Let's build a black guard

[Colt W. Knight]

Originally Posted by Jdelys

Glad to hear about the happiness with the jointer. I need to buy a bandsaw first but will probably buy that same jointer with the spiral cutterhead afterwards. Do you like the parrallelogram adjustment?

Parrallelogram jointers are the way to go in my opinion. They are much easier to work with compared to those old rail/wedge and dovetail setups.

[Colt W. Knight]

* warning - cell phone pictures

Did a little cutting after the body laminations had ample time to dry.

I cut close to the line on the bandsaw





Oh yeah, that glued up nicely



Then I sand close to the line removing any jagged areas that could cause tearout issues.

Convex curves with the belt



Concave curves with spindles



I hit it with a sander quickly so you could see how well the join line came out.

[R. Stratenstein]

Perfect joints. Great job Colt, it's looking goooood !

[kwerk]

This is great Colt. I'm pretty sure my next will be a BG, so this is ideal timing for me.

[Colt W. Knight]

A lot of folks ask me what I use to attach my templates, and I reply, Duck Brand double sided duct tape.



After the template is attached, I use a 2" spiral bit to route the perimeter. One swipe, and I am done. Love these bits.



Let's take another look at the laminated joint



Cavities are then hawged out with a forstner bit

[Colt W. Knight]

Then I take a ruler and mark my key depths along the edge of the body. 11/16" for the neck pocket and neck pickup cavity. ( I believe the drawing says 5/8"). 7/8" for the bridge cavity, and I route the control cavity 1/4" from the bottom. On a 1 3/4" body, I route a full 1 1/2" deep cavity, but I like making these blackguards 1 5/8" or 1 9/16" thick.



While the depth is set to 11/16", I route all three cavities.



Then I change the depth to 7/8" and route the bridge pickup and the control cavity.

I can not route the control cavity to full depth with the template on, so that has to come off. However, before I remove the template, I drill the two outer string through holes about 1/4" deep.



Then I remove the template and route the control cavity to full depth.

[Colt W. Knight]

Afterwards, I affix my Neck Pocket template.



Hawg the pocket out with a forstner bit, and route it out.



Then I clean up the pocket using a sharp pocket knife and a piece of sand paper.





Then I added some edge round over using a 3/16" bit. Generally, its a good idea to sand the edges before this step, but I got ahead of myself. Worse case, I may have to run the roundover bit over the edge again. I doubt it will come to that, but even if it did, it only takes 15 seconds to run the router around the perimeter.



All the way around on the top, but on the back, I stop shy of the neck pocket area

[JeffPBlues]

Originally Posted by Colt W. Knight

A lot of folks ask me what I use to attach my templates, and I reply, Duck Brand double sided duct tape.



After the template is attached, I use a 2" spiral bit to route the perimeter. One swipe, and I am done. Love these bits.

Great work. I took your advise and used the Duck brand tape on my latest creation (http://www.tdpri.com/forum/tele-home...-sparkles.html). It worked very well for me too.

But I do have another question: where did you get your 2" spiral bit? I'd really like to try one of those on my next build. The straight flute bits just make tear outs too easy. Thanks!

[Colt W. Knight]

Here is a super cool jig made from the dimensions on Terry Downs Tele Pdf








It is 1" steel with the string through holes and bridge mounting holes drilled all the way through. I simple index the jig with (2) 1/8" drill bits, and drill the remaining holes. As I drill the middle holes, I can move the outside bits to the center to keep everything lined up and make room for the drill for the new holes. Then I drill the pilot holes for the bridge.

I only drill the string through holes about 3/8" deep. They don't need to go all the way through at this point.

[Colt W. Knight]

Originally Posted by JeffPBlues

Great work. I took your advise and used the Duck brand tape on my latest creation (http://www.tdpri.com/forum/tele-home...-sparkles.html). It worked very well for me too.

But I do have another question: where did you get your 2" spiral bit? I'd really like to try one of those on my next build. The straight flute bits just make tear outs too easy. Thanks!

I buy my router bits from here

Eagle America

MLCS Woodworking

I am pretty sure they are the same company because when I ordered router bits from them, they were shipped from the exact same address.


Outstanding job on that sparkle guitar. Looks brilliant. One question, is it equipped with Left handed tuners?

[JeffPBlues]

Originally Posted by Colt W. Knight

I buy my router bits from here

Eagle America

MLCS Woodworking

I am pretty sure they are the same company because when I ordered router bits from them, they were shipped from the exact same address.

Thank you....I'll check them out.

[tiskit86]

Originally Posted by JeffPBlues

But I do have another question: where did you get your 2" spiral bit? I'd really like to try one of those on my next build. The straight flute bits just make tear outs too easy. Thanks!

http://www.amazon.com/RFT5200-CARBID...8047898&sr=1-1


This is the one I have. Awesome bit, but expensive. Saves a ton of time on the router table. Also works great as a jointer if you don't have one.

[JeffPBlues]

Originally Posted by Colt W. Knight

Outstanding job on that sparkle guitar. Looks brilliant. One question, is it equipped with Left handed tuners?

Thanks! I didn't even see this part earlier. And to answer your question, I ordered Left sided tuners, but I'm pretty sure they were marked incorrectly, because they seem like right side tuners to me. And I already drilled the holes in the back of the headstock. The guy on Ebay gave me back my money, thankfully. Still, I'm going to have to remedy that situation eventually. I like the more modern, closed tuners. Do you have a good supplier of that type?

Have a good one! And thanks again for all the great knowledge.

[JeffPBlues]

Originally Posted by tiskit86

http://www.amazon.com/RFT5200-CARBID...8047898&sr=1-1


This is the one I have. Awesome bit, but expensive. Saves a ton of time on the router table. Also works great as a jointer if you don't have one.

Yep, that one looks pretty good too! A little less expensive than the one's at Eagle. Thanks!

[Buckocaster51]

Very nice.

Thanks for sharing.

Do you ever study?



Or are you finished with your program?

[63dot]

Very clean. I can't wait to see the body.

[Colt W. Knight]

Originally Posted by Buckocaster51

Very nice.

Thanks for sharing.

Do you ever study?



Or are you finished with your program?

I graduated with a Masters of Science a few weeks ago. Cummulative 4.0 gpa. Now I am looking for a PhD program. I have a prospects that I intend to visit over the summer.

[kwerk]

Doctor Colt?

Sounds like a great name for a TV show!

[telemaster1953]

great thread colt. congratulations on getting your Masters.

[acalan]

Happy to be back in your shop?