2010 TDPRI $210 Tele Build Challenge - RooftopCaster

[motor_city_tele]

1. drill jack hole. (can I say that here?)
2. finish truss rod routing/neck radius jig
3. rout the channel
4. add 1/2" radius curve to headstock
5. drill the holes to get the truss rod in
6. install truss rod
7. install skunk stripe
8. plane bottom flat once again.
9. drill and install fret dot markers
10. Radius the neck - (this will either be the bees knees or back to the drawing board)
11. cut fret slots
12. radius fret
13. cut and install frets.
14. drill string guide holes in body back.
15. prep body for finish - Hey can you believe it

[oigun]

This is gonna be an awesome guitar!! Great wood

[sean79]

Gorgeous. Love that wood - can't wait to see it all shiny.

[gagidlof]

Clever radius jig, I'd love to see some shots of it in action.

[motor_city_tele]

The channel is next - the neck is secured to the jig and the router is centered on the rails.


another view of the channel cutting jig


After about 5 passes, the channel is done, I was careful as could be with this darn thing. measuring the depth twice after each pass. This is about the time Mr. Murphy pays a visit to my projects.


After drilling the pilot hole and then the big hole, I inserted the truss rod through the heel and tested the length. I marked where the anchor will live. I'll use these marks to gauge how deep I need to drill the headstock hole.


Before I can drill the headstock hole, I'll need to add the radius transition. I used the Drill press/spindle sander for this.


After I drilled the pilot hole, I drilled the big hole, inserted the truss rod through this hole and gave it a couple gentle taps to seat the anchor. The 3/8 inch dowel makes a good plug. It's glued in with titebond.


This is how the heel looks with the adjustment nut slightly recessed into the heel.


I checked the dry fit of my skunk stripe I cut last week after rounding the edges. When I was satisfied with the edges, I glued it in then clamped it up.


While that was drying, I decided to drill the string ferrule holes and the plug jack hole in the body. here is how they will look. I might make them a flush fit but hate to mess with what I think is a pretty decent alignment. I see a shadow lurking off to the side. Could it be Mr. Murphy waiting to jump all over these string ferrule holes? Lets keep them the way they are for now.


After the glue dried on the neck, I gave it some light hand planing then hit it with the jitterbug sander.


The neck has been mounted into the radius jig, the thingies have been secured. The router has been added and I did a quick run through to see if it all lined up. I am going to attempt to radius the neck first thing tomorrow. pictures to follow.

tootles - jb

[mgdesigns]

I don't quite see how you are going to use thingy one and thingy two, yet Please elaborate.

[motor_city_tele]

I unscrewed the truss rod channel rails and removed them. Then I screwed in the thingies at a right angle to the neck centerline. The router will rock back and forth for each pass. I'll then advance the neck 3/8" and rock the router once again. I'll repeat this procedure along the entire length of the finger board. I promise there will be photos of this process tomorrow. I'll also time how long it takes to radius this neck.

[motor_city_tele]

Before routing the radius, I need to add the fret markers. I used 1/4 inch pieces of dowel.


All glued up, I just let it dry an hour or so.


While that drys, I'll cut out my pickguard template.


Here is a top view of thing one and thing two all mounted and secured into the jig. The neck will slide on it's mount under the whole apparatus.


Here is the business end of the jig. thing A and thing B are bolted on.


Here is an example of the rocking motion.


Looking down the length of the jig. The bit is at it's highest point here.


You can see where the bit is as the router is rocked to the left.


After about 4 minutes of rocking and rolling, the radius is complete.

[Scooter91]

Nice jig!

[sean79]

Originally Posted by Scooter91

Nice jig!

+1. There have been some very cool jigs shown in this year's challenge.

[motor_city_tele]

I am beat. I worked since 8:30 am till about now - missed the Wings game - I guess they lost to Phoenix - didn't miss anything.

1. drill jack hole. (can I say that here?) - done
2. finish truss rod routing/neck radius jig - done
3. rout the channel - done
4. add 1/2" radius curve to headstock - done
5. drill the holes to get the truss rod in - done
6. install truss rod - done
7. install skunk stripe - done
8. plane bottom flat once again. - done
9. drill and install fret dot markers - done
10. Radius the neck - (this will either be the bees knees or back to the drawing board) Bees Knees - less than 4 minutes to radius a rosewood neck
11. cut fret slots - nope
12. radius fret - nope
13. cut and install frets. - nope
14. drill string guide holes in body back. - done
15. prep body for finish - Hey can you believe it - nope

Still to do -

Frets
pickguard
drill tuner holes
sand, sand, sand
body and neck prep - grain filler
sand, sand, sand
sanding sealer
sand, sand, sand
lacquer
assembly

[oigun]

Clever jig & tasty neck!!

[motor_city_tele]

Neck
1. fine tune neck profile - have rasp
2. rout fret slots - nut slot too
3. radius fret wire
4. grain filler
5. enlarge tuner holes - a little at a time - don't get crazy now.
6. prep for finish
7. sand and sealer
8. mask fretboard - or not
9. lacquer
10. cut & files frets to exact size
11. install frets
12. add logo
13. more lacquer
14. polish
15. install tuners
16. add string Tee

Body
1. trace and cut pickguard
2. grain filler
3. sand and sealer
4. drill any remaining holes needed
5. lacquer
6. polish - pickguard too
7. assembly - including wiring and strings

Seems like I'm missing something here.

[crazydave911]

That neck is gorgeous!

[motor_city_tele]

Until I can build another jig, This will be the method of choice for shaping the contour for the neck. I've seen many different procedures, some using blades, others using abrasives, one in particular uses a belt sander. That just scares the heck out of me.


Yet one more use for the neck jig. I had to move one of the thingies so the smaller, Dremel router base fits snug. I chose to make wider slots. I don't want to press then frets in. I will epoxy them in.


Side marker holes have been drilled and the little pieces of wood gets glued and tapped into the hole. Looks like I ordered too many of my side marker dowels. Don't worry, I'm not going to put them back in the box. Yet another Rain Man reference.


The toothpicks seem to be just the right size and contrast for this neck.


I caught a break today. I opened up my fretwire from LMI and low and behold, It just so happend to be pre-radiused to 9.5 inches. I guess buying 100 feet at once paid off. I don't have to build another jig - Yippie!


I cut what I needed and put the rest back in the box. The last thing I need to do is step on a perfectly radiused bunch of fret wire. Here are the frets layed in place - no glue yet. still deciding when I might do the frets. before or after the finish.


I drilled out the tuner holes to the big size. I won't be needing to mount the neck in the jig any longer, so it was time to enlarge.


When I drilled the large hole, I didn't drill all the way through the headstock, the back hole are just wide enough to fit the peg. here is a shot of them, not screwed in yet.


Moving right along now. Time to open another big box and slide out my sheet of garolite. looks like bakelite, smells like bakelite, must be bakelte.


With the guard rough cut on the bandsaw, I marked and drilled the holes, mounted it to my template and went at it with the router. I was surprised how nice and smooth the process was.


I removed the rounded top screws and switched router bits and proceeded to take a bit of a bevel in the appropriate places.


I drilled the remaining body holes and did a loose fit of the components. I want to make sure everything fits before I tear it down for paint, chrome, and powdercoat. Just kidding. I'm sticking to lacquer. Hmmmmm. . . I wonder what kind of guitar the guys at OCC would build if given the chance.


Here is one last loose fit photo. The rosewood needs to be sanded still and grain filled. right now there is nothing on it. The reflections are strictly a result of the sheer hardness and the fact that the is oil present in the wood.

[Gleesonjf]

that looks great!

[CJFearn]

WOW!!! Be-you-tee-full!!!

[motor_city_tele]

close-up of the back contour and skunk stripe


This one is pretty darn straight


Here is a 3/4 shot


Another 3/4 shot - seems the more I handle it, the darker it gets. Makes me wonder if I should just use some type of oil instead of lacquer. Any suggestions for this neck - besides poly or lacquer?

[Jack Wells]

Nice work........ .... Probably not that different from the Custom Shop models except for the name. What finish are you planning? You might consider an oil finish. A very few of the MIJ Rosewood Telecasters were finished with oil.

Good thinking on the side marker dots. Did you buy those from a local supplier?

[motor_city_tele]

I guess the biggest accomplishment this weekend was not screwing something up. I used the large slot and epoxy method for installing the frets. Each fret was sized to fit. when all were done, I mixed up the epoxy and carefully guided it into the slot. I used a slow set variety. The frets were set in place and gently positioned firmly in place. Any epoxy that got onto the fretboard, sides, even the headstock was wiped off with acetone and a towel.

Neck
1. fine tune neck profile - have rasp - yes
2. rout fret slots - nut slot too - yes
3. radius fret wire - n/a lmi shipped it already at 9.5"
4. grain filler - nope
5. enlarge tuner holes - a little at a time - don't get crazy now. - yes
6. prep for finish - not really
7. sand and sealer - nope
8. mask fretboard - or not - undecided
9. lacquer - yeah right - who am I kidding
10. cut & files frets to exact size - yes
11. install frets - yes
12. add logo - nope
13. more lacquer - nope
14. polish - nope
15. install tuners - not permanant
16. add string Tee - nope

Body
1. trace and cut pickguard - yes
2. grain filler - nope
3. sand and sealer - nope
4. drill any remaining holes needed - yes
5. lacquer - nope
6. polish - pickguard too - nope
7. assembly - including wiring and strings - nope