The Router and Drill Press Setup

I'm back with some pics to help explain my router and drill press setup. First, when your dealing with a very hard figured wood such as hard rock maple, you need to back off and take it slow when cutting out the guitar body. I buy expensive Whiteside router bits they last about two guitars...maybe.

Here's the info on the bit I use: Whiteside Part #3000
Carbide-tipped, 2 flute; top Ball Bearing; flush trim bit; 1/2" diam.; 1/4" shank; 1/4" cut length. Lists for about $18.00.

I look on Ebay and if I can't find them there, then I'll use Woodworker'Supply. http://woodworker.com/



Here's picture of the router with the bit in place:
I have found this setup to be as safe and easy a method for routing out a guitar body as any I've used in the past. Just remember to take it slow and easy.



I use my drill press for a variety of task to include routing. In this picture the drill press is setup to do some heavy duty sanding. Each path of the router leaves its mark and then have to sanded down. I put the drill press on high and let it do it do the work.

A lot of the work on the shaping of the body is just that..work! I use a variety of tools and methods and I'm always trying to come up with new techniques and ways to save time and labor. Working with hard rock maple or any hard wood is time consuming and you need the patience of Job to ensure you don't screw it up. Again, take it slow and easy.

In my next posting I'll share some of my shaping methods that I have used to shape guitar bodies.



Here's parting shot of some of the guitar bodies floating around in my shop. There's cherry, mahogany, pine and of course my favorite, figured hard rock maple. Mmmm.....hard rock maple!

The Introduction....

I'm cliff and I like to build guitars. (and the support group says, "Hi Cliff!)

I built my first solid body electric guitar back in 1994 and I've been hooked since.I started building guitars because I couldn't find one or buy one that was built to my standards. I never liked Fenders and figured out early on that Gibson's were way overrated.I told myself that I could build a solid body electric guitar as good as anything available on the market and that's how it all begun. I haven't built a lot guitars since '94 but I've built enough.
Every guitar is a learning process and thank god for the Internet because that is where I go to learn.

Recently I built another guitar. This one was make of Mahogany with a Carvin thru the body neck made of the same wood. All the parts were Carvin except the tuners which were Spezels. all the hardware is gold plated. Turned out great but it's not quite what I want so I'm off to build another and hopefully better guitar.

I've been hording a piece of tiger striped hard rock maple that my father-in-law gave me years ago and I finally figured out how to cut out the body using a plunge router. The wood is almost perfect but it does have some bark in it but I think it gives the wood a little character.

Here's a shot of the wood:
Note that the top half is still rough from being cut out with the plunge router. A little trick that I learned the hard way when cutting out hard rock maple. Take it slow and easy. Take off about a 1/8 to 1/4 in at a time and make multiple passes. I use a 1 HP Craftsman router with a template bit that has 1/4 cutting depth with the ball bearing at the top of the cutting surface. I let the bearing just ride on the edge of the body template and take it around real slow. I keep lowering the bit a little at time until the router has maxed out its depth. What remains is about as thick as veneer and that I cut out with an electric jig saw using a fine tooth blade. I then smooth out the edges using my drill press and a 2" sanding drum. Later on I'll explain how I route out the cavities using my drill press as a router.
My camera needs to recharge so I'll post pictures of the router and the bit along with the process of using the drill press as a sander tomorrow. Later.