I'm sick of build threads. I came for the entertainment!
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Down the rabbit hole again - Project 4350
- Thread starter ChickWithaRic
- Start date
I literally LOL'ed at this.
See? National treasure.
2031 more than this:
Pretty sure it might also be the post number showing the completed bass, but that remains to be seen...
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Anybody can start a build thread, witty banter takes talent.
Oh ok so, anyway, brief tool review for those who were interested...
The cordless Hikoki is a win. I'll post some pictures tomorrow, today was a little bit fraught. It weighs, at a guess (I haven't weighed it) maybe 30% less than either of my two corded 1/2" routers, Makita 3612CX and Hitachi M12VE, which represent industry standards. That alone makes a huge difference. Same power, superior handling.
It's not just about weight, it's about balance too, and it's nicely weighted so it doesn't have a built in booby trap. It has a soft-ish start, not as soft and luxurious as the Makita 3612 family but I would never start a cut anywhere near the workpiece anyway so for me it's a moot point. As a positive point, as it hits full power, there is no "reverse torque" kick worthy of mention. I don't know how to describe that kick, but I'm sure many of you know what I mean.
I won't bore you with details but I think this is one of the two best 1/2" collet full size routers I have ever used. If I had to choose between them I'd choose this cordless purely because of its light weight, balance, and handling.
The cordless Hikoki is a win. I'll post some pictures tomorrow, today was a little bit fraught. It weighs, at a guess (I haven't weighed it) maybe 30% less than either of my two corded 1/2" routers, Makita 3612CX and Hitachi M12VE, which represent industry standards. That alone makes a huge difference. Same power, superior handling.
It's not just about weight, it's about balance too, and it's nicely weighted so it doesn't have a built in booby trap. It has a soft-ish start, not as soft and luxurious as the Makita 3612 family but I would never start a cut anywhere near the workpiece anyway so for me it's a moot point. As a positive point, as it hits full power, there is no "reverse torque" kick worthy of mention. I don't know how to describe that kick, but I'm sure many of you know what I mean.
I won't bore you with details but I think this is one of the two best 1/2" collet full size routers I have ever used. If I had to choose between them I'd choose this cordless purely because of its light weight, balance, and handling.
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I mean, I guess folks could contribute to a Venmo (or whatever) to hire a certain interior finish carpentry contracting firm to build a bass if they want to see it go faster...but they might not take the job (there's this thing about ruining hobbies by turning them into work...)
I'm here because I'm a tool that likes strippers.
These are underappreciated factors, IMO. I've been a tradesman my whole adult life (not actually a trade carpenter) and I have little fear of power tools but there are two things that still keep me on high alert: where I stand when I'm using a table saw and how I hold a router when it starts up. A feisty router can really make a run for it - as proven by plenty of injury stories and supported every time I turn on one of my old, torquey Craftsman routers from the '70s. Those things jump! The first time I used a soft-start router I began to have hope for the future of humanity. Well, no, not really, but it was still pretty great. Makes them exponentially safer.
Oh, and if you were wondering what the other one was... Makita 3612CX. Now sadly discontinued and replaced by a far less capable machine which at least has a work light. Not to be confused with the pretty useless single speed 3612 which looks identical and is often sold as a CX by unscrupulous eBay people, the 3612CX is still, in my opinion, the Rolls Royce of routers, almost 30 years after its introduction. My other comments still apply.
After working for Rolls-Royce for years, I now think of 'the Rolls-Royce of X' as meaning something needlessly complicated, twice as expensive as it needs to be, and full of custom fasteners that you can't get anywhere.
I install and repair dental equipment. I have a few doctors who like to do some of their own repairs and fewer who actually should. I’ve told a couple of them when explaining a repair, “Don’t loose this screw. It’s doesn’t exist anywhere outside of X’s parts catalog and they’re probably backorderd.”
I think, because it's a brushless motor, and therefore has almost negligible rotating mass compared to a big heavy armature in a conventional motor, the kick is just totally removed to all intents and purposes. That kick is entirely down to a significant rotating mass being accelerated to tens of thousands of rippums in an instant. Remove the mass, remove the kick.
I'll tell you more about the router itself tomorrow, let's just say it's a game changer. I have a whole weekend without work. Progress will be made.
Making the most of a rare long weekend without work, I have been refining the artwork for the top.
I've decided to do this with custom printed vinyls, which I can then laquer over. If you can prepare your own print ready artwork, it's quite surprising how cheap these can be.
I scanned a Lichtenstein print, split it up into color layers in photoshop using various selection tools to send each channel to its own layer, and then used various brushes and a Wacom tablet to kind of grunge up the black outlines.
The plan is to apply the vinyl, and then airbrush the edges out in black like the edges of a burst, which will carry on round the edges. Then I'll two pack the whole thing and polish the bejeezless out of it.
There are still tweaks to be done. I'll order three of these vinyls. One for the body, and two to dress up the dual pickguards. I'll make the pickguards from 5/32 clear plexi, with the vinyls applied to the top and the reverse side sprayed gloss black to achieve a kind of trompe d'oeil effect. And again, I'll two pack over the vinyl and polish it out.
I think that's a much nicer approach than Paul Weller's "Whaam!" 330, which just had clear plexi pickguards and you could see all the ugly guts of the guitar.
Tomorrow is router day.
I shall also be assigning stripper names to all of the thread regulars. It's going to be a smorgasbord of rare treats.
I've decided to do this with custom printed vinyls, which I can then laquer over. If you can prepare your own print ready artwork, it's quite surprising how cheap these can be.
I scanned a Lichtenstein print, split it up into color layers in photoshop using various selection tools to send each channel to its own layer, and then used various brushes and a Wacom tablet to kind of grunge up the black outlines.
The plan is to apply the vinyl, and then airbrush the edges out in black like the edges of a burst, which will carry on round the edges. Then I'll two pack the whole thing and polish the bejeezless out of it.
There are still tweaks to be done. I'll order three of these vinyls. One for the body, and two to dress up the dual pickguards. I'll make the pickguards from 5/32 clear plexi, with the vinyls applied to the top and the reverse side sprayed gloss black to achieve a kind of trompe d'oeil effect. And again, I'll two pack over the vinyl and polish it out.
I think that's a much nicer approach than Paul Weller's "Whaam!" 330, which just had clear plexi pickguards and you could see all the ugly guts of the guitar.
Tomorrow is router day.
I shall also be assigning stripper names to all of the thread regulars. It's going to be a smorgasbord of rare treats.
In other news, I am actually working on the 325/ 350 body template PDF and expect to have that shortly. I'll include the pickguard templates and the Lichtenbacker artwork as bonus items.
As an aside, if you've ever been fortunate enough to see "Whaam!" in real life (it's permanent home is London's Tate Modern), you will know not only that it is absolutely enormous, but also that the colors on the painting are actually quite muted. I've deliberately juiced them up to LSD perception levels.
This is not, the greatest art in the world.
This, is just a tribute.
As an aside, if you've ever been fortunate enough to see "Whaam!" in real life (it's permanent home is London's Tate Modern), you will know not only that it is absolutely enormous, but also that the colors on the painting are actually quite muted. I've deliberately juiced them up to LSD perception levels.
This is not, the greatest art in the world.
This, is just a tribute.
