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It was quite hard to do by hand, especially with my lack of woodworking experience, but I think it is there. I am going to double check tomorrow that it's not only flat but parallel and just over 1.75 all the way round but I am reasonably happy.
It's not half an ugly bit of wood, but it will be painted so that doesn't matter.
My next decision is whether to do the routing first, or cut out the body first. I have seen it suggested both ways. What are the pros/cons of each?
It would seem that routing first would leave the most wood, especially around the neck pocket, to keep the router square. The only downside I can foresee would be that it could leave some fragile bits next to the neck pocket that would be easy to damage if cutting out afterwards - especially as I don't have a bandsaw so will be cutting out with a jigsaw, getting closer with the spindle sander and then using a router to chase the template to finalise the edge. I think with the template below, I should still have plenty of support for the router, so I think I am leaning towards cutting out the shape first.
1. Jigsaw blades tilt when you go round corners. Even ones that aren't very tight. If you are going to cut out a guitar body with a jigsaw, leave more space than you think you need near the cut line. (Or buy a bandsaw - this is what I will do for the future!)
2. Think! Double check your router depth. Especially when riding a template.
3. When routing a guitar body, actually pay attention to what you have read online. Grain direction matters.
4. Keep your workspace clean. Small shavings of wood will dent a body when you clamp it between the body and the bench.
Good news is, I have a body. Bad news is there is a chunk out of it. Good news, still got 10 fingers etc.
Lesson 1. I am glad @Roland told me to cut the body shape out first. My jigsaw blade tilted enough that it was inside the body line on the bottom so even after trying to sand square on the spindle sander, there was still a bit inside the line. I was able to just reposition the template enough to rout it square. The centre line is now slightly (maybe 1 degree) askew of the glueline at the neck end but no issues with that - barely noticeable and it will be painted anyway.
Next up Lesson 2. (The big one).
I figured I would carry on and finish - as practice if nothing else. Mostly everything else went to plan so I now have a shaped body that should just need a round over on the edges and a bit of sanding.
I have three options. One is order a new body blank (I went cheap for a reason!) and redo it. The second is to create a flat area where the chunk is missing (see below). It’s near where the jack would be so I could probably make it look reasonable.
The third option I think is to plane the section flat and glue on a small offcut before rerouting the body outline in that area. It shouldn't be seen if I do it right. The question here is do I just flatten that small section diagonally or should I be sawing off a vertical line and gluing a whole section there?
What I can't seem to get my head around is the whole routing direction thing. I was under the impression that I needed to always go against the rotation of the bit, so from above it rotates clockwise and I should go anticlockwise around the body. From what I have read, failure to do so will undoubtedly lead to amptuation or decapitation. I have seen this diagram online, but I can't see how I can do this without going the wrong/unsafe way?
I managed to get a small shaving of wood between the body and the bench when I clamped it down for routing. It caused a dent and I think it is deeper than will sand out. I assume I can just fill it when I am prepping for painting. Can I just use Rustin's grain filler or do I need something else for this kind of thing?
I’d already moved the template as much as I was able to when sorting the mishap with the jigsaw unfortunately. I am definitely going to continue with this body. We learn and grow.
I think I am leaning towards gluing a piece on. I’m not after vintage correct but I think the big flat section would bug me. Or more accurately, knowing I had not taken the opportunity to try and fix it would bug me.
As you're going to paint the body, gluing a piece on to replace the tear out wouldn't be visible, but it might be tricky to clamp the new piece in place. Make sure you can work out how to position the clamps *before* doing any more prep work (ie cutting more off the body!).
I'm not sure I've made any guitars without encountering some sort of learning experience - it's what makes this hobby so frustrating, and so much fun
If it was me, id carve a recess/cutaway (like that found on the treble side of PRS's to remove the dent. And for the router mishap, re-rout by shifting the jig or add a bevel or round-over.
I certainly would not bin the blank.
As above, I dnt think there's a single build of mine without errors. The only difference now is that I can hide them better
The only mistake ive not fixed (and more as a reminder to measure twice, cut once etc.) is a ukulele fretboard in ebony that i cut the fret slots the wrong way along the taper. Even then I could have filled in the slots and re-cut.
Good luck
If using a jigsaw to cut the body its worth drilling some relief holes fully through the blank first.
Dents steam out, mostly.
Router mishaps can be fixed.
Route it straight and glue in a squared off block, rather than trying to cut a bit of wood to fit the curved shape
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Some woods do it more than others, but following the diagram you posted is key, even if it goes against the router direction. That matters less with a sharp fresh bit.... grain direction matters a lot, and you will learn to read it if you do more
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So I’ve cut the offending section off and planed it smooth. Found a straight grained piece of the offcut to glue on.
Added the glue and then everything got a whole lot slippier.
Either way, good squeeze out around all four sides and made sure it stayed straight. All glued up and all I can do now is wait. Once it’s properly cured I’ll trim it down and then rout that part of the outline again. Hopefully it will be unnoticeable. Fingers crossed!