Post by edvard on Jun 1, 2016 0:40:00 GMT -5
OK folks, attempt #1 in building the "Loaf Champion" was an exercise in "Measure Twice, Cut Once" that I won't soon forget (see here). So now we're on to attempt #2...
I got a new template cut out, which looked much nicer this time because I learned a few things about taping up multiple pages to make the drawing, and because I found a can of spray glue in the shed instead of rubber cement to attach it to the template board.
Yesterday, I clamped up a new block of wood, and since today was nice and sunny, I decided to bring out my "shade tree woodworking bench" (two sawhorses and a plank from an old dresser) to start buzzing something up and see how far we get.
Sorry I don't have pictures of the process, but here's what I did:
The last time, I simply screwed the template down on the block and went at it with the router. Well, the channel it cut got clogged up with sawdust, which made the second pass impossible. So I cleaned out the sawdust from the channel and made a second pass, cutting deeper. Wash, rinse, repeat until I had the whole thing cut out. That wasn't going to do for this attempt...
This time, I screwed the template down on the block, and used a small washer with my pencil to get a nice even trace between 1/8" - 1/4" around the perimeter. This was to give some relief to the router, unlike how I did it before. This time, the router had no problem just buzzing off the edge and it came out fine. The warm day and my own ambition got to my head, and before I knew it, I had treated the edges to my trusty 1/2" roundover, filled the holes and sanded it smooth:
My last attempt to make a neck pocket ended in sadness and frustration, so I tried a new tack. This time, I clamped the neck to a piece of template board, and drew around the heel. Then, I ran two ruler-straight slats on either side of the neck and traced them down about 10 inches or so, measured the distance between and marked a center. I did the same thing to the top of the heel trace to get a centerline, and went to work with the 10" band saw and a small file set. Despite this being almost free-hand, the sides were straight and the neck fit in the pocket like a glove, though if I do this again, I'd go with a wider piece to make clamping more convenient:
Before ambition turned into reckless abandon, I made sure this was going to work by pocketing out a piece of scrap wood; Hot Diggity! It worked!:
Why looky that lovely little neck pocket, clean as can be and leaving exactly 7/8" to bolt the neck to:
But, how would it do on the actual body? Is the pocket still snug? Is it centered? Inquiring minds want to know!
Snug as ever, and sighting down the center line with the neck stuck in the pocket it looks dead-on, so I consider this stage a success.
That's all for now folks! Next up: routing the pickup and control cavities, and drilling holes to attach the neck. That might get tricky, as the neck already has holes, so I'm going to have to come up with a method of drilling the pocket to match the holes in the neck.
I got a new template cut out, which looked much nicer this time because I learned a few things about taping up multiple pages to make the drawing, and because I found a can of spray glue in the shed instead of rubber cement to attach it to the template board.
Yesterday, I clamped up a new block of wood, and since today was nice and sunny, I decided to bring out my "shade tree woodworking bench" (two sawhorses and a plank from an old dresser) to start buzzing something up and see how far we get.
Sorry I don't have pictures of the process, but here's what I did:
The last time, I simply screwed the template down on the block and went at it with the router. Well, the channel it cut got clogged up with sawdust, which made the second pass impossible. So I cleaned out the sawdust from the channel and made a second pass, cutting deeper. Wash, rinse, repeat until I had the whole thing cut out. That wasn't going to do for this attempt...
This time, I screwed the template down on the block, and used a small washer with my pencil to get a nice even trace between 1/8" - 1/4" around the perimeter. This was to give some relief to the router, unlike how I did it before. This time, the router had no problem just buzzing off the edge and it came out fine. The warm day and my own ambition got to my head, and before I knew it, I had treated the edges to my trusty 1/2" roundover, filled the holes and sanded it smooth:
My last attempt to make a neck pocket ended in sadness and frustration, so I tried a new tack. This time, I clamped the neck to a piece of template board, and drew around the heel. Then, I ran two ruler-straight slats on either side of the neck and traced them down about 10 inches or so, measured the distance between and marked a center. I did the same thing to the top of the heel trace to get a centerline, and went to work with the 10" band saw and a small file set. Despite this being almost free-hand, the sides were straight and the neck fit in the pocket like a glove, though if I do this again, I'd go with a wider piece to make clamping more convenient:
Before ambition turned into reckless abandon, I made sure this was going to work by pocketing out a piece of scrap wood; Hot Diggity! It worked!:
Why looky that lovely little neck pocket, clean as can be and leaving exactly 7/8" to bolt the neck to:
But, how would it do on the actual body? Is the pocket still snug? Is it centered? Inquiring minds want to know!
Snug as ever, and sighting down the center line with the neck stuck in the pocket it looks dead-on, so I consider this stage a success.
That's all for now folks! Next up: routing the pickup and control cavities, and drilling holes to attach the neck. That might get tricky, as the neck already has holes, so I'm going to have to come up with a method of drilling the pocket to match the holes in the neck.
