Truss Rod Channel Jig

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Diane Kauffmds
Posts: 3246
Joined: Sun Mar 09, 2014 8:13 pm

Truss Rod Channel Jig

Post by Diane Kauffmds »

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
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Diane Kauffmann
Country Roads Guitars
countryroadsguitars@gmail.com
ruby@magpage.com
Posts: 1564
Joined: Thu May 24, 2012 8:03 am
Location: Chestertown Maryland

Re: Truss Rod Channel Jig

Post by ruby@magpage.com »

very clever Diane. Looks like it could easily be adjusted to rout a CF groove either side of the truss rod by clamping against one side, then flipping the blank to get the other edge against the side.

Ed
Ed M
Kevin Sjostrand
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Location: Visalia, CA

Re: Truss Rod Channel Jig

Post by Kevin Sjostrand »

Nice and simple way to go Diane and thanks for sharing
Danl8
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Location: Chadds Ford, PA

Re: Truss Rod Channel Jig

Post by Danl8 »

Ingenuity at its best!
lonecedar959
Posts: 52
Joined: Tue May 09, 2017 5:34 am

Re: Truss Rod Channel Jig

Post by lonecedar959 »

Thanks for sharing Diane - I need this and will be building it.
Diane Kauffmds
Posts: 3246
Joined: Sun Mar 09, 2014 8:13 pm

Re: Truss Rod Channel Jig

Post by Diane Kauffmds »

lonecedar959 wrote:Thanks for sharing Diane - I need this and will be building it.
Glad it helped you.
Diane Kauffmann
Country Roads Guitars
countryroadsguitars@gmail.com
tippie53
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Location: Hegins, Pa
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Re: Truss Rod Channel Jig

Post by tippie53 »

sweet way to make a slot.
Did good you did
John Hall
Blues Creek Guitars Inc
Authorized CF Martin Repair Center
president of Association of Stringed Instrument Artisans
http://www.bluescreekguitars.com
Diane Kauffmds
Posts: 3246
Joined: Sun Mar 09, 2014 8:13 pm

Re: Truss Rod Channel Jig

Post by Diane Kauffmds »

Thank you John.
Diane Kauffmann
Country Roads Guitars
countryroadsguitars@gmail.com
lonecedar959
Posts: 52
Joined: Tue May 09, 2017 5:34 am

Re: Truss Rod Channel Jig

Post by lonecedar959 »

Hi Diane

Looking at these pictures it looks like there is a "Metal" piece to the inside of the 2x4's. Is that true and what exactly is it that you did?

Thanks

-Pat
Diane Kauffmds
Posts: 3246
Joined: Sun Mar 09, 2014 8:13 pm

Re: Truss Rod Channel Jig

Post by Diane Kauffmds »

lonecedar959 wrote:Hi Diane

Looking at these pictures it looks like there is a "Metal" piece to the inside of the 2x4's. Is that true and what exactly is it that you did?
Qu
Thanks

-Pat
Hi Pat,

Hopefully these steps will clarify everything. I went into detail for the benefit of anyone else who's interested. Please let me know if you have anymore questions.

Yes, I used 4 pronged t-nuts for wood to accommodate the eyebolts. I put a picture below. You can use any size bolts that you want, just match the t-nuts. I used eyebolts with 1/4 x 20 thread (the most common thread, which is 20 turns per 1"). They're 1/4" in diameter x 2" long.

The base is a piece of leftover mdf that's 17" x 12". You can use anything for the base that you have laying around. I also used 1 piece of scrap 2x4, which I sawed in half, so make 2 pieces, 1.75" x 1.75"x 17" long.

After cleaning up the edges, i drilled 1/4" holes through each of the 17" strips, centered top to bottom, to accommodate the t-nuts, and inserted the nuts. The t-nuts are 5" from each end of the strip, so that they're across from each other.

To make a guide for my Rigid router, I glued each of the 1.75" x 17" pieces of wood to the mdf, 3 1/2" apart, which is the width of my Rigid router base.

I drew a centerline between the glued strips of wood.

I can quickly lay a neck blank into the jig and line up the centerline I've drawn on the neck, with the centerline on the jig, by using the eyebolts. The router runs right up the center, routing a perfectly centered channel.
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Diane Kauffmann
Country Roads Guitars
countryroadsguitars@gmail.com
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