full scale body pattern?

[dNA]

So I was discussing the guitar build with my dad, who is an avid woodworking hobbyist. he's built some awesome furniture over the years and he has a huge stockpile of nice walnut in the basement.
Anyway, when he saw the strat body shape he was all like "I could make that." he also thought he could make a neck, because he has absolutely no grasp of the level of precision necessary to make a usable neck - and he didn't know anything about truss rods. But anyway, he wants to just try making a basic solid body like a tele or strat shape.
We might go the body blank route from W, or he might try and work something out first and then send it to someone for hardware routing.
He wanted to know if it's possible to get a full scale body pattern. I guess that's like something you just trace over the body blank? Any direction or suggestion as a good starting point for somebody who's never done that kind of thing before would be cool.
It'd be an experiment and if it comes out half decent i could throw a neck and hardware on it eventually!  :headbang:

 

[DangerousR6]

EBAY, plenty of people sell templates on there.... :icon_thumright:

 

[bbl4ck]

These folks have full templates for all kinds of guitars.  

http://www.guitarbuildingtemplates.com/electricguitar.htm

Good luck &  :rock-on:

 

[djf67]

http://www.unofficialwarmoth.com/index.php?topic=11349.0

 

[TonyFlyingSquirrel]

I'd be cautious with the masonite ones.  Use the right bit at the right depth.  I prefer to only use them as pre-template templates & have the actual templates made from 3/8" or 1/2" acrylic & have them laser cut by Tap Plastics.  They come out like the StewMac templates, just thicker & more durable.

 

[dNA]

I'd be cautious with the masonite ones.  Use the right bit at the right depth.  I prefer to only use them as pre-template templates & have the actual templates made from 3/8" or 1/2" acrylic & have them laser cut by Tap Plastics.  They come out like the StewMac templates, just thicker & more durable.

somehow that all went over my head. Why does it matter if the template is thicker?

 

[DangerousR6]

I'd be cautious with the masonite ones.  Use the right bit at the right depth.  I prefer to only use them as pre-template templates & have the actual templates made from 3/8" or 1/2" acrylic & have them laser cut by Tap Plastics.  They come out like the StewMac templates, just thicker & more durable.

somehow that all went over my head. Why does it matter if the template is thicker?

More surface for the follow bearing to ride on... :icon_thumright:

 

[TonyFlyingSquirrel]

I'd be cautious with the masonite ones.  Use the right bit at the right depth.  I prefer to only use them as pre-template templates & have the actual templates made from 3/8" or 1/2" acrylic & have them laser cut by Tap Plastics.  They come out like the StewMac templates, just thicker & more durable.

somehow that all went over my head. Why does it matter if the template is thicker?

More surface for the follow bearing to ride on... :icon_thumright:

& when you go deeper into the body, you can stack ride bearings to more accurately guide the bit by having uniform perimeter combinations of the template and routed wood from a previous routing (1st or 2nd route in 1/8 or 3/16" depths).  It makes sure that you routed dimensions match your template dimensions.  Also, on a neck through instrument, such as is pictured below, it allows the bottom plate of the router to travel over the top of the template with enough clearance that the router base will not hit the fingerboard either causing damage to the fingerboard or by botching up the pickup cavity route.
Here's a pic of a friend of mine, Neal Moser using one.  The only difference that I really prefer is a laser scribed centerline on all pickup & bridge routing templates similar to the way Stew Mac does them.  Having it scribed on the side that meets the wood helps to accurately line up the template atop bookmatched laminate tops, & assures that your strings will pass directly over the top of the pole pieces and that your bridge is properly centered as well.

 

[dNA]

Thanks guys. I have 0 knowledge of these tools or what ride bearings are... I'll have to run it by my dad and make sure he knows what's going on.
So looking at stewmac.com i see plans for guitars, but not templates.

For somebody like my dad who's a long time hobbyist doing furniture and stuff like that, would you say it's a fairly easy step to doing some more basic solid-body designs? I figured its like you carve a block of wood and make sure wherever you put the hardware routes must be alligned properly w/ the neck pocket and then i buy a W neck. Recommendations on a good starting point for a beginner?
Unfortunate thing about my dad is that his idea of collaboration is doing all the work himself and occasionally asking me to hand him a tool. He just doesn't know how to trust other people to do anything for him. So i dunno if i'll actually learn anything from the experience. But who knows. Could make a fun thing to pursue whenever i come home for the holidays.

 

[TonyFlyingSquirrel]

StewMac has them for routing, but not body shapes.
http://www.stewmac.com/Shopping;jsessionid=6D0A7F9ED837D3F2E973E1E556334BD2?actn=search&keyword=routing+templates

I always sugges starting with the centerline, then point to point intonation, from there the pickup routes, then begin figuring out the body shape, which will in turn determine how your control cavity route will need to be designed, then, make a master template with all routes included.

 

[dNA]

thanks so much!
My dad explained to me the whole thing w/ the ride bearing and how all that stuff works. the template guides the router and it essentially moves itself so you're not doing it by hand/eye.
I may try and pick up the plans/DVD deal they have for a basic strat style guitar and see how that goes. It sucks because I only have two months before I'm movin out and it won't be enough time to get any serious projects off the ground.

 

[baskruit]

Instead of paying 50,- for a laser cut template, I decided to try make one myself
I finished this piece today. I used a Squier body as a template so yeah, I already had a body to start with.
Damaged the Squier in the process (scratches and the router bit scraped away some finish) but no structural damage so it's still usable. All part of the learning curve.
And this was my third attempt... Beware of tummy cuts. I let the router bit follow the contours of the Squier and before you know it, it loses contact and eats up your jig...

Next week I'll probably go shopping for a nice piece of tonewood.

 

[dNA]

you want to make another one and sell it to me at a reasonable fee?

 

[baskruit]

If only I had a full strat body to start with.
And I'd love to help you out but I'm in Europe so the shipping costs alone to get it to you (undamaged!) would be pretty steep I think.

 

[dNA]

hey hey... Been thinkin - since I'm already building a tele so i'll be pretty good on the guitar front, i've been talking about building a bass. and my dad has a really really nice thick slab of walnut that would probably be perfect for a bass body - maybe I'll do a j-bass.
Baskruit, is that a j-bass template you made?

 

[baskruit]

hey hey... Been thinkin - since I'm already building a tele so i'll be pretty good on the guitar front, i've been talking about building a bass. and my dad has a really really nice thick slab of walnut that would probably be perfect for a bass body - maybe I'll do a j-bass.
Baskruit, is that a j-bass template you made?

It is. A couple of days ago I used an earlier template that I f'ed up around the tummy cut to also make a neck pocket template.

In the meantime I decided not to start working on the actual body just yet. At this moment it's either spending more money on tools and a slab of wood or buying a Warmoth J-neck that I can use on my crappy Squier body now and  attach to a custom body later. If only I could decide exactly what kind of neck to get... I'm SO ready to splurge.

 

[baskruit]

Now that I think of it, I should probably add the top route control cavity. I don't think I'll be using it for my actual body but it won't hurt to have it ready if I ever need it.

 

[dNA]

i'm guessing it wouldn't be cost effective to pay you for a copy of those mailed here?

 

[baskruit]

I'd have to check. Depends mostly on how much it all weighs.
If the whole package adds up to over one lbs, it would be 25 bucks in shipping costs alone.

 

[dNA]

I'd have to check. Depends mostly on how much it all weighs.
If the whole package adds up to over one lbs, it would be 25 bucks in shipping costs alone.

i'd really appreciate it. doesn't seem like there are many/any good j-bass templates/plans readily available out there