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Truss Rod Access


jb291

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Just a basic question as to what tool most of you are using to finish the headstock (angled) opening for the truss rod. After cutting the truss rod opening I used chisels and a dremel to finish the opening but there must be a better way to achieve a more professional looking opening. Any suggestions would be appreciated.....JB

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i dont do it anymore; but the easiest way i found was (in list form in this order)

square blank

cut anlge in headstock

route channel

forstner bit area for wiggle room (center of bit should be at the tip of where the angle joins(?))

glue on head plate with a nice access hole (however you like) already in/thru it

glue on board;

now though, i route a channel in the blank about 1.5" from where the fb will start, and route till the end;

when its deep enough i bullnose the heel end afew mm's past where the fb ends to the end, and have access thru the heel; which is great for long tenons

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some of us (here @ the school) when routing the truss rod slot, just run it all the way through the headstock.. Which is nice and extremely convinient for acoustics, b/c you can slide the truss rod out if you want (for what reason, I'm still not sure.. maybe to take out b/c it's a pile)..

But when I do mine i just use a dremel w/ a 1/8" (I don't quite know what kinda bit, but it's not a drill bit) bit and a platform made for dremels (from stew-mac) and there you have it..

Possibly another solution is to use chisels, and needle files to round off the ends :D just whatever you can get your hands on i guess..

Good Luck!

Scab

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Seconded!

I see this quite a lot - trussrod cavities which will barely allow access with a wrench. I make mine so that I can fully remove the adjustment nut (god forbid that nut ever stripout, I want to be able to replace it without carving up the head). I cut them using a round nose bit in my milling machine, and before I had that I used either my router table with the same cutter, or a tiny drum sander in a dremel.

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After looking at the two pictures, I see why you can just route straight out. The adjustment nut is on the bottom rod for the Hot Rods, which I dont use. I just use the LMII single acting or two way with the flat bar on the top. It keeps the nut a lot higher so I can just route the slot straight through the peg head, but is short enough that I can cover it easily.

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