Blonde Marauder

[Muzz]

I did end up getting a small step though in the pieces for an entirely different reason. , At first, with the exception of the tiny chip in the corner of that piece on the left, everything was going great

 

Until the bit stopped making contact with the wood, the clamp handle that holds the depth of the plunge had reached the level of stripping on its bolt where it gave up holding the router down on its springs and the springs won the fight, the router rose up on the springs and I was routing air. This is the culprit with stripped threads,

 

The same thing happened about 13 years ago, now if I could go back in time I would and I woul buy three replacement handles for $5 each on EBay when Bosch were still making them, instead of the one that I did. The router is called a POF

I called that router something that has the acronym POF but I added another word at the end. 

[Prostheta]

"POFS", as in....super?

[Drak]

Just for laughs, I looked up 'POF acronym'.

It gave me Plenty of Fish, a dating website

[Muzz]

15 hours ago, Prostheta said:

"POFS", as in....super?

 

12 hours ago, Drak said:

Just for laughs, I looked up 'POF acronym'.

It gave me Plenty of Fish, a dating website

These certainly cheered me up, and in the interests of keeping the forum family friendly, lets just go with when I realised my router's clamp handle had become as useful as a one legged man in a butt kicking competition, I yelled at it oh you plenty of fish super  interestingly another meaning of POF is probability of failure, I wonder if the POF 1200 is three times more likely to fail than the POF 400.

 

[Prostheta]

13 hours ago, Drak said:

Just for laughs, I looked up 'POF acronym'.

It gave me Plenty of Fish, a dating website

How do you date a fish? Cut it in two and count the rings?

[ScottR]

On 4/27/2021 at 3:32 AM, Prostheta said:

How do you date a fish? Cut it in two and count the rings?

Take it out for dinner and a drink, like anything else?

SR

[Bizman62]

"For dinner" like in "what do we have for dinner?"???

[ScottR]

Why, we're having a fish for dinner.....

Nice, three puns in one.....maybe four.

SR

[curtisa]

Everyone knows you can tune a guitar, but can you tuna fish?

[Muzz]

Hahaha get trout of here, you guys are krilling me 

 

[mistermikev]

until I saw the model on the bosch I thought you were eluding to "piece of fudge".  I have no idea what's going on in here... but now there is documented proof I read it.  

also... you must seriously abuse your router?  perhaps you hold it with grip of death (like we all should).

[Prostheta]

A grip of death is often applying force in the wrong direction, which reduces finer motor control (literally) where its required. If your router has opportunity to bite more than you can control, you're pretty much in freehand territory where anything and everything can go wrong. I've thought about how best to describe the muscle memory and thought processes of using a router for various tasks, and I keep coming back to "you need to get the experience to learn it" which isn't ideal. Sort of like saying that winning at Russian roulette is to keep pulling the trigger until you're good at it.

One important aspect is whether you should be applying a different methodology; hand > router > cutter > workpiece or hand > workpiece > cutter > router. The redistribution of forces and balance change control totally.

[Muzz]

19 hours ago, mistermikev said:

until I saw the model on the bosch I thought you were eluding to "piece of fudge".  I have no idea what's going on in here... but now there is documented proof I read it.  

also... you must seriously abuse your router?  perhaps you hold it with grip of death (like we all should).

 

17 hours ago, Prostheta said:

A grip of death is often applying force in the wrong direction, which reduces finer motor control (literally) where its required. If your router has opportunity to bite more than you can control, you're pretty much in freehand territory where anything and everything can go wrong. I've thought about how best to describe the muscle memory and thought processes of using a router for various tasks, and I keep coming back to "you need to get the experience to learn it" which isn't ideal. Sort of like saying that winning at Russian roulette is to keep pulling the trigger until you're good at it.

One important aspect is whether you should be applying a different methodology; hand > router > cutter > workpiece or hand > workpiece > cutter > router. The redistribution of forces and balance change control totally.

Yes, I like to shave small amounts of wood per pass and feel the router glide over the wood like a felt-footed pointer on a Ouji board, while mainataining a firm but non-tensed grip. For my old router the bolt on the clamp handle is made of soft pot metal (it should have been made out of hardened steel) it simply wore out, quite amazing that it lasted 13 years really. The router was a lovely gift from my family that brought me much joy, I will take a photo of it to keep the memory and then it will go to the great toolshed in the sky. I have this on order 

 

While that is on it's way I experimented on the practise neck with a glue I have not tried before

the clamp police paid me a visit and issued me a ticket, I went to Bunnings in the afternoon to atone and bought two new F clamps

and contemplated this rough old piece of rosewood for the fretboard, it has some nice majenta colour in it

 

I got a lot of flattening done on it

 

nearly there, you can see the area that is not yet making contact with the sandpaper, it's about the thickness of copy paper at this stage

[Muzz]

First wing on

[Prostheta]

I had both of those routers! The one thing I dislike the most about plunge routers is the high centre of gravity, and that POF1200 was pretty tippy at best. I'd recommend making a sub-base for it, even if that reduces the overall cutting depth. The POF400 was useful for small things like pickup cavities and neck pockets, but has a tiny base that makes it terrible unstable also. Sub-bases are the way to go for stability. and keeping their depth stops in good working condition is a must.

FWIW, the best upgrade to that POF400 would be a palm router like a Bosch Colt, Makita RP0900 or DeWalt D26200. These have more stable rear bearing mounts (even though they're still retained a plastic housing) so runout and vibration in the cut is better. I'd even go as far as saying that they'd replace most tasks that the bigger POF1400 can do short of real driving work that needs the motor's grunt. I made do with my Makita RP0900 for a long time and still do. The plunge and fixed bases are gold. It's not to say that the Bosch green routers can't do good work - they can - but they do need you to make careful choices and be 100% in control at all times. Not that this isn't the same for all tools, but hey.

[Bizman62]

5 minutes ago, Prostheta said:

I'd recommend making a sub-base for it, even if that reduces the overall cutting depth.

Depending on material, the sub-base doesn't have to be thicker than the original base plate which it replaces.

[Prostheta]

I prefer to use acrylic/Plexi which is better in thicknesses of the order 6mm-10mm for sub-bases. 3-4mm as per the plates that bolt to the underside of metal castings isn't enough when you have overhangs. The few mm lost due to base thickness is worth it for the assurance of safer and more controllable work though. The two I use the most are an offset base and wider 300mm base with the router in the middle. That works double duty for thicknessing thin plates.

[Muzz]

On 5/2/2021 at 5:23 PM, Prostheta said:

I had both of those routers! The one thing I dislike the most about plunge routers is the high centre of gravity, and that POF1200 was pretty tippy at best. I'd recommend making a sub-base for it, even if that reduces the overall cutting depth. The POF400 was useful for small things like pickup cavities and neck pockets, but has a tiny base that makes it terrible unstable also. Sub-bases are the way to go for stability. and keeping their depth stops in good working condition is a must.

FWIW, the best upgrade to that POF400 would be a palm router like a Bosch Colt, Makita RP0900 or DeWalt D26200. These have more stable rear bearing mounts (even though they're still retained a plastic housing) so runout and vibration in the cut is better. I'd even go as far as saying that they'd replace most tasks that the bigger POF1400 can do short of real driving work that needs the motor's grunt. I made do with my Makita RP0900 for a long time and still do. The plunge and fixed bases are gold. It's not to say that the Bosch green routers can't do good work - they can - but they do need you to make careful choices and be 100% in control at all times. Not that this isn't the same for all tools, but hey.

Q. How many routers does a guitar maker need?

A. Just one more  I am looking at those mid size routers and they look good, has anyone tried a lithium battery router? Is there enough grunt?

 

This one arrived at the click and collect store on Friday, the Plenty O' Fish 1200

 

I'll get used to it on the practise neck first, meanwhile lots of sanding has been done on the maple neck and a bit more to go.

[Prostheta]

I've not tried one yet, however I have access to the battery version of the Makita RP0700 at work. I've just not used it since the weight of the battery at the top is the most immediate cause for concern. Those small base routers are tippy as it stands, never mind with a huge 5,0Ah battery bolted on top! I can't compared the brushed 240V version to the brushless 18V version really, however I'd be wanting to know the "apparent HP" (this can be meaningless if you think about it) of the motor. They're trimmers when it comes down to it, so being able to work hardwood at any level is more of a fringe benefit than a feature of this type of router. I'd go for the corded version every time, even with its single-locking collet and terrible spindle lock.

[Muzz]

On 5/8/2021 at 6:10 PM, Prostheta said:

I've not tried one yet, however I have access to the battery version of the Makita RP0700 at work. I've just not used it since the weight of the battery at the top is the most immediate cause for concern. Those small base routers are tippy as it stands, never mind with a huge 5,0Ah battery bolted on top! I can't compared the brushed 240V version to the brushless 18V version really, however I'd be wanting to know the "apparent HP" (this can be meaningless if you think about it) of the motor. They're trimmers when it comes down to it, so being able to work hardwood at any level is more of a fringe benefit than a feature of this type of router. I'd go for the corded version every time, even with its single-locking collet and terrible spindle lock.

You have confirmed my thoughts that routers for guitar making are better off with AC rather than DC power 

I flattened the top of the headstock region today using a roll sheet of sand paper on a piece of 8 mm thick glass to get perfect flatness, a technique suggested to me by a forum member.

 

 

The back still needs done, you can see the ridges at the sides where Plenty O' Fish 400 decided it was retirement time

 

Here is the scratch plate and guts of the guitar

I am probably going to swap the neck pick up for another rails humbucker

[Prostheta]

DC is convenient, and I'm sure that the brushless aspect provides advantages. The wall provides more grunt than a battery pack though.

[Muzz]

Always good to have lots of grunt, I finished flattening the bottom of the fretboard

 

Made some fuel for my sanding machine, mac n cheese

 

and introduced these two to each other

[Prostheta]

4 minutes ago, Muzz said:

Made some fuel for my sanding machine, mac n cheese

 

I prefer hook and loop myself. How does this help with dust collection?

[Muzz]

My New Year's resolution was to cover one of my walls with hook, and myself with loop, and I'm sticking to it. Amazingly that MNC fuels my dust collector as well

[Prostheta]

I think the Mac n' Cheese under reactor 4 in Chernobyl is twitching as well.