Truss Rod Channel Jig
Posted: Fri Nov 23, 2018 8:35 pm
Some of you know I make posts about simple little solutions for those of us starting out on a shoe string. I needed to find a way to rout a truss rod pocket accurately in a variety of wood widths. I don't own a CNC router, and buying pre-roughed in necks can be expensive. At times I may carve a neck out of a solid piece of wood; other times I want to make a laminated neck. I wanted something that would work in all circumstances.
So, I raided my trash wood stash, and found a piece of leftover MDF, and a 2" x 4". I cut the MDF to 12" x 17" , and cut the 2"x 4" into 2- 17" long pieces. I made the MDF wide enough to easy accommodate clamping. I glued and screwed the 2x4 pieces, to the MDF, 3 1/2" apart (the width of my router base), which will accommodate any neck blank.
I ran up to my local hardware store and picked up 4 t-nuts and 4- 2" eyebolts. My router base had no marking for center so I notched each side and used a black sharpie pen to color the notch, which makes it easy to see and to easily locate center.
So now I can draw a centerline on the blank, lay it in the jig. The eyebolts easily and quickly adjust both ends so that the centerline on the blank, lines up with the center notches on my router base. They also clamp the blank in place while I rout.
The result is an accurate truss rod channel. Total cost: $4.96
So, I raided my trash wood stash, and found a piece of leftover MDF, and a 2" x 4". I cut the MDF to 12" x 17" , and cut the 2"x 4" into 2- 17" long pieces. I made the MDF wide enough to easy accommodate clamping. I glued and screwed the 2x4 pieces, to the MDF, 3 1/2" apart (the width of my router base), which will accommodate any neck blank.
I ran up to my local hardware store and picked up 4 t-nuts and 4- 2" eyebolts. My router base had no marking for center so I notched each side and used a black sharpie pen to color the notch, which makes it easy to see and to easily locate center.
So now I can draw a centerline on the blank, lay it in the jig. The eyebolts easily and quickly adjust both ends so that the centerline on the blank, lines up with the center notches on my router base. They also clamp the blank in place while I rout.
The result is an accurate truss rod channel. Total cost: $4.96