Order Of Operations

[avengers63]

Here's what I have:

PRS body shape

2 piece ash body

3-piece 1/4" bloodwood cap

Here's what's going to happen:

carved top

black binding

f-hole

Here's the question:

Do you cut the f-hole before gluing the cap on?

It seems that it'd be a LOT easier if the f-hole was cut first. The shavings would basically be stuck in the cavity unless you turned it upside-down and managed to shake them all out. If the hole is bound, I can't see a great way to get it even with the cap on. The major issue I see is carving it with the hole already there.

[brian d]

Carve the top, then cut and bind the F-holes, then glue the top on.

[Mattia]

What Brian said.

[avengers63]

So here's the carve sanded to 60 grit...

[avengers63]

Rough cut out f-hole. Have I mentioned that I LOVE my scroll saw?

And after a few minutes with my Dremel.

I figure now I sand it up to 100-150, then glue it on. The edges will still be able to be finessed without any signifivany ammount of dust getting into the chamber. If nothing else, I can tape it off.

[John Abbett]

If you want to make sure you don't get any junk in the hole, take a small baloon and blow it up while in the hole. It will tighten around the cut out. If you stuff a rag in there, it doesn't keep junk for working it's way in there.