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Gene Simmons LoBue Tribute Build

#401
I learned last night why you set your neck BEFORE mounting the bridge and pickups.
My buddy made this guitar from a Jackson V. I guess this was the guitar Ace used briefly during Frehley's comet.
AceFrehleyGuitar_zps19badbce.jpg


He added body pieces, and bondo'd the joints. I guess the neck was a bolt on that he converted to set neck. This was done to copy the original guitar, and gave greater access to higher frets once the heel was shaved.

Well... When the neck was glued and clamped, the neck shifted slightly. This forced him to move the bridge and pickup down an 1/8th of an inch.

It's not badly noticeable, but it does suck. Lesson learned.
 
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#404
Tonight I went back to working on my body template. My last one wasn't bad, but with extra MDF on hand, I decided to give it another shot.
Taping an positioning my posterboard template to the centerline of my MDF piece.
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Traced and neck sides table sawed.
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New MDF template cut out and sanded. It looks a little better than my previous template.
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I changed the neck pocket lip a bit so it is a bit more subdued.
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After some hand sanding, the template looks nice.
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With one last piece of MDF left, I decided to use it as my first template rout.
Lining up the template with the centerline of the MDF piece.
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After the first pass.
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The new routed out piece. Rough around the edges, but not for long!
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After some smoothing out, she looks great!
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I started getting tired which usually leads to mistakes. Tomorrow, I will use my template on a piece of scrap wood. If all goes well, I think my body will finally be routed. Stay tuned!
 
#405
I started today by shaping the headstock.

First, I began with doweling the old tuner holes. The dowel was slightly thicker, so I needed to widen the tuner holes.
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Using a screw and washer to hold the neck in place. Later, I would discover my dad has a clamp made for drill press applications (smacks forehead).
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Top holes widened.
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The bottom holes are widened.
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All holes ready for dowels.
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Dowels placed and glued.
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Reverse of the headstock.
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While the glue dried on my headstock, I turned my attention to the body.

My template taped to a pine blank.
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The template clamped and ready to be routed.
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After a couple passes, all seems okay.
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I have routed pickup, control, and battery boxes in the past. Never have I tried to rout an entire body. The thickness prompted me to extend my router bit beyond its safe operating limit. This caused the bit to fly out and destroy my brass routing collar.
It also placed a ding in my template. Sigh
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I kept on anyways, and did my best. The piece came out okay, but had so man mill marks.
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I tried again, and opted to use my 3/8" routing collar. It left a lip at first, but I was ble to remove the routing collar one the bit was fully into the body.
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It came out a bit better, but screwing with the router bit really makes the body come out rough. I know the body is too thick for this bit.
Two pieces and they both look like garbage.
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The pine body is 1.5" thick. My router struggles to get that deep, even after pulling off the template. As you can see, at full extension, my router can't get through the mahogany body.
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Anyone have a solution or me?

I went back to my neck.
After band sawing the dowels off.
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After sanding down the headstock.
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I've been dreading this part of my build; trimming the headstock. Since I'm stuck with my body issue, I decided to forge ahead!
Drawing lines of the parts I will trim off.
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The headstock is scalped!
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I left extra wood behind for later shaping.
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This part had my sphincter in a knot. I had to figure out a way to cut a square, straight line to attach additional wood.

I got a squared piece of wood, drew a line, matched up the headstock's line and attached them together with double sided tape.
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Headstock before the table saw. I am nervous!
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It worked!
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A few years back, I was injured by table saw kick back, so this was very nerve racking for me. My last cut almost became a disaster, but luckily I was able to act quickly and saved my piece.
Not too bad!
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Stay tuned!
 
#406
Wow. Yeah, you need a proper bit to do bodies with. I rough-cut my bodies just outside the lines with a jigsaw, then I use a 2" Freud pattern bit in a router table to clean it up. The table also helps to ensure that the bit stays square to the body as it runs.

Also - no anti-kickback attachment for your table saw?
 
#407
ctmullins said:
Wow. Yeah, you need a proper bit to do bodies with. I rough-cut my bodies just outside the lines with a jigsaw, then I use a 2" Freud pattern bit in a router table to clean it up. The table also helps to ensure that the bit stays square to the body as it runs.

Also - no anti-kickback attachment for your table saw?
Click to expand...

My dad had a table router. I will pick his brain before I destroy anymore templates. This is my Dad's new saw. I've had no issues with it. It was his 40 year old table saw that nearly evicerated me.
I will look up that bit. My collar and bit work great for everything but this.
 
#415
I don't have a router table (Yet), so the method I use is:

1st, I cut the body out on the table saw. I try to get within the thickness of the router bit that I'm going to be using. Usually that's a 1/4 inch.

2nd, I use a bearing guided bit and a template, then set the level of my plunge router and follow the template on one side of the body. A bit like this : [Invalid or Expired Link Removed]

3rd, when that is finished, I flip the body and use a top bearing router bit to cut the rest of the thickness of the body to the right shape. A bit like this: [Invalid or Expired Link Removed]

I've found this method to work pretty decently for somebody without a router table. It's certainly safer than extending the bit beyond it's safe limit. Just make sure to use lots of clamps so the body doesn't shift in the process. I think I paid about $15 for the two router bits,shipped on ebay.

-Ron
 
#416
Ronbeast said:
I don't have a router table (Yet), so the method I use is:

1st, I cut the body out on the table saw. I try to get within the thickness of the router bit that I'm going to be using. Usually that's a 1/4 inch.

2nd, I use a bearing guided bit and a template, then set the level of my plunge router and follow the template on one side of the body. A bit like this : [Invalid or Expired Link Removed]

3rd, when that is finished, I flip the body and use a top bearing router bit to cut the rest of the thickness of the body to the right shape. A bit like this: [Invalid or Expired Link Removed]

I've found this method to work pretty decently for somebody without a router table. It's certainly safer than extending the bit beyond it's safe limit. Just make sure to use lots of clamps so the body doesn't shift in the process. I think I paid about $15 for the two router bits,shipped on ebay.

-Ron
Click to expand...

Being that my father has a router table, I will go that route. However, I appreciate your suggestion.
 

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