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People route for pickups all the time without necessarily having the piece in hand...that's the beauty of interchangeable parts and premade templates. If I made a unique template for every guitar humbucker I've routed instead of using a standard template I would have pulled my hair out by now. For this project though, I'd like to get my template up and running and make some progress on the body while I'm waiting on my pickups. I don't build all that many basses so that's why I need a few specs.

I have the image of the route in Melvyn Hiscok's book, but I was wondering if I could get a few quick measurements. What size radius is the route in the corners, and what size are the semicircular sections for the mounting holes? Thanks!

Hey guys. Presently I've been doing all my work with a 1 3/4 HP fixed base Milwaukee router (which I love BTW) but I was looking for something a bit more powerful to use in a table. I was going to get a Milwaukee set with interchangeable bases but I ran across this at Home Depot by accident when I went to look at what they had for router tables. It's a Dewalt 3 base kit with edge guide for $150 when they sell for $270ish elsewhere. I guess it's a closeout there so that's why it's so cheap. I snagged one and I wanted to let you guys know in case any of you were in the market.

Here's the same kit on Amazon...Dewalt 3 base kit

They had one left at my local depot in CT, so it may be worth a look if you're in the market.

My old drill press is a royal pain so I've been thinking about replacing it. I ran across this Shop Fox Oscillating Drill Press at Grizzly and it caught my interest It's reasonably priced, it's got enough swing for most guitar stuff I'd be doing (8.5") and it's even rated for the same HP as my old free standing 15" press. The oscillating option seems interesting because I could use it as a spindle sander and it's even got a dust port.

What do you think? Is Shop Fox a decent brand? (it's just repainted Grizzly stuff, right?) Anyone have any experience with an oscillating drill press? Thanks for the help folks

Hey all...my shop vac really isn't up to the task anymore now that I've acquired some real tools so I was thinking of picking up a dust collector. This Rikon 1HP collector seems like a good deal, and Woodcraft is having 15% off if you get there first thing in the morning March 1 so it'd be about $170.. It's rated for 650 CFM and 78 dB with seems relatively quiet for a dust collector. From what I've seen, it's about as cheap as you can spend for a real dust collector. Comparable units run $200-$350. Do you think I'd be OK with Rikon? I don't have any experience with their tools but they seem to be all over the place at Woodcraft and in magazines. Any other advice you can give me?

I'm really looking forward to 650 CFM though .... that's 4 times my shop vac!

Here are some pics of the downdraft table I buillt to go with my dust collector.

I made an opening in my bench for the hose to run through

opening

The box is 3/4" plywood with a piece of pegboard for the holes. The peg board is dadoed into the sides and all the joints are sealed with liquid nail. I also used liquid nail to attach the plastic flange to the bottom of the unit

Bottom

Here is the unit connected to my DC and setting in place on the bench

unit connected to the DC

Looks pretty cool! How well does it work?

anyone else chuckle when they saw those boards? Makes my wood that i have not look bad at all... which brings me to a question related to this topic. How much warpage is acceptable in the back and front boards when building an acoustic. I have some nice mahogany for my back that is slightly warped, but its not too bad. Will the bracing tend to pull the wood in if its not that bad? or will the warping wanna pull away the braces? Id post a picture but i cant find my camera cord.

Mike was using these for drop tops, not acoustic backs.

You really want stable wood for backs and tops on acoustics, building in tension(unwanted tension) is a bad idea. If a top or back is mildly bending, you can heat it up and work it back to shape. If it is radically twisting it would take several sessions with a fair bit of heat to get the wood retrained and stable. Each time you heat wood it will lose a bit of strength (not bad if it is one or two sessions), but many with high heat and you may lose a lot of strength. So use good judgement when doing this for acoustics, and absolutely flex the wood at the end of the process and see if it is still going to perform as you want it to.

Peace,Rich

Thanks to Rich's help the walnut came out beautifully!

Anyone think it might work?

I just got a used 16" drill press. The motor is toasted, so I need a new one. But I already have a drill press for my day to day usage.

A large drill press, with a powerful motor (1.5HP min), a table with a pin. The drill press has a depth lock, and a 1/2" chuck. With the right pulleys, it should spin fast enough. I usually set my router between 3000-4000RPM.

Maybe I'm just dreaming. I'm not at all into mechanics... It's just that a pin router is mechanicaly very similar to a drill press, ; overarm, up/down movement of the cutting tool, a table...

My concerns are; mechanicaly, can it widthstand horizontal pressure? A drill press works vertical only.. Is the drill press chuck strong enough to hold a 1/2" router bit spinning very fast?

What router do you have that spins that slow??? Variable speed routers don't really go below 10,000 RPMs. I would NOT attempt to use your drill press for routing!

Hey all,

I just picked up a Veritas Spokeshave -link. I wasn't sure if it would be cool or not when I was looking at it, but thought I would give it a shot for $50. The feature that made me interested was the toe piece. Anyhow, Got it home, pulled out a piece of curly rock maple, and had at it. It worked very nice,using either toe configuration. I like the adjustability. I was pulling half inch wide curls off the board with smooth results, toe in either direction. Certainly seems to be a nice option for the folks who like using spokeshaves, and the price is certainly reasonable.

Peace,Rich

How was the blade out of the box Rich? Did you need to sharpen or hone it?

I have a Fender-style hardtail bridge that I'm going to use on my current project. It's got a string spacing of 2 3/16" and I need that width to match my wide neck. I was thinking of using some FerraGlide saddles in the bridge because they should perform better than the bent steel saddles (and I like the look better ). You can get the saddles that perfectly match my bridge spacing, with each saddle 0.440 in wide, from Graphtech directly but they're close to $80. Alternatively, you can get them from StewMac for $50 but they'll be slighty undersized at 0.410 in each. If I use the StewMac ones, I'll have tiny gaps. My question then is do you think these gaps are going to be a problem or am I being too picky? Thanks guys!

If it were me, I'd rout the neck pocket first, then bind the body & trim the excess. My gut says that if the body is bound first, routing the neck pocket might rip the binding loose.

What's the best way to trim the binding in the neck pocket once it's applied? Just file it? This will be my first stab at binding and I don't want to mess it up!

What's the best way to get binding to look nice and clean around a bolt on neck pocket? Should you bind the body first then route the neck pocket so you go through the binding? Or should you route the pocket first? Any tips you can give me would be appreciated!

I'm so glad Rich could save this wood! Real good info too :D

Most neck pockets (like Fenders for example) seem to be 5/8" deep. Is this just because that's a convenient depth for 4/4 stock? Would there be any harm do you think in having a deeper neck pocket, say half the body thickness, such as 7/8" on a standard 1 3/4" body? I'm planning on bolt-on build where I'll use neck ferrules for mounting a maple neck to a mahogany body and I was thinking of doing a deeper pocket. Thanks guys!

Hey all! I need a new template bit for my router but all the ones I seem to find in the stores have a cutting length of 1" or more. I liked the StewMac bit with a 1/2" CL, but it's bit the dust so to speak. Where can you find similar bits? Thanks for the help!

I've got some Woodcraft gift cards on the way for Christmas so I was thinking of picking up a good spokeshave for carving my necks. Do you think I should get one that's curved or flat? I'd like to get as much mileage as possible out of it so I want to make the right choice. Also... what brands do you like? I don't mind spending some money if the tool will last and work well. One thing I've really learned is that cheap tools are no bargain! :D

I know something like this has come up but I can't seem to find the threads! So please forgive me if this has been covered.

I saw this set neck strat and was trying to figure out how they did the neck joint. Could you do a basic strat joint and just glue it? What if you made the neck and pocket a little deeper, say 3/4" or even 1"? The reason I ask is that I want to do something similar with a quartersawn neck, but I can't find quartered maple much thicker than 1". Any help would be appreciated!

Hey all! I've been wanting to do up some body blanks with some nice striped mahogany I've got, but I just know that with that grain my planer will tear out like crazy I was wondering if anyone in the northern CT or Western MA area had access to or knew anyone with a drum sander who'd be willing to sand a few bodies after I get them jointed and glued up. Any help would be really appreciated! Thanks!

I'd also need some walnut sanded for drop tops and of course I don't expect this all to be done for free.

Just wanted one quick bump. Anyone have any info?

Your best bet is to firstly remove that stuff with almost any solvent, mineral spirits, alcohol, naphtha, or Goo-Gone citrus stuff. THEN, to keep the help against rust, but not goo up the table, get Johnson's Paste Wax. Rub the table down with the stuff leaving a thin film on top. Let it dry, and then rub it off. What this is doing is filling the pores on the table. Cast iron is very porous, and by filling them with this stuff you're stopping moisture from sitting in those pores, which is almost always where the rust will start! Also, by whipping it down again after it's dried you're taking it off the surface so that the surface is still slick and good for use.

Hope that helps.

Chris

PS: You blades SHOULD be nice and sharp and ready for use. I've had my jointer almost a year (although I'm rarely there to use it) and last I used it they were still sharp enough to joint CURLY PINK IVORY, so not only hard, but FIGURED, without a single tearout.

LMAO!!! ANOTHER Johnsons Paste wax fan. Have a can that is many many years old that is used only for the tools. I now take the palm sander after the wax dries and fold up a paper towel and polish the tops of my tablesaw, sander tables and bandsaw table.LOL:) Man does a piece of maple fly across that!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

MK

I'm gonna try that!

Hey all! I've been wanting to do up some body blanks with some nice striped mahogany I've got, but I just know that with that grain my planer will tear out like crazy I was wondering if anyone in the northern CT or Western MA area had access to or knew anyone with a drum sander who'd be willing to sand a few bodies after I get them jointed and glued up. Any help would be really appreciated! Thanks!

One last thing .... how big of a bit is too big for a single speed router? The biggest I'd use in it would be 1/2" and 5/8" radius roundover bits and a 1" diameter core box bit. Thanks again!!

This router also looked kind of promising. What do you think? http://www.amazon.com/Milwaukee-5615-20-4-...8035&sr=1-1

The thing that makes me a bit nervous with the Porter Cable is the location of the power switch seems to make it so you only have one hand holding the router as you turn it off and on. I'm used to a plunge router that had the power switch on the handle ( a great feature IMO!). Am I making too big of a deal about this...is the location of the power switch not that big of a deal on the PC?

Thanks guys!

Thanks guys! I fired it up this morning it works pretty well though the blades need sharpening. The tables were nice and flat and the induction motor was much quieter than my old crappy bench top jointer! That thing is a toy compared to this I've got one more question though ... do jointer blades usually need sharpened when new? When I bought my planer about a year ago the blades were all set to go so I was hoping it'd be the same with the jointer.

Hey all! I finally stepped up to a decent jointer (the 6" Ridgid they've got at Home Depot) and I just put it all together. The tables came greased and I was wondering if this was just for packaging/shipping, or should the tables be prepped somehow? Should I just wipe off the grease? I thought I read somewhere that you should protect your tables from rust with some sort of coating I just can't remember the specifics at the moment. Any tips would be greatly appreciated!

I heard Tele neck pickups are a different size than the standard ones in a strat ... is this the case? If so how different are they? Can you get away with using a Tele neck pickup in a strat pickguard without the gap being too noticeable?