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SHARE YOUR WORST BUILD MISTAKES .....
- Thread starter bassedsouth
- Start date
Ok, here's mine. This was the first time, but it's happened to me twice more since then. More recently about 3 weeks ago. The first two were fixed by slightly re-shaping the horn, but this last one was so bad I had to fill it up with epoxy and wood dust.
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Ok, sometimes I use a tape measure. When I do, I don't believe the little wiggly tab at the end is accurate so I start measuring at the 1" mark and add an inch at the other end. So once I forgot to add the inch at the other end and ended up routing for a whammy bar in the wrong place
This used to happen to me. I've found that holding the tape at either the 10" mark or 1'-0" mark works better...it's easier for me to register the offset in my mind.
Robert
OUCH!!!
Wilser what type of epoxy do you use and how much wood dust etc is used and is it really good enough to hide a tear like that?
that particular one was fixed by reshaping the horn. The one I fixed with the epoxy/wood dust mix was much worse than that. I use system three clear coat and whatever wood dust was in my RO sander's canister.
Some good advice here too........
http://talkbass.com/forum/showthread.php?t=313585&highlight=Mistakes
http://talkbass.com/forum/showthread.php?t=313585&highlight=Mistakes
Been there, done that...just not one of my worst...
BUT, in this particular case, the fretboard had been glued to a fully assembled blank with the trussrod in place.
You could've made it a short scale bass and claimed it was intentional 
The spacing would all still be correct, imagine a normal bass with a capo on the first fret.
The spacing would all still be correct, imagine a normal bass with a capo on the first fret.
Burned purple heart edges with router. Purple Heart burns very easily. It doesn't look so bad in the pics, but it's burned and a chunk came out.
Pics...
Pics...
SDB Guitars
Commercial User
Routing a trussrod slot. The bit broke 7/8 of the way through the job. Just sheared clean off, right where the flutes start. There was no drama, no flying pieces, it just fell off and stopped cutting. (Grizzly 1/2" shank 7/32" bit, from Amazon)
Ok, I'll just use the straight 1/4" bit I have on hand for the last part. Measure the depth so I can match it - 12mm. Set the bit, start my rout, something's wrong! Pull it out, measure the bit depth - 17mm!
I thought I was putting it at 10+2 mm, but I actually did 15+2.
That's going to go right through the back of the neck, right under the 2nd fret!
Ok, I'll just use the straight 1/4" bit I have on hand for the last part. Measure the depth so I can match it - 12mm. Set the bit, start my rout, something's wrong! Pull it out, measure the bit depth - 17mm!
I thought I was putting it at 10+2 mm, but I actually did 15+2.That's going to go right through the back of the neck, right under the 2nd fret!
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One of my "bad habits" in the shop is that when using the drill press, I like the tip of the drill bit to be very close to the surface I'm drilling.
Well, I was using a 7/8" forstner bit to "hog out" a control cavity before finishing it up with my router. I was about 3/4 of the way done when I realized the drill bit was about and inch from the surface, so I decided to raise the drill press platform up to get the wood closer to the drill bit. Up it went, I drilled the last 5 or 6 holes and when I flipped the bass over I saw that I had drilled the last 5-6 holes right through the front of the bass... I had forgot to reset the depth stop on the drill press! Luckily, this particular bass didn't have a figured top on it so all I had to do to fix it was to bandsaw off that body wing and replace it....
One of my more memorable ones to me was when I got a bass to the point of having all the wood done and ready for final carving and routing. I sent the customer (in Sweden no less...) pics of the bass and he replied "it looks great, but it is supposed to be a single cut....". POOP! I had cut the body to be a double cut design and it was supposed to be a single cut! I had to start over from scratch on that one!
Well, I was using a 7/8" forstner bit to "hog out" a control cavity before finishing it up with my router. I was about 3/4 of the way done when I realized the drill bit was about and inch from the surface, so I decided to raise the drill press platform up to get the wood closer to the drill bit. Up it went, I drilled the last 5 or 6 holes and when I flipped the bass over I saw that I had drilled the last 5-6 holes right through the front of the bass... I had forgot to reset the depth stop on the drill press! Luckily, this particular bass didn't have a figured top on it so all I had to do to fix it was to bandsaw off that body wing and replace it....
One of my more memorable ones to me was when I got a bass to the point of having all the wood done and ready for final carving and routing. I sent the customer (in Sweden no less...) pics of the bass and he replied "it looks great, but it is supposed to be a single cut....". POOP! I had cut the body to be a double cut design and it was supposed to be a single cut! I had to start over from scratch on that one!
Musiclogic
Commercial User
- Aug 6, 2005
- 6,505
- 75
- 60
- Disclosures
- Owner/Builder: HJC Customs USA, The Cool Lute, C G O
I guess my most recurrant one is when I cut truss rod slots. I have not locked the depth stop in place, and have turned a slot into a trench, usually correctable, as my blanks are always 1/2" to 3/4" oversized.
As for the router table grab, been there, done that, quit doing bodies on a router table. Actually I rarely use a router table anymore, I like my over arm router for such operations these days. I have more control of the router and workpiece this way. Just my preference.
As for the router table grab, been there, done that, quit doing bodies on a router table. Actually I rarely use a router table anymore, I like my over arm router for such operations these days. I have more control of the router and workpiece this way. Just my preference.
well, thank Larry for having another top that's exactly the same..............because I cut the top for a neck through and made it fit perfectly around the fingerboard.................only problem, I hadn't tapered it yet...........Oh well, now I have wood for top and back of the headstock!
