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First, the ups. Neck is going really well. I drilled the fingerboard for the dot inlays and installed them before setting up a couple of bits of wood as a track and then sanded the radius into the neck. All went smoothly. I think I will need to deepen the slots quite a bit as they're pretty far down at the edge - I may not have gone deep enough on my initial cuts.
Happy with that. Now to 'fess up.
A few days ago, ill-advisedly as I was shattered from work, I decided to drill the control wiring channels. I didn't get the angle shallow enough with the drill bit and came out of the back of the guitar rather than into the control cavity (d'oh!)
Needless to say I had to walk away and have a little word to myself.
After going through the full five stages of grief, I decided I might as well try and save it (and I am glad I didn't start a new body as you will come to see later......) So, I picked up a drill bit that will cut a dowel from the body offcuts and some Rustins wood filler and did my best. It's not pretty, but it's flat, so won't be seen when painted, I hope.
The hole is now re-drilled. In to the cavity this time. Onwards and upwards. OR NOT.
Next up, I decided I would drill the rest of the holes in the body, so I put the bridge in place to check the positions for the string through holes (now that I have done more research, I know that YOU know exactly where this is going....)
You may have noticed in the pictures above, the nice snazzy but not very big Bosch bench drill press I have. It was bought to drill out enclosures for effects pedals and a very good job it does too. It also has a nifty digital depth guide which was brilliant for the dot inlays and an easy to use fence that made drilling the tuner holes straight a breeze. What it won't do is reach the holes where the bridge goes on a telecaster body.
What I didn't do was ask here for advice, and I should have, because I know for a fact that you would have advised against what I did. I decided that I had a steady hand and could do it by hand... I'm sure you can guess how that went.
There was I, looking proudly at the nice straight line of holes that I had made in the front of the body. And then I turned it over. Car crash. Not even useable as some of the holes had wandered too close together to be able to put the ferrules next to each other. I forgot to get a pic, but I am sure you can imagine.
I drilled the holes out to 8mm, plugged them with dowels and cut them flush. I will use more Rustin's filler today to hopefully get them nice and smooth again and needless to say there is a press on the way with more throat depth (180mm which I am led to believe from searching through old threads should be enough for anything in guitar building).
Going forward, I have seen a method that involves using the bridge to guide the holes, drilling them part way through from the front and then turning over and using a guide pin lined up with the centre of the drill bit to index with the front of the holes and meeting up from the back. This seems to look relatively straight forward - is this what you guys would use or would you recommend something else?
Regarding the body, ive lost count of the number of times Ive had a wandering drill bit, or gone through the back or front. So dont worry about that.
For drilling through the back, Id be tempted to rout a rear access cavity (like a Les Paul) for controls and put a cover on. Even if you have already routed the front for pickups etc, it might still be handy and can be called weight relief.
As for the string-through holes, yep it's not straghtforward. Ive only done it once, and used the pin-registering method. Its a bit of a faff setting up, but works a treat. If i get chance later i'll dig up some photo's I have of my build (on a Flying V, no less!)
Either way, good luck with the rest of the build
Adam
I then use a separate thick template for ferrule holes, so if the string holes have wandered a bit I can still correct
I showed the process for doing them with a hand drill here on a kit challenge build - although I did use the drill press for a template but the basic idea was to make a thick template first
https://www.thefretboard.co.uk/discussion/18377/finished-wezv-tele-build/p6
If it makes you feel better, look at some vintage teles. They can be all over the place on those too
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@WezV Do you use a metal template for the ferrule holes or is thick wood sufficient to keep the bit aligned?
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Inevitably leads to mistakes. My worst one led me to putting the body aside for over a year whilst I worked out how to remedy the mistake. So, don't worry, yours won't even be visible under the paint.
String through holes - I've had that problem too, and followed Wez' advice on drilling the outer 2 first, then flipping over and use the outside 2 holes to make sure the other 4 are at least in a straight line and equally spaced. They generally meet up in the middle of the body, close enough to thread a string through.
Strangely, I've also had success using a straight hole guide and a hand drill. I didn't expect that to work, but it avoided the bit wander that you get with a drill press. This sort of thing ...
And another cheat, which I think actually looks better, is to use a ferrule block on the back. Then you only have to drill half way through the body to reach the recess for the ferrule block, and the end result looks neater too (IMHO!).
https://graingerguitarparts.com/products/grainger-string-ferrule-block-6-string-105mm-spacing
A couple of my older guitars have the feature of an inlaid ebony string block. One with just the ebony, one with ferrules added after. Obviously it was done for tonal reasons and definitely not covering a mistake
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I bet the blocks look nice when set into the wood too. Presumably you just make up a template from the outline and rout a cavity for it? Those above look like they have a lip - do you have that sitting proud like some ferrules I see, or have you been making a slightly larger rout at the top to have it flush?
https://graingerguitarparts.com/products/grainger-ferrule-block-template-insert-6-sting-105mm-spacing
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But buying them is cheaper than buying your own CNC to make them yourself
https://northwestguitars.co.uk/products/wilkinson-wtb-telecaster-compatible-ash-tray-bridge-brass-saddles?variant=44261353914642
Check me out checking! I am learning!