do compound radius boards as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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