Tips you've learnt; thing's you wish someone had told you BEFORE you started

[tjclem]

Check your template/follower router bits to be sure the bearings are moving freely each time before using them. I have had them come apart while doing a pickup route and that is the end of that bass body.

 

[HaMMerHeD]

Check your template/follower router bits to be sure the bearings are moving freely each time before using them. I have had them come apart while doing a pickup route and that is the end of that bass body.

To that I would add that one should periodically check and tighten the bearing collars on template router bits. I've had them come loose a couple of times, making the bearings scoot around on the shank.

 

[SteveV74]

Puddy and paint make a carpenter what he aint

 

[reverendrally]

My first build cost over a grand, and my second approached 2 grand.

EEK!

Man, PM me and I'll talk you through how to build something great for a lot less than half of that.

 

[Scoops]

If you are not confident in your work, your end product will not reach it's full potential

 

[manupulated]

Im at my 4 th guitar , managed to screw my last one , and the lesson is learned , 1/4 inch router bits tend to get loose and vibrate more than 1/2 inch bits , and dont change shapes after chambering your bass or guitar , if unsure about your pickups placement build a test bass and test

 

[Jake72]

Well I ain't learnt nuthin, but I have learned a few things....

1) Routers aren't that scary. They're dangerous, but so are all power tools. You'll probably get hurt more by your disc sander than by your router. Quit stressing out about it.

2) Make more router templates. It can do more than just cut cavities.

3) Making a nice finish is easier than you are trying to make it. Spray, wet-sand, buff. It's that easy. Wax if you feel like it.

4+) I'll let you know in a few years.

Along this line of thought... spend the time building a prototype or 3 out of inexpensive materials before you start machining an expensive piece of hardwood. It will be a piece of firewood with a bunch of labor in it when all is said and done, but you'll also get some valuable experience out of it...

 

[Rip Topaz]

Here's some good advice:

If you have long hair, ALWAYS tie it back before entering the shop. ALWAYS.

Nothing worse than going out to the shop, getting distracted by a hole you forgot to drill, and deciding to drill without getting your hair out of the way. Only takes a second for a tool to grab your hair. ALWAYS TIE BACK YOUR HAIR, NO EXCEPTIONS.

Trust me. It only takes a second to see why it's important.

And yes, I'm speaking from experience.

 

[michaelwayneharwood]

Always be open to other's advice, but don't let their opinions stop you from experimenting. Be prepared to make mistakes, but always do your best to be safe...especially if you have long hair!

 

[sissy kathy]

Well I ain't learnt nuthin, but I have learned a few things....

1) Routers aren't that scary. They're dangerous, but so are all power tools. You'll probably get hurt more by your disc sander than by your router. Quit stressing out about it.

2) Make more router templates. It can do more than just cut cavities.

3) Making a nice finish is easier than you are trying to make it. Spray, wet-sand, buff. It's that easy. Wax if you feel like it.

4+) I'll let you know in a few years.

Learnt is a perfectly good word; and in fact was used in this country until the mid '50s, just like built is still used today, or pled as opposed to pleaded as is starting to be used in some newspapers/blogs. You should also note that the poster is from down under where the Queen's english is still accepted.

 

[HaMMerHeD]

Learnt is a perfectly good word; and in fact was used in this country until the mid '50s, just like built is still used today, or pled as opposed to pleaded as is starting to be used in some newspapers/blogs. You should also note that the poster is from down under where the Queen's english is still accepted.

 

[sissy kathy]

Okay but, have you learnt anything? Wait; I mean other that I can be an a$$.

 

[Feral Feline]

Always be open to other's advice...

I really like this ^ idea.

I've learnt a lot since the start of this thread, from those more learned than I.

 

[Rano Bass]

I'm more interested in refinishing than in building but since sometimes a little modification is needed to change pickups or fix neck pockets i am really interested in these thread
Hopefully someday i will have the tools (and confidence) to build something.

 

[sissy kathy]

I'm more interested in refinishing than in building but since sometimes a little modification is needed to change pickups or fix neck pockets i am really interested in these thread
Hopefully someday i will have the tools (and confidence) to build something.

I'm starting by assembling one from parts, I'll have to finish it first though. Thats enough adventure for a first go.

 

[Gilmourisgod]

Edit:
I'm on my first real bass build from scratch, so I won't even pretend to offer any sage advice on Luthiery. A couple things I've learned the hard way doing furniture making:
"Tune up" your table saw so that the blade is a few thou farther from the FENCE on the way out of the blade, and use whatever blade guard and riving knife comes with the saw, even if its a PITA. I've witnessed saw kickback and came away with 10 fingers and a small scar by pure dumb luck. If you can afford it, buy a Sawstop table saw.

Never "free hand" stuff on a drill press, always clamp the work down, so it doesn't become The Propeller of Death.

Always use a router table instead of free handing it if possible, which keeps the wood between you and the blade.

Keep your tools razor sharp, it really is safer.

I have violated all these suggestions at one time or another, and paid for it in blood or pain.

 

[Means2nEnd]

"Tune up" your table saw so that the blade is a few thou farther from the blade on the way out of the blade

Um you lost me at blade...could be my lost brain cells from the 90's but what are you saying?

 

[Gilmourisgod]

Edit:
Tune up the table saw by setting the FENCE a couple thousandths farther from the blade on the outfeed side so the wood won't bind between the fence and blade. Sorry for the typo. If you have a lot of saw marks or burns on the wood when ripping, chances are good that the blade is "re-cutting" the wood on the outfeed side, which creates a lousy cut and is inherently dangerous via the potential for kickback. I watched an overconfident "expert" woodworker bind a piece of 1x3 poplar in a 3HP Rockwell cabinet saw, which fired the wood like a spear across 20 feet of shop and through two plastered studwalls. Had he been standing in the line of the wood, it would have disemboweled him. There is a great book on setting up woodworking machinery by Mark Duginske, still available on Amazon, highly recommended:
http://www.amazon.com/Mastering-Woodworking-Machines-Find/dp/0942391985

Another tip:
If you can cut something with a bandsaw rather than a tablesaw, by all means do it. A Bandsaw can give you a hell of a cut, but it's unlikely to pull your entire hand or arm into it.

Check out this video by the Sawstop company. Most school and college shops have switched over to these saws, wish I could afford one:

 

[sissy kathy]

Edit:
Tune up the table saw by setting the FENCE a couple thousandths farther from the blade on the outfeed side so the wood won't bind between the fence and blade. Sorry for the typo. If you have a lot of saw marks or burns on the wood when ripping, chances are good that the blade is "re-cutting" the wood on the outfeed side, which creates a lousy cut and is inherently dangerous via the potential for kickback. I watched an overconfident "expert" woodworker bind a piece of 1x3 poplar in a 3HP Rockwell cabinet saw, which fired the wood like a spear across 20 feet of shop and through two plastered studwalls. Had he been standing in the line of the wood, it would have disemboweled him. There is a great book on setting up woodworking machinery by Mark Duginske, still available on Amazon, highly recommneded:
http://www.amazon.com/Mastering-Woodworking-Machines-Find/dp/0942391985

Another tip:
If you can cut something with a bandsaw rather than a tablesaw, by all means do it. A Bandsaw can give you a hell of a cut, but it's unlikely to pull your entire hand or arm into it.

Check out this video by the Sawstop company. Most school and college shops have switched over to these saws, wish I could afford one:

I'd be surprised if this isn't an industry standard now. That feature has been around for close to ten years now.

 

[Gilmourisgod]

I'd be surprised if this isn't an industry standard now. That feature has been around for close to ten years now.

You'd think so, just from an insurance standpoint, but in recent trips to prospective colleges with my son, who wants to major in Mechanical Engineering, only one of the three college shops we saw had Sawstop table saws. I am willing to bet that only a small minority of TB'ers own one. Depending on options, they can be considerably more expensive than a standard contractor or cabinet saw.
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