depth of thinline?

hey builders.im going to try my hand at a thinline build. ive got a inch and a half body plus a quarter inch thick top. i just was wondering how deep is practical for routing tone chambers.thanks for any info ya got

Rout your left and right cavities and leave 1/4" of material for the back and enough wood to support the bridge. Look at the typical thinline templates and you'll see about a full thickness 3" wide hunk of wood down the middle from neck to bridge. Then the top is glued on and the neck and routs are made as well as the F hole. I've never routed that rounded rectangle behind the bridge myself, but others do it and that would be done when you do the left and right ones too.

So far I've just done the one Thinline and I love it. Mine has 2 'F' holes which I cut and bound before gluing the top onto the body. I didn't route behind the bridge either, preferring more meat at that end of the body. I used pretty much the same methods as guitarbuilder.

And if you have push pull pots make sure they fit in the space. Just some random advice that I've had use for

I've been leaving a little less than 1/2" at the back.

Since you'll be gluing on a 1/4 in. top, it stands to reason that your back should also be routed leaving a 1/4 in. thickness in the cavity areas.

Before doing your final router pass in the cavities, lay a piece of 1/4 material, eg. MDF scrap, beside the body. Lay your router on the top of the body and drop the bit down until it touches the scrap. Use this for your final passes when routing control cavities also. Saves time setting and adjusting the router depth and prevents mistakes caused by measuring or setting the depth wrong.

......http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v208/jwells393/Post%20Guitar/DSC05053.jpg

.....you'll see about a full thickness 3" wide hunk of wood down the middle from neck to bridge.

I think on Fender Thinlines the solid wood strip is close to 5 in. ....... based on measurements I'm taken on Fender Thinlines. Although you can definitely go with less than 5 in. I would make it more than 3 in. since a Telecaster bridge pickup is almost 3 in. wide and a Stratocaster pickup is more than 3 in. wide ........... if you ever chose to use one.

I sometimes remove additional wood away from the pickup areas. I left the additional wood at the butt end of this one because I originally intended to add a Bigsby.

......http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v208/jwells393/Thinline%20Project/DSC04142.jpg

Good catch and good point. I think I was seeing 5" in my head and typed 3" LOL. Without my glasses on they look pretty much the same....

can you direct me where to buy those templates for the top and bottom?

http://www.ebay.com/itm/RON-KIRN-69-STYLE-THINLINE-TEMPLATES-/170677140692?pt=Guitar_Accessories&hash=item27bd267cd4

thanks just ordered!!!!!!!!