Routing Mistakes On First Build - Best Fixes?

So a friend and I are working on our first build (a Jaguar) and started routing out the body. First thing we did was cut a rough shape with a jigsaw leaving plenty of room around the body shape we traced (far too much room perhaps as this made pattern routing a lot more difficult).

Next issue that came up was that the wood was burning. We think the bit was either too dull, or we were moving the wood too slowly, or some combination of the two so we ended up changing bits. We also moved from the table router to just hand routing based on the new bit.

The new bit (from Stew Mac) worked great, but we're left with a little under 1/2" left to route out because it's too shallow for the hole body. There will be a Home Depot visit later today to address this with another new bit.

The Problem
So we had some ugly chipping on the upper wide curve around the arm rest. I'm imagining some of that will come off in the contour, and some of that will come off with the roundover. Is wood filler the best way to fill in the rest?

Also, we had some router slipping so there's a slight notch near the top of the upper horn and another near the bottom horn. This might smooth out a bit with some sanding but again, is wood filler the way to go here?

Are these kinds of mistakes common on a first build? Also, anyone care to share some links to bits they really like for this kind of work? He's doing most of the work with me lending a hand, and he might be down for more builds in the future, so I'd like to get him some nice bits that we could use again in the future as a thank you.

If you are planning a solid color for the finish, wood filler is a fine option. Sounds like common mistakes or issues to me. I roached at least 8 necks before getting my first usable one and probably 4+ bodies, I don't remember. You can read about my trials and tribulations here: http://www.tdpri.com/forum/tele-home-depot/317924-commodore-64s-former-challenge-build.html.

If you are considering bits, consider dropping the coin on a spiral upcutting bit. Also, a good expenditure of $200 is the Ridgid Oscillating Spindle Sander (ROSS).

Yeah those are very common mistakes. I think we've all been there. Try sanding as close to the line after you use your bandsaw. This makes routing loads easier.

And filler can be a great friend. I use it all the time.

After reading your description

1. You are routing WAY TOO much material. A router is not meant to hawg material away like a bandsaw or sander. You should only be routing minimal material. For example. If you are routing the perimeter of a body, you should saw/sand to within about 1/16" of the line and only route about 1/4" deep at a time. Even that is a little much if you are unfamiliar with routing.

2. You should be using a template and bearing guided bits on a router table as much as possible.

* These are extremely common mistakes to folks new to using a router, or folks who have never done this type of routing before. Not only will it dull your bit, burn up your bearings and router motor, and burn the wood, it is dangerous. Not only will it cause wood tear out, it can violently grab the wood or router from your hand.


Without pictures of your guitar, It would be hard to give you a good step by step on how to fix your problem. But I would stay far away from wood putty or wood fillers. Most of them are just awful.

Right - for cavities, I use a drill press with a forstner bit to remove most of the wood.
The chipping on the body - the grain orientation changes as you go around the curve. You could feed it the opposite way at this point, just to get around the curve. They call this climb cutting -do a little google-ing -it can be dangerous.

Also, its a big investment but this is a great help for sanding close to the line before you route. There's a reason so many people here have them.

http://www.homedepot.com/buy/tools-hardware-power-tools-sanders-polishers-spindle-sanders/ridgid-oscillating-edge-belt-spindle-sander-169302.html

2. You should be using a template and bearing guided bits on a router table as much as possible.

We started out going that route (no pun intended) but that's when we were seeing burns in the wood and chipping. Again, had we cut closer to the outline of the guitar, it probably wouldn't have happened, but we thought we were being safe by leaving that much leeway. Lesson learned.

Our original plan was to use a bandsaw for the outline, but the blade kept getting stuck. Then when we went to the jigsaw, we figured we'd leave ourselves some room as not to cut over the line in case the saw slipped.

The router notches aren't deep at all, I'm most concerned with the chipping which is deeper than I'd like, but also probably worse in my head. We're finishing in a solid (LPB) so hopefully the wood filler won't be the worst option, but if there are other approaches to fixing small-ish chips, I'm all ears.

Before we continue...any advice regarding the roundover? We're going to use a 1/2" roundover. I'm guessing table routing is a must here, anything else? What about doing the roundover after we do the contours?

I've had some luck using large plug cutters and forstner bits to repair problems like this.

Also regarding the roundover...do we just use a 1/2" roundover bit and go all at once? Or is this something else where we'd want to go in small increments with more passes?

If that's a stupid question let me apologize for my ignorance, my buddy is more the woodworking guy.

Automotive fillers or two part epoxy work much better than wood fillers. Most wood fillers do not adhere well, and shrink over time( even the ones who advertise no shrinkage).

Just like routing the sides and what not, small passes are safer and much cleaner. So you should make a few passes to do your roundover. If you do it all at once, you are likely going to get a lot of tears in the end grain.

Automotive fillers or two part epoxy work much better than wood fillers. Most wood fillers do not adhere well, and shrink over time( even the ones who advertise no shrinkage).

Just like routing the sides and what not, small passes are safer and much cleaner. So you should make a few passes to do your roundover. If you do it all at once, you are likely going to get a lot of tears in the end grain.

Thanks Colt, and everyone else! I appreciate the help.

I suggest going to colt's profile and checking out some of his builds, he is very tallented, and a great teacher. When I route things I will usually do this... Route 1/2 to 2/3 of material then make about two or three (or more!) more passes to get it to final depth. Make sure your last pass is barely taking any material of, this will leave a nice, smooth, burn free route. It's actually safer to go closer to the line, if you are going to flush trim, as it will not have any tearouts.

Regarding your roundover. Use a router table and advance the cutter about 1/8" upwards at a time. That way you are sneaking up on the full radius and not taking it off all at once. Also you need to watch the places where the grain reverses direction because it will rip wood right off the edges there. Make sure your bearing stays on the sides and doesn't run into a jack hole or body contour.

In case seeing what we did wrong helps, here's some picks of the top damage at the wide curve:

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-6VqMJSfifEU/UC5csx288VI/AAAAAAAACRY/u05B93BAsdw/s1176/DSC03367.jpg

https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-I1uNZ33LPlM/UC5dCS5zcmI/AAAAAAAACR4/hWSv-OR_SOA/s1176/DSC03387.jpg

https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-AP2R_cveBsc/UC5dH_r5j1I/AAAAAAAACSI/4iOuZCBMz2E/s1181/DSC03386_DxO.jpg


Here's the damage at the upper horn:


https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-fv40xeBl9hw/UC5cwvE8r5I/AAAAAAAACSY/rz5FQIUsopA/s1176/DSC03368.jpg

https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-3L-xh0rjlCI/UC5dFyIetiI/AAAAAAAACSA/TKTjtDm3Oos/s1181/DSC03388_DxO.jpg


And one at the bottom:


https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-0dz712V70oE/UC5c1Q94yKI/AAAAAAAACRo/_rjDmhTFc44/s1176/DSC03369.jpg


And here's the top view:


https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-JcBGOgbBgfM/UC5cqWXWAuI/AAAAAAAACRU/4l21bHtrhuA/s1181/DSC03366_DxO.jpg

you didn't happen to keep the chips? You can usually always glue it back in..

You can sand the bulk off those away without any discernable visual perimeter difference. Areas around the neck pocket and pickguard should not be heavily sanded or things will not line up

I go through a quart of Bondo a year...

of course I throw away 7/8 of a quart every spring after I discover that it does not winter-over very well...

I would sand all of that out with a ROSS.

I am not in the same class as these builders, so what what it is worth...
Are you sure you want a half-inch radius? Seems really big to me.
Regarding your but being too short, did you take the template off? With a one inch long bit, the template needs to be removed for me to get the last pass with my router.

Yep... You could just sand all those out and nobody would even notice the difference!

I am not in the same class as these builders, so what what it is worth...
Are you sure you want a half-inch radius? Seems really big to me.
Regarding your but being too short, did you take the template off? With a one inch long bit, the template needs to be removed for me to get the last pass with my router.

It would be a lot for a Tele, but Strats, Jaguars and Jazzmasters use a wide roundover. From what I read, the Fender factory actually uses 7/16" (or at least they did back in the day), but people recommend 1/2" if DIY'ing it as the 1/16" difference won't be noticeable and it's difficult to find a 7/16" roundover.

At least...I hope I read that right.

Thanks for all the advice guys. The cavity routing is now complete. This thing looks like a guitar now and everything seems to fit well.

Only other problem we ran into was this: we drilled a bit too deep with the Forstner bit in the pickup cavity. Actually we drilled to the proper depth, but the Forstner bit left some small holes from the little spike at the bottom of it. For the other cavities we left some room for those holes to be routed out. I'm not at all worried about that though as the copper shield will cover the visible holes in the cavity.

The roundover will happen Sunday or Monday. I'm guessing we should sand the sides prior to starting the roundover?

It would be a lot for a Tele, but Strats, Jaguars and Jazzmasters use a wide roundover. From what I read, the Fender factory actually uses 7/16" (or at least they did back in the day), but people recommend 1/2" if DIY'ing it as the 1/16" difference won't be noticeable
Cool, I did not know that.

Don't woory about the marks from the forstner bit in the PU pockets. Nobody will ever see them unless your pickups fall out. If that happens you have bigger problems than little holes in the bottom of your pockets. :grin:

Don't woory about the marks from the forstner bit in the PU pockets. Nobody will ever see them unless your pickups fall out. If that happens you have bigger problems than little holes in the bottom of your pockets. :grin:

Yeah, I wasn't too worried about those. Just something to keep in mind should we ever do another build. I'm glad we thought that through before starting the neck pocket, as we left ourselves some space there.