Here in Oz, have a look at the TruaCut ones on eBay Oz.Originally Posted by Simon Barden
Here in Oz, have a look at the TruaCut ones on eBay Oz.
Cliff
Simon has been much more specific in his recommendation (I'm going to have a look at those bits now myself!).
My only suggestion was going to be "Don't get them from Stew-Mac" - you can get good quality bits a whole lot cheaper elsewhere.
Making the world a better place; one guitar at a time...
I found this place:
https://www.trenddirectuk.com/
(sorry Mc - UK based)
They seem to have good stock and decent prices.
That particular bit is just under a tenner+plus VAT.
Any tips for routing? My idea was to use piece ply that I can clamp across the top of the body to protect it and give the router something more stable move over. I think I also need to fill the gap at the front of the neck pocket so the guide has something to roll over?
Oh and lots of practice too....
If you add on VAT and shipping, then it's cheaper from Amazon (assuming you have Prime), especially if you apply the 10% off voucher on offer.
You shouldn't need to fill the gap, though you could if you wanted to. You should be able to just move the router across quite happily yourself.
A bit of ply screwed to the bottom of the router is a good idea. Those trim routers are nice and compact, but as a result the base isn't that large, so it's easy to use them at a slight angle. A wider base will cure that. Just make sure that you leave enough of a gap in the wood so you can see inside to what the router bit is doing.
Don't go too deep with a single pass. A little bit each time will get you there, and you haven't got a lot of wood to remove.
Always start the router off the wood so it's not cutting anything. Always let the router stop fully before you move it away from the wood once you've finished routing. It's so easy to lift it off when it's still rotating and catch the wood and ruin it! I have to force myself to do this.
With the router facing downwards, the bit is moving clockwise, so you normally need to move the router so the bit is always biting into the wood, so within the pickup cavity you need to move the router clockwise against the edges. Moving it anti-clockwise can sometimes cause the router bit to chatter and cut unevenly. Of course the perspective changes if you were routing the outer edges of the body, in which the router would be moved in an anti-clockwise direction (with respect to the centre of the body).
The only exception to the above is when you are routing around external corners with end-grain, where you can get 'tear-out' on some wood if you move the router forwards into the grain. The blades can catch the end grain, lift up the fibres and can tear off a strip if you are unlucky. Especially when you try to take off quite a lot of wood at once. So in this instance, running the router backwards is less likely to cause issues. But within a pickup rout, just going clockwise is fine.
A vacuum cleaner directly attached to the router is ideal to remove dust, but if that's not possible, then taping a vacuum cleaner's nozzle close to the router is a good idea, as well as stopping regularly to clean out the workpiece.
Of course, your bits need to suit the trim router chuck size. Mine's 1/4", but some are 1/2" and some will do both (after swapping collets). So your bit shaft size always needs to match your router.
Thanks for all the tips - so base on the router not on the guitar. My concern was moving the ply over the body (rather than the router over the ply) might cause less damage.
Oh, I didn't think Amazon had the stock until the 16th? Otherwise I would have ordered from there.
I've gone for router with a 1/4" collet.
Yes, Amazon stock (from Trend themselves) is a week's wait - but then so is the cheapest mail from the trenddirect supplier.
I've ordered one of those Trend bits myself, but I'm not in any hurry!
Simon really covered things very well with the operational stuff.
The only thing I'd add is about safety. Routers spin at stupid high rpm's and s**t can go wrong fast. I'm not saying to be afraid of it, just be very aware of everything you're doing while you're doing it.
Making the world a better place; one guitar at a time...
I have three routers and a rotary cutting tool and I am a bit afraid of all of them. I learned the hard way the wisdom of Simon's advice about a base for the trim router. Light routers are also squirly and it does not take much for them to jump. I like the big 3 hp plunge router the best because the heft and 1/2" bits seem to make it smoothest and easier to control. But anything you hold in your hands that has a half inch bit turning at 23,000 RPM with that kind of power is intrinsically scary. I thought the least scary was the 1.75 HP router mounted in a table...until I piece of maple tear out hit me in the chest hard enough to raise a welt... They are also my loudest tools. 1+ on the safety gear.
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