1/29/2005

Routing the control cavity was simply a matter of lining up the template in the desired location, clamping it down and routing. However, I drilled the hole for the 1/4" jack and both posts for the volume and tone pots. The 1/4" jack required a 1/2" Forstner bit. I simply chucked in my hand drill and drilled it by hand. I did the same for the control posts but for these, I used a 3/8" Forstner bit. These sizes may not work for your guitar. Check the specs for your components first.

1/29/2005

Now, I flipped the body over, lined up the cavity template and routed to only a depth of 3/16" using a 1/2" pattern bit. This would be the recess and lip that the cavity cover would sit on. Then I took a 3/4" bushing and 1/2" straight bit and routed about another 1/2" deep. This formed the 1/8" lip around the perimeter of the cavity. When I couldn't go any deeper with that bit, I removed the bushing and went back to a 1/2" pattern bit and used the cavity wall as the reference surface for the bearing and routed deeper. I don't know if this is the final depth yet. I need to check my pots to determine that. If I have to route deeper, I'll just go back in with the 1/2" pattern bit and ride the cavity walls with the bearing.

2/27/2005

The control cavity cover is shaped but needed to be planed to proper thickness. A small piece like this should never be sent through a thickness planer by itself. So, I used some double-sided tape to attach it to a large piece of ply that would act as a sled. A few passes through the planer and we're done. I just wish I had lined up the grain pattern to match the back.

3/6/2005

In order to mount the 5 way selector, I had to route a 1/16" slot, 1 1/16" long, into the face of the body. The cut needs to be 1/16" deep and the control itself needs 1 3/8" depth in the body. I clamped a piece of wood as a fence to the body. Then, I put an engraving cutter into my dremel and chucked the dremel into the router attachment and made multiple passes. I need to clean up some burn marks once the cavity is routed to depth. I made the cut deeper than 1/16th of inch since the area in the control cavity where the selector will be mounted is not deep enough yet. When the proper depth is routed, the slot will open up.

3/7/2005

I had to route the area in the control cavity where the 5-way selector will seat, deeper. The face of the guitar needs to be about 3/16" thick there. It was easy using a pattern bit but I ran into a problem that I'll now need to fix. My bit wasn't long enough so when I set the depth, I didn't realize that some of the router collet extended below it's base. So, the collet made contact with the lip of the recess and mangled it up. You can see the burn marks in the picture below. I realized it was happening and stopped right away, I now will have to make the lip wider by 1/8" all the way around with a rabbet bit and 3/4" ball bearing mounted on it. The problem is that now, my cover won't fit in the new, larger opening. So I will either have to cut a new cover or use some contrast wood strips and create a border around it in say, maple. This should be interesting.

3/12/2005

In order to fix the damage to the control cavity, I had to enlarge the recess and make a new cover. I had a template that I made earlier that was exactly the same shape as the control cavity opening but larger by 3/8". I used that by aligning it over the existing cavity and putting a 3/4" bushing and 1/2" straight bit into the router. This would result in a recess that was 1/8" wider all around. In the pics below, you see the larger template clamped in place, and shots of the the recess in progress. I've also included a picture of the old cover in the larger hole, followed by the new cover. The new cover was made using the old cover as a template and the same bushing/bit combination in the router. That gave me a cover that was 1/8" bigger than the original. It fit a little tightly at the curves but a little sanding with scraps of sandpaper got that fixed up.

3/14/2005

The slot for the 5 way switch was completed by drilling the screw holes and sanding the slot a little. I'm not entirely happy with the way it looks yet. I'll fix it to my liking with my router and a 1/8" bit. The Dremel and 1/16" was not stable enough and required the sanding step. That resulted in a slot that is not as crisp as I like. Plus, it's almost an 1/8" wide now so I'm going to clean it up with router.

3/26/2005

I wasn't happy with the 5-way slot because it wasn't as crisp as I thought it should be. Plus, I think that with finish build up, it wouldn't be wide enough. I found a 1/8" straight router bit with a 1/4" shank and made the following jig. It has built in stops that allow up to 1 1/4" in travel for my Porter Cable router in it's plunge base. The masonite is removable but allows me to locate the slot precisely where I want it to be. After the jig is clamped down, I can remove the masonite and cut the slot making progressively deeper passes. It worked great even in this case when I was cutting over a pre-existing slot.

4/03/2005

I used a countersink and 1/8" drill bit to cut the screw holes on my cavity covers. Then I used some sandpaper to round-over the edges of the trem cavity cover. I cut the string access holes on the trem cover with a 5/16" Forstner bit in my drill press. Here are the finished covers.