Making a template/body without spindle sander?

[Tom0Blam0]

I'm in the process of getting my house ready to sell and I moved a bunch of my larger tools to my parents house (which is 6 hours away) for storage. As such I am down to just hand tools, a jig saw, and a router. I think I can still make a body with what I've got but I'm wondering if I can really pull off making a body template with just hand tools. Any thoughts on how I can pull this off? I have dragon rasps/files and a shinto rasp as well, so I can get rid of the extra material quickly but once I get close to the line I'm not sure how to keep the edge square and clean. I have scrapers too which should help. Could I do it if I just go SUPER slowly? Or am I just kidding myself here?

Any thoughts would be appreciated. BTW, the body I'm making is just a simple guitar body with 2x2 radiata pine strips, so it's nothing fancy (no major loss if I mess up, other than a loss of my time).

 

[Gilmourisgod]

Do you have access to a drill press, or one of the portable drill press gadgets you can chuck a drill into? I use a Robosander, which is just a drum sander with a pattern bit in it, works pretty well as a spindle sander, but it clogs quicker because it’s not oscillating. I keep a rubber sanding disk cleaner handy. Once you have a good template, you can use the pattern follower to sand to final line with no worry about tear out.
Robo-Sander : Flush trim sander pattern sander

 

[Tom0Blam0]

My drill press and oscillating sander went with my larger tools. I have a hand drill, but that's about it.

 

[dwizum]

Hand tools are fine. I've made dozens of mdf templates by cutting close to the line with a bandsaw (or your jigsaw) and then finishing with a rasp followed by a file and/or sandpaper on a hardwood block. Cutting closer than in your image with the saw will make it go more quickly. I cut a fat pencil line away (maybe 1/16" or slightly less). Clamp the template to your work bench so it hangs over the edge and just focus on keeping the tool close to vertical.

Honestly, I prefer a long straight rasp or file to a spindle sander for making templates. I find it's easier to get smooth curves, versus with a spindle sander which can do great for concave curves but can leave convex curves "lumpy"

 

[Beej]

You can quickly and easily do it with a jigsaw, router (with bearing pattern bit) and some files. Here is how I make them.
1. Cut the template to about 1/8-1/16" of the line with the jigsaw (more distance if the saw throws a lot of angle; some do).
2. With the files, file back the MDF around the edge right up to the line. This only needs to be done about 1/8-3/16" deep on the side of the template.
3. Go around the template with the files ensuring that the shape is where you want it exactly (looking from the top, don't worry about the side if its not perfectly flush).
4. Set the router bit so that the bearing is riding along the top 1/8" of the template (where you have filed it flush).
5. Rout the template along that flush-filed section. This will give you a perfectly smooth template edge below, but will leave a "burr" line around the template. This occurs from the MDF that's riding between the bearing and the bit.
6. To remove the burr line, just flip the template and rout around it again from the other side.

This will result in a perfectly-vertical-edged template with a flawlessly smooth surface. If you need to tweak the shape, you can file the top edge into shape and hit it again with the router bearing bit.

Works perfectly - I can do a hand-done router template with this method faster and more accurately than using my oscillating spindle sander.

 

[Tom0Blam0]

Thanks! This is all very helpful!

 

[Matt Liebenau]

I made a number of templates with a cheap bandsaw and sanding blocks. Sandpaper on a flat block and careful sanding will get you nice, straight edges.

 

[Big B.]

It may or may not work for you but I'll share a trick that I've worked out for making irregular templates like guitar bodies. You need a jigsaw and a small sanding block with a decently rough grit, say 120. You'll also need a bearing guided router bit, I prefer a top bearing bit but either will work.

Start out by trimming your pattern as close as you can with the jigsaw. Now you'll use your small sanding block to sand back to the line, but the trick is to focus on the 1/8" or so just under the pencil line and get that edge nice and smooth. Then you set the bearing of the router bit to ride against that 1/8" of smooth material and you get a clean, square edge. You may need to repeat the process once or twice to get just up to your line and then a quick once over with some sandpaper to get rid of any chatter from the router bit.

 

[dwizum]

Another thought. It's hard to tell what thickness of mdf you're using from your photo, but for bodies I use 1/4" - it works much more quickly than thicker sizes.

 

[Tom0Blam0]

I think that’s either 1/4” or 1/8”

 

[Beej]

It may or may not work for you but I'll share a trick that I've worked out for making irregular templates like guitar bodies. You need a jigsaw and a small sanding block with a decently rough grit, say 120. You'll also need a bearing guided router bit, I prefer a top bearing bit but either will work.

Start out by trimming your pattern as close as you can with the jigsaw. Now you'll use your small sanding block to sand back to the line, but the trick is to focus on the 1/8" or so just under the pencil line and get that edge nice and smooth. Then you set the bearing of the router bit to ride against that 1/8" of smooth material and you get a clean, square edge. You may need to repeat the process once or twice to get just up to your line and then a quick once over with some sandpaper to get rid of any chatter from the router bit.

I think I may have picked up my technique from you at some point.

 

[rudy4444]

I have an idea for you, one that I often use in one form or another.

I often "pattern route" finished shapes by using a smaller template temporarily fastened to the top of the work. I then use a simple straight profile router bit (no bearing needed...) to route the work by using the route BASE against the template edge. This works well if you have a round based router (many are...) and your final design doesn't have any concave curves smaller than the router base diameter. You do have that in the curve below the neck, but you can do the rest of the body and shape that small area with an electric drill fitted with a 2" sanding drum and 50 or 80 grit drum.

As an example, my Porter-Cable with a 1/2" twin flute carbide bit uses something like a 4-1/2" offset. The pattern is made that much smaller all the way around to produce work that's full size.

The undersized pattern is made by measuring from the bit edge to the outer edge of the router base and subtracting that amount from the actual outline. The pattern is attached to the work by using screws in areas that will be covered by hardware. Neck route, pickup locations, tailpiece, or any area covered by the pick guard are typical examples.

In your case I'd most likely do a first router cut 1/8" or 1/4" deep to establish the shape, jig saw off the majority of the waste by sawing directly in the center of the routed channel, then following up with progressively deeper cuts to true up the sawed edge.

It sounds complex, but it isn't. Once you think through the reasoning about how this works you may wonder why more builders with limited resources don't use the technique.

I also use the same technique for neck pockets, pickup routes, and control cavity routes. In those cases I make up my complete guide that the router base will ride against, clamp the guide over another piece of template material and route the shape in the lower piece of template stock. Before un-clamping this new "inner portion" I draw the outer router base guide shape on the lower portion, un-clamp and cut the lower portion so it fits easily in the router guide portion. To use the new guide the inner part drops in the router guide and the actual shape can be positioned easily. Clamp the outer guide in place, remove the inner "positioning template" and route away. (It's worth reasoning this one out, too.)

 

[micguy]

You should think about a router. There are some things it does that will make your life a whole lot easier when building instruments. It'll pay for itself the first time you make a mistake that using a router would have avoided.

 

[Tom0Blam0]

Yeah, I have a router. I noted that in the original post. I just don't have my larger tools (re:spindle sander, drill press). Once I get past making a good template I should be good.

 

[2strings2frets]

Jig saw,router,hand files, scraper. Relax and work slowly, sometimes power tools are a faster way to make mistakes. I never built a guitar but have made a fair amount of furniture and trim. Even built a boat once. Relax

 

[Bruce Johnson]

Like the others are saying, I recommend using files for the final smoothing of template edges. A spindle sander is handy for getting it close and keeping the edge square, but it still leaves the contour lumpy. Hand filing is still needed to get it smooth. A jigsaw and files are all you really need.

 

[hintz]

Subscribed, ive actually been attempting what the OP is describing over the last week. Just a dremel saw max, forstener, files and chisels. I made 6 of these trying to get it right!! Lol

 

[hintz]

It helps to chisel the outline out first before cutting, that and remarking the shape throughout

 

[Thumpin6string]

I built this completely with hand tools like a hand held jig saw, a router, an air grinder, a couple air disc sanders and sandpaper by hand. Where there is a will, there is a way.

 

[james condino]

Clamp your hand drill in a vise or to the kitchen table and turn it upside down. Mount a $3 sanding spindle on it and you have a low budget spindle sander. That is how tablesaws came about- crazy old guys back in the day would screw a skill saw to a sheet of plywood and turn it upside down....

But....I'm a fanatic about precision with my templates, moulds, and forms. If you compromise the first step on day one, think about what the end result will be with that approach. Even if you figure a modest 5% margin of error, multiply 5% for every step and think of what the final product will be like.

I worked in a guitar factory where they didn't give a $#!t about the forms, all the beancounters cared about was the final product but the guys at the end of the line would waste hundreds of hours a week correcting for the first day errors.