Third build - Natural Tele in Idigbo

PeteC

Bit of progress today ( spent most of it looking for router bits online though.....) 

Body now has a binding channel at 1.5mm deep and just under 6mm high.  Love that Wealden rebate cutter. 
- ( spot the tear out from the previous body shaping session - so a bit of Titebond and Idigbo dust to repair that with yet ) 

Wiring channels all drilled for. .....err.....wiring ! 

Cut a load of mahogany binding strips on the bandsaw to try wood steam bending / binding. They look quite thick on the pic but measure about 1.8mm thick and need some light sanding to remove bandsaw marks.

Started putting together the basic cradle for the fretboard radius jig. 

Then a couple of hours hand sanding the body sides to try remove machining marks and the odd scratch etc. 

Waiting on another router bit (core box 8mm) so I can do a headstock-mounted dual action truss rod access hole properly - so this will hold up progress on the neck up for a few days yet. 

And - the Alegree Cirrus pickup set turned up with postie this morning  - Nice ! 

If the wood binding attempt fails I will be ordering some Dark Tort ABS plastic stuff I think.   We'll see. 

Was contemplating going for a 22 fret fingerboard with the overhang,  but have decided to stick with old-school 21fret neck instead - easier !! 



 

JGTay

Looking good Pete, some nice progress. Will be interesting to see your radius jig in action  

Roland

What’s the radius of your jig?

PeteC

It’s an 11” radius and allowing for the depth of the cutters I have I should be able to get to 10” or 9.5” radius on the boards themselves     I am going to make a smaller mounting plate for the router though as it doesn’t need to be as big as the one in the pic.   The runners are just pvc pipe but I haven’t yet measured up for width etc.  I plan to run the router along the grain on each pass rather than across    Question is how solid and stable it will be really.  

PeteC

Fretboard radius set up prepared this evening

Not a jig - more of a lash up really.  

But I did take care to ensure everything is level and referenced very carefully to everything else to ensure the Radius on the finished boards will not be offset or skewed (in theory).  Not helped by the fact that this work surface in my little workshop has a slight bow in it - meaning there was a lot of shimming and re- measuring. 

Should get chance to some test boards tomorrow.    

Finished radius will end up being more like 10.5 than 10” though.  

If it works ok I might make up a more permanent 

jig.  

Onwards.......

TTony

Love the drainpipe!  Never thought of using them for something like that.

PeteC

Not my idea - saw a rig like this on TDPRI.     Will need a very steady hand when planing !  Got a couple of sacrificial boards I am going to test before the rosewood goes on the jig. 

guitargeek62

TTony said:

Need to get a proper metalworker to knock some up in suitable thickness steel ...

Let me know what you need - I know a couple and can ask the question for you and get them in touch

PeteC

Radiusing............................Bloody hell - it worked ! 

Tested first on a scrap Panga board before radiating the rosewood board for the Tele neck.  

A little nerve wracking and lots of care needed on the first few passes, but once the initial very light surface cuts were done along the centreline it went like a dream down the rest of the board - masses of rosewood dust and made me think I ought to put a fire extinguisher in the shed. 

took about 5 minutes to radius the rosewood board, and at its centreline it measure 6.25mm thick - I'm happy with that. 
It closer to 10.5" than 10",  but hey what the hell.     I will make up an adjusted jig so that I can get to a 9.5" radius ( or even a 7.5in) at some point though.   Not for this build though. 

As I need the space Ive had to dismantle the rig up so that I can route the truss rod channel next. 

Onwards ( slowly ) 

and hope you're all doing OK, btw. 

MattNovak

My radius sanding beam and I hate you. 

That looks great @PeteC !

JGTay

Very impressed with the result. Big build up of dust under your jig, you will need to think about an extractor to prevent it causing any problems on your next ones. 

PeteC

Thanks both.        

Very true @JGTay ; - it was like an explosion on the Cadbury’s drinking chocolate production line. 

Amazing how much static pvc drainpipe can build up when the router sled has been moved up and down the board about a dozen times .   Most of the dust build up you can see on the rails is due to static.   The rest is just plain mayhem. 

I don’t have any decent extraction- just a basic karcher shop vac - so it’s a good point about checking between doing boards so that the sled isn’t getting lifted slightly by the dust build up.  

It was a fun experiment though - ideally it needs aluminium rails for accuracy I think.  

It will do for the time being until I have time to build version 2.  

Next challenge is to make a half decent job of Installing a headstock adjustable dual action rod.  Next Tele I do I will go for a heel rod instead I think.  

JGTay

PeteC said:

I don’t have any decent extraction- just a basic karcher shop vac - so it’s a good point about checking between doing boards so that the sled isn’t getting lifted slightly by the dust build up.  

I am in the same boat... had to keep walking outside during the cutting of the wing due to all the dust and smoke. Really should look into an extractor even if it's something basic for now. 

PeteC

Ha ! @JGTay    I know that feeling.  I know my facemark is good because I didnt even notice the smell when I was routing - but when I took it off - Jeezz....  Even with nice sharp Wealden router cutters Ive had a few moments where smoke became small embers and that was rather worrying.  

That happened when I was routing out the control cavity on the Tele body - Idigbo seems quite prone to smoking rather too easily.  Either that or my router techniques is pants ( ....quite possibly )

So a small extinguisher has gone onto the shopping list - should really have one in there anyway, tbh. 

 

PeteC

Bit more progress this past two days - neck glued up and very happy with the glue line - following @IvisonGuitars excellent approach 

neck routed nicely once I had taken the edge down to about 1mm after bandsawing out the shape - one very tiny bandsaw nick near the nut which I will be able to disguise when I do the finishing.   

Mock up for those that like em.   Some nice dark tiger celluloid binding for the body on its way from Rothko and Frost and I will switch the scratch plate to a tort to follow the theme I think.    Truss rod is buried At the moment and a 9mm headstock rout is hidden and will emerge when I do the headstock transition ( I bloody hope so anyway !!!). 

Simple compared to some of the amazing builds going on at the moment but hopefully to a nice high spec at least.    I do love a nice Tele. 

PeteC

Neck pocket done yesterday and pleased with the result . Everything nicely lined up down the centre line using the Myka jig. 

JGTay

Very nice Pete, looks like a snug fit. 

MattNovak

Once again, I have jig envy. How was the binding channel route process, any tips? Will be doing my first binding soon in the latest Firebird. 

PeteC

cheers @JGTay  and @MattNovak ;

Matt - the binding process was done using a small Makita router on a homemade Plexiglas base about 10 x 6" 
I bought a downshear rebate cutter from Wealden tools for the rebate and a couple of extra bearings for it to be able to cut 1.5 and 2mm channels  This done with a "1.5mm" channel which comes in very slightly under in reality, and the Rothko & Frost binding I am using fits very nicely with an overhang ideal for scraping. 

Cutter info : 
T1705Small Series


Bearings : TB680



& TB670
I clamped the body to the bench when doing the binding channel and took it very gently indeed - especially at the horns and the cutaways. The oversize router base really helps to keep the router stable using the body and avoids any tipping over from vertical. I did the cuts in sections rather than all round in one pass. 

MattNovak

Nice one Pete, thank you for the info. I have a 1.5mm rebate cutter here, not tried it in the router yet, I suspect it may be slightly too long for a 6mm cut, so I'll have to fashion a thicker base. Or buy a new cutter