So, I finally got around to doing the pickup routs for my build. Like a moron, I decided to make my own template. I was going to order one – and SERIOUSLY wish I had, for multiple reasons – but I figured…”Hey, I’m getting the hang of this whole router thing-ie business, I’ll just make one myself.”
God, I am an idiot.
After three tries, here’s what I came up with:
It more or less worked, but it was way harder than I expected, and the material I used was crap. Never going to use this stuff again, even if some guy on YouTube claims it works fine.
So, I laid it all out, measured, drew my guide lines and did my first route and I had this line parallel to the line that I wanted to set the template against. I remember thinking “You should erase that line so you don’t set up your template wrong,” and then thinking, “Nah…only an idiot would do that.”
*sigh*
Well, of course I used the wrong line, off-setting the pickup almost 1/8th of an inch to one side. Fortunately, I had cut the template so tight to the pickup, I was able to make up for it and get the rout back on center, but I had to essentially re-cut one end of the rout twice for all three routs so they'd match/line up.
Yup…I got friggin LUCKY. But it turned out okay.
Nasty routs:
Cleaned up routs:
While I was at it, I also put a thin quilted maple veneer on the headstock…turned out okay, but it’s not from the same material as the body and doesn’t look like it’s going to be anything close to a match…might re-do it. I have a piece left over from the cap I used on the body…if I could plane it down to, say, 1/8th inch thin…hmmm…
So here we are…routed, sanded, and ready to start finishing. I can’t wait to start the staining process. And before you ask…the answer is “because I can.”