Hello World! My first guitar project

[McCreed]

It’s one of those jobs where you really want a drill press to make it as easy as possible, but you need one with a throat that’s at least half the width of the body, which means a large drill press. If not, then use a drill stand, or else a drill guide. It’s not a job you really want to try freehand as you don’t want the holes drilled at an angle.

I'll just add that if you do happen to have a drill press, but it's not large enough like Simon described, you can use still use it to make an accurate drill guide. There's a number of YT vids that show ways of making drill guides.

[Bakersdozen]

And to briefly add to the above, when your drilling the 2 outside E holes straight through. Use a brad-point and set the depth so only the very tip goes all the way thru. Then turn the body around and finish from the back using the point you just drilled to eliminate any tear out. Your welcome! Ask me how I know?

[Simon Barden]

Or place a flat scrap block of wood underneath, which should also prevent any tear-out. Sharp drill bits also help.

[ross.pearson]

It’s one of those jobs where you really want a drill press to make it as easy as possible, but you need one with a throat that’s at least half the width of the body, which means a large drill press. If not, then use a drill stand, or else a drill guide. It’s not a job you really want to try freehand as you don’t want the holes drilled at an angle.

Not a problem there, I have a large pedestal drill sitting in the old guys workshop. I'll have to buy my own when I move out in a couple of years, boo.

[ross.pearson]

And to briefly add to the above, when your drilling the 2 outside E holes straight through. Use a brad-point and set the depth so only the very tip goes all the way thru. Then turn the body around and finish from the back using the point you just drilled to eliminate any tear out. Your welcome! Ask me how I know?

Or place a flat scrap block of wood underneath, which should also prevent any tear-out. Sharp drill bits also help.

Ah yeah, good call. I'll likely mask both sides and use a sacrificial block. I'd considered a smaller pilot bit, but flexing is always an issue. I have brad points so all good to go.

EDIT: That said, if I use the ferrule "plate" then any tearout on the back isn't an issue since it will be hidden by 30c worth of pot metal.

[Simon Barden]

It's long tear-outs with the grain that you have to be careful of, as even with normal ferrules, you'll be drilling a hole to seat them in that's a lot bigger than the hole for the strings.

I wouldn't go for a string hole drill size that's any bigger than the hole in the bridge baseplate. It makes restringing a lot easier as you won't poke the string against the underside of the baseplate, it should just go straight on up. I'm not sure if you'll get a brad point drill that small. The smallest I have is 3mm.

[ross.pearson]

Well, I have a new job I hate doing.



The wax had to come off before approaching it with sandpaper. This would have been slightly easier if I knew what box I'd packed my cabinet scraper in, but in the end it worked well enough. I got as much wax removed as I could before hitting the body with the random orbital sander.

After that was loads of hand sanding up to around 220. I tried metho scrubbing, but the tiny amounts of wax in the grain won't budge. There's so little of it there I don't think it will make a difference.



After that it's back to the kids craft box for the IKEA paints.



I've got the blue down, when it's dry some time tomorrow I'm going to slightly water down some black and see if I can do a burst effect by hand. It might work, it might not. If it doesn't I'll attempt a black wash intead to see how it goes.

[ross.pearson]

It's long tear-outs with the grain that you have to be careful of, as even with normal ferrules, you'll be drilling a hole to seat them in that's a lot bigger than the hole for the strings.

I wouldn't go for a string hole drill size that's any bigger than the hole in the bridge baseplate. It makes restringing a lot easier as you won't poke the string against the underside of the baseplate, it should just go straight on up. I'm not sure if you'll get a brad point drill that small. The smallest I have is 3mm.

I'll have to dig through my index but I think I have some pretty small brad points.

[ross.pearson]

Actually, now that I've stripped it back, I'm wondering if I shouldn't contour it. Not just for comfort, but also for some weight reduction.. I can't really think of a good reason why I shouldn't.

[dozymuppet]

Do it.

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