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Can i carve pickup cavities without a router?

#41
This is what you need. Not cheap, but cheaper than a powered router, and it won't take your finger off in a moment of inattention. Can use while drinking beer. I wouldn't buy the el cheapo version from China at Amazon, you need actual tool steel for the cutter and actual precision in manufacture. Lie-Nielsen probably sells one of these for twice or three times, but it'll be the most freaking beautiful hand tool you ever held. (I don't own any Lie-Nielsen tools. Maybe someday.) Key to using this tool is to shave a leetle bit at a time, at first just the tops of the bumps, then index down a couple thou and shave off bit more, till you get the floor of the cavity all smooth(ish).

Also, a tool like this you'll own the rest of your life.

Veritas Miniature Router Plane - Lee Valley Tools

Discover the Veritas Miniature Router Plane. Buy this product now on our Lee Valley online store.
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#42
First sorry about your noise police neighbors. In my community you can make any, and as much noise as
you like until 11:00 pm. I do not live in a urban area though.

Use a drill and Forstner bits to hog out most of the waste, then a nice sharp chisel to straighten the edges.
Take your time and go slow. I always use forstners for the bulk of removal even when using my router,
it's actually safer and more accurate than just using the router alone.

As stated above with a template you would be able to route them in minutes.

I have to ask @turf3, how exactly are you supposed to get that router plane into a pickup route?
 
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#43
Dirk Diggler said:
First sorry about your noise police neighbors. In my community you can make any, and as much noise as
you like until 11:00 pm. I do not live in a urban area though.

Use a drill and Forstner bits to hog out most of the waste, then a nice sharp chisel to straighten the edges.
Take your time and go slow. I always use forstners for the bulk of removal even when using my router,
it's actually safer and more accurate than just using the router alone.

As stated above with a template you would be able to route them in minutes.

I have to ask @turf3, how exactly are you supposed to get that router plane into a pickup route?
Click to expand...
The sole would sit on the surface of the bass body; the blade sticks down into the cavity. That's why you have to take a few thou at a time, then advance the blade, etc. Obviously you'll want to hog out most of the material with a drill and then break out the waste between the drill holes.

In general people are way too fixated on using power tools for jobs that can be done more quietly, more safely, and often almost as fast, with hand tools. Power tools have their place, but the default is too often to reach for the power tool. Sure, if I have to cut 100 studs to build a house, I'm reaching for the chop saw. But if I have a 4" piece of wood and I want to take 3/4" off it, I'd a hundred times rather do that job with a sharp handsaw than run a circular saw an inch away from my thumb, or figure out how to clamp it so I can use the circular saw safely. If I have to set hinge mortises for 25 doors, yeah, I'll use a mortise template and a router. Three mortises for one door? Chisel and mallet, always.

Heck for a pickup cavity you can't plunge cut that with a router anyway, so you're going to be drilling a bunch of holes to start anyway. So why not just go ahead and buy a drill stop, make all the holes of accurate depth, and proceed like I"m suggesting?
 
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#44
JJ08 said:
For pickups, I'm planning on buying a 5 string stingray and adding a precision and jazz bridge pickup (don't judge me). The precision pickup cavity would be covered by the custom stingray pickguard, but the jazz wouldn't (although the jazz is probably easier to carve/route)

Based on the advice of many others here, I'm gonna get LOTS of practice with chiselling before i even think about trying this. I don't have the time to build it until summer, and I'll probably wait until at the very least winter to try it, so i should have a good amount of practice by then
Click to expand...

Sounds cool! And yes, the jazz pickup cavity will definitely need to look nice.

I'm probably stating the obvious here, but I should probably have mentioned in my post above that the template+router method will need a ball bearing router bit, with the ball bearing guide at the top of the bit (like the ones you can get from StewMac). I've never found this type of ball bearing router bits at hardware stores, they only seem to have the ones with the ball bearing guide at the bottom, which would obviously be useless for routing pickup cavities.

With the right router bit and a template you can really do this is just 2-3 minutes (plus one or two test runs on scrap wood). Surely your neighbors can handle this? It will be LOUD, but only for a couple of minutes, and the result will most likely be considerably better looking than with a chisel, unless you spend a LOT of time practicing your chiselling skills Which can be fun of course, so by all means, if that's what you wanna do, GO FOR IT!
 
#45
My brother used hand tools to carve pickup routes on a guitar we made. All three took maybe an hour to do. Some adjustments were needed to make the pickups fit just right, but overall they were fine.
3eMKe9i.jpg
 
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#48
Deleted member 271037 said:
Sounds cool! And yes, the jazz pickup cavity will definitely need to look nice.

I'm probably stating the obvious here, but I should probably have mentioned in my post above that the template+router method will need a ball bearing router bit, with the ball bearing guide at the top of the bit (like the ones you can get from StewMac). I've never found this type of ball bearing router bits at hardware stores, they only seem to have the ones with the ball bearing guide at the bottom, which would obviously be useless for routing pickup cavities.

With the right router bit and a template you can really do this is just 2-3 minutes (plus one or two test runs on scrap wood). Surely your neighbors can handle this? It will be LOUD, but only for a couple of minutes, and the result will most likely be considerably better looking than with a chisel, unless you spend a LOT of time practicing your chiselling skills Which can be fun of course, so by all means, if that's what you wanna do, GO FOR IT!
Click to expand...
I have more free time than i know what to do with, plus the chiselling skills will be useful if/when i try to build a bass from scratch, so i think I'll use chisels and a forstner bit. Someone else in the thread suggested a mortising chisel, and i think I'll go with that
 
#54
turf3 said:
Days? Are you serious? for a little cavity that's what, 3" long and 1 1/2" wide and an inch deep? Pony up for a drill stop, drill a multitude of holes with the drill stop, break out the waste, smooth the bottom with a sharp chisel (minimal use of a mallet is even needed, mostly just push it by hand). Done. The perfect tool for that smoothing is the OWT (Old Woman's Tooth) but those aren't easy to find and not worth it for a one off job.
Click to expand...
The Old Woman's Tooth, also known as a router plane, is a great tool.

I own several different styles and sizes, some homemade.

My students were so impressed with the results they were able to achieve when using one of mine that several purchased router planed for themselves each semester.

The trick is to know which sizes work best under different circumstances, and knowing how to use them and keep them sharp.

I've snapped up several at garage sales for bargain prices because the original owner never learned to sharpen them, set them up, and use them effectively.

Most people don't know what they are when they see one.
 
#57
2groggy said:
:rolleyes: One bad move with a router and you spray your fingers on the wall.

If you plan to do this as a repeatable operation, use a template and a router. If this is a one-and-done, use hand tools. I've used both methods. Both require care and planning. Both can have professional results.
Click to expand...
I have modded basses and I build my own basses. If you don't know how to use a router then you shouldn't use one. I don't know of anyone who can do freehand with a router very well. I just make my own templates. Way easier and it helps keep wood and bodies out of the scrap pile.
 
#58
Thumpin6string said:
I have modded basses and I build my own basses. If you don't know how to use a router then you shouldn't use one. I don't know of anyone who can do freehand with a router very well. I just make my own templates. Way easier and it helps keep wood and bodies out of the scrap pile.
Click to expand...
Same response. If you're doing this repetitively, the power tool is a good way to go. Proper attention to safety is critical.

If you're doing it once, usually hand tools are the way to go. With most hand tools, the possibility for injury is self-limiting - you don't keep cutting into your finger once you've started.

I question whether making ONE or TWO recesses by [research power routers and bits; buy power tools; set up router; make template; practice on scrap to ensure accuracy of template; drill the multitude of holes; break out waste between holes, THEN finally power up the router and make the cut] is all that easier or less time compared to [order OWT; hone blade of OWT; drill all the holes, break out the waste, then run the OWT back and forth across the recess advancing a few thou at a time till smoothed out].
 
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#59
Matt Liebenau said:
It sounds like you don't have much, if any access to power tools? A drill press could go a decent way towards what you're looking to do. That or a carefully used drill, either power or hand, and Forstner bits to drill out most of the waste then have at it with the chisels. You could also look into a router plane to finish the bottom of the cavity. There's a few kits out there for router planes or a few DIY options. Check out the Wood by Wright channel on YouTube. He doesn't build instruments but does do almost everything with hand tools.

That's all assuming you have some experience with hand tools. It looks easy to do it that way but if you haven't worked with chisels and like take some time to learn how to sharpen them then get some scrap, even if it's just a construction 2x6 or something similar, and practice a few pickup routes.
Click to expand...
+1 for a drill press - find someone with one asnd borrow it for an hour or so - much cleaner, more accurate work and quicker too!
 

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