Pretty straight and evenly spaced. With a micrometre, there is about a 0.2mm smaller gap, between 3 of the holes. I think that is going to be good enough for me. Some tear out, since I drilled so close to the original holes but, I suppose that was to be expected. I did want to direct compare.
Point is, the drill through went smoothly, holes are aligned and I have tried a couple of experiments with the rig and think I know how it will go.
Well, Back to measuring the new body for bridge position and making sure it is square.
I now have tuners ( pick ups are on the way from the US and will be here next week), so I can drill the holes in the neck and temporarily secure it in place, then accurately measure the bridge position.
Last edited by Eponymous; 02-03-2021 at 12:47 PM.
Nice work there, far more aligned. I may have maligned that type of fixture unfairly, looks like you found a good’un!
FrankenLab
Hand crafting guitars, because Death Rays are expensive.
Hi FW. Your assessment was pretty close to being right. It is a bit of a pain trying to align the drill with each centre punched hole properly. You really have to be completely fastidious about it and it takes time. That said, it is pretty solid metal and doesn’t seem to sag with the drill, so I am putting down the tiny differences to my alignment technique. If I can get it as close on the new body though, I will be happy. There is another one I saw, which is US made and costs over $300aud..., with shipping, it would be cheaper to get a bigger drill press!
I am pretty confident with how I can do it and how it works now. I spent hours trying to work out how to clamp it (my clamps don’t reach far enough to get both sides and clamping one side introduces a slight lean) but, working methodically and carefully aligning it seems to have got the right result.
It’s a great result, and your approach does you great credit to get it to work. Even with a drill press with a deep enough throat, you can still get it wrong shifting the body or the drill in relation to each other.
This has been a bugbear of mine for some time, with guitars and other projects, so I want the o get one of these to mount to my drill press table:
https://www.machineryhouse.com.au/M1...mpound%20table
FrankenLab
Hand crafting guitars, because Death Rays are expensive.
Ooooooo!!! Me want....This has been a bugbear of mine for some time, with guitars and other projects, so I want the o get one of these to mount to my drill press table:
https://www.machineryhouse.com.au/M1...mpound%20table
@Eponymous - Good work. It's a shame it cost you one body to get there, but you've got a good practical salvage plan!
As Frankie said, it certainly can go wrong even with a drill press (don't ask me how I know this ).
One trick to getting the ferrule holes in nice even line is: draw a parallel line off the centre line half the diameter of the hole size, then clamp a piece of hardwood (with a good square edge) along the line, then use it to plumb the edge of the drill bit to.
You still have the challenge of the centre to centre spacing, but the ferrules can be jigged around a bit to even up those little spaces if needed.
Look forward to seeing the rest of the build. Cheers
Making the world a better place; one guitar at a time...
Great idea, McC! Brilliant, in fact! Excellent!
There now seems to be a problem with the dingotone finish not setting properly on the neck, so I haven’t done the drilling for that yet. Might have to get some white spirit or something to clean it off and start the neck finish again but that is a problem for tomorrow...it might set properly overnight but is has been 24 hours..
I know you guys haven’t used the dingotone finishes, so I will work this one out.
if you're after proper spacing if you're trying to do ferrells straight and true use a NEW 4 flute end mill bit their very sharp and won't wobble while cutting in the drill press you want the drill press speed pretty fast you'll never get them right with a drill bit or even with a Brad point
https://www.endmill.com.au/4-flute-s...-tialn-hrc-45/
Last edited by phrozin; 03-03-2021 at 02:36 AM.
FrankenLab
Hand crafting guitars, because Death Rays are expensive.