DIY: Enlarging pickup cavity: Dremel or chisel?

[wyrmspawn]

The title basically says it all: I have a TMB505, in which I want o swap the bridge PU for a Nordy Big Split. The original Nordy split is 3mm wider (and 5 mm shorter) than its Ibanez CND counter part (why did they do that???). The body wood is Okoume which is painted.
What is the best DIY technique to get a good result?
best wishes for 2023 to all of you!
Alex

 

[DECOSTAJ]

If the options are those two tools only, chisel or dremel, I would use both.
The chisel for the straight areas. Dremel for the radiused corners.
You might want to think about "scoring" the new outline in the paint to forgo the pressure of chiseling causing chip out.
A router would be nice with a template, but a lot could go wrong quick!

I've used an extremely sharp chisel, dremel drum sanding tools on a J bass to do the same. If you have skills, go for it... if any doubts at all bring to a luthier.

 

[buldog5151bass]

With a Drexel type tool, without a template, straight lines are difficult.

 

[byacey]

If you are using chisels, make sure they are razor sharp. You could use a rounded gouge to do the radius in the corners.

 

[202dy]

Atomic bomb or a BB? Not a lot of choice here.

The right tool for the job is a router plus a good template. Use a bit with a bearing.

Laminate trimmer, essentially a lightweight router, is a good second choice.

A Dremel is a micro-router. Good for tiny stuff. It was not designed for hogging through two inches of hardwood an inch deep. Not great for cleanup after choosing the nuclear option, either.

All other choices are inadequate, unprofessional, frustrating, and have the potential for disaster.

 

[byacey]

A shaep chisel in skilled hands can do amazing things. I build violins entirely using a saw, gouges, chisels, planes and scrapers.
The neck and scroll also are carved using these same tools to a finished state ready for varnish. No routers or Dremel tool needed.

 

[Jeff Scott]

I too, have done the chisel method with excellent results.

 

[202dy]

A shaep chisel in skilled hands can do amazing things. I build violins entirely using a saw, gouges, chisels, planes and scrapers.
The neck and scroll also are carved using these same tools to a finished state ready for varnish. No routers or Dremel tool needed.

Those are great tools for violin building. One might even say the appropriate tools for violin building. Especially when sharpened by the skilled hands using them.

Sharp chisels in skilled hands can do fine work. The problem is finding the skilled hands. And knowing the difference between sharp and sharp enough. More damage is done faster with "sort of" sharp chisels in the hands of folks (well meaning, of course) with minimal or mediocre hand skills.

The discussion is not whether it can be done with this tool or that, it is whether it should be done with this tool or that. Dremels are for great for fine work. They are not designed for removing gross material.

Yes, with time and patience anything can be done with any tool. But the right tool for the right job has been the mantra for centuries. Probably millennia.

 

[byacey]

But you want to turn loose some unskilled hands with a router?

 

[202dy]

Of course not.

The best solution for the unskilled is to pay a professional to do the work.

However, there is a case to be made that a careful, though unskilled, person with a template and a router will produce a better result that the same person with a chisel.

Both will have to practice on scrap. Which is good advice for all of us, whether pro or dedicated amateur.

 

[DECOSTAJ]

Anyways the Guys looking to remove 3mm of wood. Those tools he put forth the question about, might be familiar in his hands.
Wide azz Chisel is the better of the tools mentioned, easy to make nice straight edges and that wood cuts like butter.

Guess the chisel is not the best tool for Metal, only good for Sonata's, to some. I would Rock it!

 

[Bruce Johnson]

There's a tool missing from this discussion: A drill press and a couple of Forstner bits.

If you don't have a router, it's fairly easy to use a drill press and Forstner bit to hog out most of the wood of a pickup cavity. Then, a small amount of work with a sharp chisel to slice off the points and make the sides straight. And a little bit with a Dremel to clean up the radiused corners.

 

[Jeff Scott]

Yes, with time and patience anything can be done with any tool. But the right tool for the right job has been the mantra for centuries. Probably millennia.

A favorite concept that I learned from the TD when I studied technical theatre last century was about the selective misuse of tools.

 

[byacey]

There's a tool missing from this discussion: A drill press and a couple of Forstner bits.

If you don't have a router, it's fairly easy to use a drill press and Forstner bit to hog out most of the wood of a pickup cavity. Then, a small amount of work with a sharp chisel to slice off the points and make the sides straight. And a little bit with a Dremel to clean up the radiused corners.

Except it sound like he only needs to remove 3mm or 1/8". A forstner will be of little use in this instance.
I still maintain a 1 inch razor sharp chisel would be the simplest and most expedient.

 

[GTHintz]

The title basically says it all: I have a TMB505, in which I want o swap the bridge PU for a Nordy Big Split. The original Nordy split is 3mm wider (and 5 mm shorter) than its Ibanez CND counter part (why did they do that???). The body wood is Okoume which is painted.
What is the best DIY technique to get a good result?
best wishes for 2023 to all of you!
Alex

I'd use an oscillating multi tool. It helped me clean up some ugly routes on a cheap mod bass I have. It's good for straight lines and the cutter head I used has depth markers to help you know how deep you get.

 

[byacey]

My experience with those is that you can do a lot of damage quickly. This isn't a tool designed for fine finish work.

 

[Jeff Scott]

I'd use an oscillating multi tool. It helped me clean up some ugly routes on a cheap mod bass I have. It's good for straight lines and the cutter head I used has depth markers to help you know how deep you get.

My experience with those is that you can do a lot of damage quickly. This isn't a tool designed for fine finish work.

Ditto.

 

[GTHintz]

My experience with those is that you can do a lot of damage quickly. This isn't a tool designed for fine finish work.

It's easy to fudge things but that's true with pretty much everything. That's why we go slow and steady and don't get impatient. I only mentioned a multi tool because I don't have a router or a Dremel tool but I use a multi tool a lot doing construction and it gets the job done for many different things. I keep that and the chisel next to each other.