Router advise

[Don O]

@NedRyerson
thank you for your thoughtful and indepth response. Hopefully this thread will help others and was not a waste of time. For me personally, I am cutting my loses and stopping at $125, the cost of the 2 blanks and caberina template. Making a guitar from a blank is above my skills set, i was benge shopping on ebay and, well... shit happens. I will end up giving them to someone, maybe school wood shop.

 

[NedRyerson]

@NedRyerson
thank you for your thoughtful and indepth response. Hopefully this thread will help others and was not a waste of time. For me personally, I am cutting my loses and stopping at $125, the cost of the 2 blanks and caberina template. Making a guitar from a blank is above my skills set, i was benge shopping on ebay and, well... shit happens. I will end up giving them to someone, maybe school wood shop.

Totally understand. Hopefully, the bug hits you again in the future and you'll eventually join us "body builders."

(I'm by no means the weight-lifting bodybuilder; too small naturally and also love beer way too much)

 

[u.9]

I've never used a router, but I have run manual and CNC lathes and mills and various other machines (a Colchester manual lathe above 3000rpm is as nervewracking as cutting parts on an expensive 5-axis Okuma CNC). As with any cutting tool, just choose quality over cost, never use a dulled cutter, heed the manual and mfg's specs, keep within the rated speed and feed rate for the cutting tool and material, stay alert, wear your PPE, and regularly inspect your equip and you'll be fine. Remember, thousands of people, from noobs to pros, are safely routing everday because they follow the rules.

In my experience, kickback or crashing a machine was always the result of not understanding something I was working with (tool, cutter, material, process, or environment) and is avoidable given our easy access to information. Tool mfg's publish specs for every cutter to guide you in its safe and efficient use. I was far too old when I learned that some materials cut way better, faster, and safer at lower RPMs and feeds! The extra time it may take you to cut at a shallower depth and slower feed vs trying to hog it out is time you didn't spend starting over on a new workpiece or in the ER (and your tools last longer!).

I'm still a bit apprehensive about hand-held routers but am easing myself into it with a Dremel/router base setup (on order) to practice inlay, then simple binding, then upgrade to a trim/laminate router for the same before attempting bigger jobs.

 

[TonyFlyingSquirrel]

Slow, safe, and precise.

 

[Hodgo]

Ok so you won’t do it but for future reference builders should avoid using those 1” bits from Home Depot… way too much material removal for hardwood and you have to elevate the template to make it work right. Stick with the shorties and make shallow passes.

 

[NedRyerson]

I'm still a bit apprehensive about hand-held routers but am easing myself into it with a Dremel/router base setup (on order) to practice inlay, then simple binding, then upgrade to a trim/laminate router for the same before attempting bigger jobs.

Funny how I went in the opposite direction! I started by cutting a Tele body, then other body shapes, then custom headstocks, and am now into binding. Inlays will be next after I start crafting necks from scratch.

 

[u.9]

Funny how I went in the opposite direction! I started by cutting a Tele body, then other body shapes, then custom headstocks, and am now into binding. Inlays will be next after I start crafting necks from scratch.

That is actually the logical progression, working from rough to fine. Somehow I always felt more comfortable with fine work and was scared of the big saws and cutters (or really the horror stories ).

 

[NedRyerson]

That is actually the logical progression, working from rough to fine. Somehow I always felt more comfortable with fine work and was scared of the big saws and cutters (or really the horror stories ).

It's totally understandable to be scared. I am, every time I have to go across the end grain!