Routing Top and Back Flush

Questions and answers for beginners. If you have a question, so do most other people.
Stray Feathers
Posts: 677
Joined: Sun Sep 08, 2013 11:39 pm
Location: Ladysmith, BC

Re: Routing Top and Back Flush

Post by Stray Feathers »

I agree - be careful. If you have a fine coping saw, you might very carefully use that to trim back the widest overhang on the back, supporting the wood as you cut. Better than breaking a beautiful back! Bruce W.
scamp
Posts: 223
Joined: Sat Mar 26, 2022 8:19 pm

Re: Routing Top and Back Flush

Post by scamp »

Great suggestions and feedback.
I think I'm going to trim down the sides by sanding or files ( what ever works best ) to less than 3/8" and buy a 1/2 inch flush router ( the the bearing on the bottom ).
Also going to build a mock guitar top and sides out of scrap wood and practice a lot before I turn the router on the real thing.
Skarsaune
Posts: 239
Joined: Mon Dec 03, 2018 9:12 am

Re: Routing Top and Back Flush

Post by Skarsaune »

Kevin Sjostrand wrote: Thu Apr 21, 2022 7:12 pm It can grab in a heart beat and tear off a chunk with the grain. That happened to a friend of mine once.
Off topic, but gotta be a Robbie O’Brien fan. That’s his favorite luthiery joke.

On topic - definitely get the bulk of that material off before firing up the router.
Diane Kauffmds
Posts: 3246
Joined: Sun Mar 09, 2014 8:13 pm

Re: Routing Top and Back Flush

Post by Diane Kauffmds »

If it were my build, I'd use a saw to take that large overhang off, not the router. The chance of the router grabbing is too high. A fine coping saw, like a jewelers saw, would be perfect. A fine blade would work.

Regardless of saw, I'd lay it on its back, on the bench, with the overhang protruding off of the bench. Try to keep the back and overhang supported, so that the saw can't pull the wood away from the guitar. With support, it won't break very easily.
Diane Kauffmann
Country Roads Guitars
countryroadsguitars@gmail.com
scamp
Posts: 223
Joined: Sat Mar 26, 2022 8:19 pm

Re: Routing Top and Back Flush

Post by scamp »

Spent the morning sanding.
Used 60 grit on the rosewood.
Took awhile but I think I'm ready for the router once I get some practice under my belt.
Thanks again for all the helpful input and saving my butt yet again.
There are so many ways to mess this up.

By the way, a shout out to John Hall for his quality kit, jigs etc. and input.
Sanded the top down so I could attach the neck and take a quick look at alignment.
Neck was perfectly aligned ( right down the center and perfectly angled so with a straight edge from the neck (without the fret plate) to the bridge location was almost exactly 1/8 inch off the top ).
Amazing!
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Diane Kauffmds
Posts: 3246
Joined: Sun Mar 09, 2014 8:13 pm

Re: Routing Top and Back Flush

Post by Diane Kauffmds »

Great job!
Diane Kauffmann
Country Roads Guitars
countryroadsguitars@gmail.com
TEETERFAN
Posts: 342
Joined: Fri Sep 07, 2018 12:43 pm
Location: Kansas City, MO

Re: Routing Top and Back Flush

Post by TEETERFAN »

Looks like you’re making good progress. You are smart to take your time and to be super careful doing procedures you haven’t done before.
Kevin Doty
Kansas City
scamp
Posts: 223
Joined: Sat Mar 26, 2022 8:19 pm

Re: Routing Top and Back Flush

Post by scamp »

Thought you might be interested...

Taking everyone's advice to practice before taking a router to a real guitar I built a mock guitar top to practice on.
Made a cut out of the guitar on 3/4 inch plywood and then ripped some pine strips about 3 inches wide and 0.1 inches thick and glued them to the top with the grain running in the right direction and with overhand so I could practice trimming the top flush.
IMG_1996.JPEG
I then got up enough guts to do the real thing and success!!
IMG_1998.JPEG
Thanks again for all the help.

Scamp
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Last edited by scamp on Sun Apr 24, 2022 12:38 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Stray Feathers
Posts: 677
Joined: Sun Sep 08, 2013 11:39 pm
Location: Ladysmith, BC

Re: Routing Top and Back Flush

Post by Stray Feathers »

Nicely done!
TEETERFAN
Posts: 342
Joined: Fri Sep 07, 2018 12:43 pm
Location: Kansas City, MO

Re: Routing Top and Back Flush

Post by TEETERFAN »

Good job! I took practice runs routing my binding channels. You definitely will need do many test routes dialing in your adjustments.
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Kevin Doty
Kansas City
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