Another Double Strat Build with time tracking. Picture Heavy

[CptRyg]

I have a commission for a strat (mid 70s model, Olympic White, with a mint green pick guard, upside down righty) Any guesses? This is my first diversion from a telecaster!

I’ve got enough wood to run a second concurrent build. No plans yet on the finish. I’m thinking transparent white with gold hardware. I’ve also been a fan of the trans gray burst. Any other ideas at this point are welcome.

I have a 1 piece swamp ash board that is light as a feather. See below!

In addition to posting this build I am also including screen shots from my time tracking ap. I’ve had several people ask me how much time I have into these and I always throw a ball park guess of 100 hours or so and I have no idea how close I am. So feel free to laugh at me for being a slow poke or to offer suggestions how I can go Lean Six Sigma on my workflow.



My new RK master templates laid out and traced on MDF to make my working templates



Cut close to my line using a band saw and Im taking it right to the line with my Rigid ROSS.



Using the sanding sleeves on the concave curves…
At this point I have about an hour and a half into this project which isn’t captured in my last screen shot photo.



Switching to the belt for the outer curves.



After sanding out any bumpy anomalies by hand I have completed templates with attachment screw holes in the recommended positions countersunk on both sides (for Lefty or Righty builds)



And here is my stock! 21 pounds total for about $137 shipped.
That’s a spectacular deal at $67 per guitar and a sizable chunk of scrap.



This is the vender



Traced out my templates.
From here I used the jig saw to cut between the two future gutars and tablesawed the end scrap off.



This is what I have to work with at the band saw.



This is my scrap. Any ideas? Don’t say a cutting board!



Band saw. Getting close to the line.
This is actually a little too close but it all worked out.



Here are the 2 rough cuts.



And now for thickness. Taking it several passes from 2 inches down to 1.75”.
No tear out with this wood and was pleasantly surprised after all the maple I’d been working with.



1.75” exactly



And now I get to use my new $72 spiral bit for the second and third time. What a pleasure! Was able to do the whole thickness with one pass and not having to use a top bearing bit and then a bottom bearing bit to do each half of the thickness in one pass on each side.

I just ordered my ½” roundover bit from Amazon for later on in this project.



Pretty dang good If I do say so myself.
Next step is the back cavity followed by the front cavities.



And here I have 3:46 + the first hour and a half in templates for a total of about 5:15.

[telemaster1953]

this will be fun to watch

[Novatuc]

Hello CptRyg, looking good so far. Are you actually saying the spiral bit went all around the body in one direction with no tearout anywhere? Do you still need to go over it with the Ridgid sander?

[CptRyg]

I got pretty close with bandsaw. On the first one it went smooth. The second one had a pretty bad mishap on the first bite that I'm repairing. I tweaked my bit a bit so high speed is now too much wobble. I dropped the speed down to 13000 rpm and it cut just fine still. Lesson learned on tool speed.

[Nick JD]

That Ash looks supurb. I'd be tempted to clear fill it and clear coat it.

[CptRyg]

Well I debated on whether or not to post about my less than perfect second run with last nights routing but we are all about learning from mistakes and I want full disclosure here.

So here is the booboo



It happened on initial contact with the bit kicked back and took a chunk out of the horn. After that the alignment of the bit was a little off and spinning at 21,000 RPM was too much. Bottoming the Porter Cable down to 13,000 RPM did the trick and it seems to cut better. There is the lesson learned there.

So I finished up the route and pulled the template.



Mashed in the Plasti-Wood. Also notice the other applications on the back bout. That’s where the kerf from the band saw got a little close. I don’t think it would have been a problem but the router accident probably tweaked the template over a bit.



Today it’s dried hard so I scraped it down even on the front and back with a razor blade, reattached the template and took it back to the router to get the bulk of the goop level to the edge and finished it up with hand sanding.

Most of this will be taken care of with the ½” radius on each side and of course it will have a solid color.



Pretty quick fix. Less than 20 minutes.



Here’s today’s time card. I rolled off an hour and a half for the first set of work with the templates that I missed and then the other 18:33 minutes were the fixup. Total thus far: 5:34

[bullfrogblues]

Looks great so far!
Just curious as to why you would cut out the bodies before planing. To me that seems like an accident waiting to happen. I always plane the complete board to thickness before cutting out shapes. If I get tear out or worse, I can scrap the piece without all the work done before hand.

[CptRyg]

Probably a good point. I haven't yet had the accident to teach me that lesson. My thought process was lass material = less wear on the machine and blades. Cutting the bodies out was a 5 minute task each.

[pavel]

Originally Posted by CptRyg

So here is the booboo



It happened on initial contact with the bit kicked back and took a chunk out of the horn.

I had the same happen once, using the same spiral bit setup, etc., starting the cut at the tip of the horn -- since then I always start the cut in a straighter portion of the body contour/downhill grain and haven't had a problem since.

Looks like you should still be good for a sunburst to show off the beautiful grain. :-)

[CptRyg]

Yeah I realized that last night!

[CptRyg]

So here is the weight according to the BathroomScale5000 prior to tonight’s work. I’m thinking these are going to be around 3 ½ pounds when I’m done. Anyone want to take the Over/Under?



Tonight’s task is to route out the tone block cavity. But before I do that I have to go back to the template phase and build a temporary filler that my template bit will need as a guide. Since this space is routed to 2 different depths I will need to cut the deeper hole first where the strings come through.



Simple tracing from the template and a straight edge.



Cut out and finessed with the sander for a tight fit.



First I’m cutting out the wider portion of the cavity to a depth of 1 5/8” which leaves 1/8” of thickness. Then comes the main portion to a depth of ¾”.



My bit has 1” of cutting surface so it will have to be done in several passes. Nothing new here to most. First pass is just under ¾”.



Next pass I maxed out my router height and got 1 1/8”



So off with the template and set the bit to exactly the depth of 1 5/8". I don’t need the template anymore since the shape was established already and the bit can ride on the cavity itself. From here I moved on to the second body to repeat the process.



Here I thought I had to solve a problem. For some reason I was thinking that my template was ¼” so my math wasn’t adding up. Since my bit has a 1” cutting surface and the bearing starts above that and my template is ¼” (even though it is actually ½”) and my desired depth is ¾” I needed a thicker template.
So here it shows that I used some ¼” ply as spacers under my template. Wasn’t necessary. But should one ever run into such a problem, here is a viable solution!



I’m feeling pretty good about the results for my short time in the shop tonight!
Next task will be the control cavities and the neck pocket on the front and finally using the other template!



Today’s time card: 1:22 is all for tonight but considering what was actually accomplished I’m not sure how I feel about it. The template piece only took 10 minutes leaving 36 minutes per guitar. This was only a 2 step process and there wasn’t a whole lot of material removed. Some time lost in the documentation of the project and some time taken in pondering lifes mysteries I’m sure. I know I was constantly busy and uninterrupted during that time.

Total Time: 6:54

[CptRyg]

And just to show off a little, this is what I got myself for Christmas!

[Stratburst]

Originally Posted by pavel

Looks like you should still be good for a sunburst to show off the beautiful grain. :-)

Yes! That body is screaming for a classic sunburst; shame about the boo-boo but the black paint on the side will mask that nicely and leave the lovely grain exposed on the top and back.

Great thread, BTW. Keep the posts coming!

[mgdesigns]

What about the Strat necks being rounded at the base of the heel?

[Jack Wells]

Originally Posted by CptRyg

There is the lesson learned there.

And what was that lesson?

[CptRyg]

@Jack Wells: That faster is not always better (don't take that out of context)

@mgd: I don't understand the question.

I was just noticing that there are a total of 4 threads with 7 Strat builds in action on the telecaster forum. That is quite an anomilie here!

[Jack Wells]

Your tear out occurred where most people experience tear out. Looks to me like you were going in the wrong direction and/or taking too big a bite.

Looking at your picture once again, I say you definitely took too big a bite.

[CptRyg]

Yeah I'm not sure what I could have done different in this case. It wasn't the wrong direction and there was less than 1/8" of material. As soon as I touched bit to board the blank was ripped out of my hand.

No work for me last night but I might have a chance to get out there during my lunch break!

[adirondak5]

Originally Posted by CptRyg

Yeah I'm not sure what I could have done different in this case. It wasn't the wrong direction and there was less than 1/8" of material. As soon as I touched bit to board the blank was ripped out of my hand.

No work for me last night but I might have a chance to get out there during my lunch break!

Just a suggestion when using that spiral bit , same bit I use , when I route bodies or necks I use the ROSS first and sand right to the line , usually when I get to the router I am usually taking off less than a 16th , and I always start my routing on a straighter area of the body or neck. I love that I can do one pass routing , tear out free , but I think you need to prep. for routing just a touch more with these bits , just my opinion. BTW , great repair on the tear out .

[CptRyg]

Thanks, The previous body went so much smoother Next time I'm deffinately finessing my lines better in prep. I'd started further back where it was more flat. It jumped a couple times and took the chunk out of the horn.

I just got back from my lunch break where I got a very satisfying half hour in the shop. I carved out the cavities from the front of one guitar to a 3/4" depth throughout. Still have to make the electrics parts of the cavity down to 1.5". Haven't touched the neck pocket yet.

I'd like to point out the fact that I was in a t-shirt on Jan 6 in Northern Illinois.