Pete Howlett
Well-known member
I haven't hand made an instrument in years. What I do is spend a lot of time producing jigs and templates that take out human error and allow me to produce consistentcy... Here are some basic ones for my most recent experiment in batch production inspired by Brad and others:
In the foreground is the jig used to size the fingerboards. This is made from the neck jig. behinf that is the rib profiler - all these are used with a router set in a simple table fitted with a template follower bit. The perspex pattern allows me to visualise and place the fronts and backs accurately and to the best advantage. Underneath is a 'rod' with principle dimensions and bar placement marked. To the right in the photo is an angle guage for setting the table on my disc sander to produce end blocks. next week I'll show how the neck pocket is cut using a router jig. It normally takes me just an hour to make a single jig. Necks for this project are done on my deadhead sander with a time saving of 20 minutes...
An engineering backgrtound comes in really useful on a project like this:
In the foreground is the jig used to size the fingerboards. This is made from the neck jig. behinf that is the rib profiler - all these are used with a router set in a simple table fitted with a template follower bit. The perspex pattern allows me to visualise and place the fronts and backs accurately and to the best advantage. Underneath is a 'rod' with principle dimensions and bar placement marked. To the right in the photo is an angle guage for setting the table on my disc sander to produce end blocks. next week I'll show how the neck pocket is cut using a router jig. It normally takes me just an hour to make a single jig. Necks for this project are done on my deadhead sander with a time saving of 20 minutes...
An engineering backgrtound comes in really useful on a project like this:
