I need to buy some more stuff
- neck plate and screws
- strap buttons
- Volume/Tone/Blend knobs
- string tree
So, first off, let me resolve the tension I created last time. I've obtained all of this stuff ... and more. In particular, I've ordered some genuine Fender (c) white felt washers, and also purchased a cordless Dremel (foreshadowing). However now that I think of it, I need to get some longer screws for the strap buttons, as recommended by someone on Strat-Talk (perhaps Ron Kirn), and quoted by me in a previous post. Hurrah.
Routing
A critical part of my build is installing the wood block under the trem. The el cheapo body I ordered did arrive and is perfect for my purpose of learning how to do the routing. Here's a rough picture of the part of the body that I'll work on
Think of this as looking at the bottom of the body, sighting from the end towards the neck pocket. The bridge posts will sit on the top of the shaded part, and the "empty" part has already been routed out.
The diagram is a cross section of what you'd see if you had a little camera in the spot routed out for the trem block, pointing towards the neck pocket. I need to rout out a piece that is 2.25x1x(1.022-0.125), i.e. 2.25 x 1 x 0.897. The depth comes from allowing 1/8 inch of the original body to remain. The spec for the trem says that the ferrules are 0.886 long. Using the theory of subtraction, 0.125 of this will be in the Paulownia, and 0.886 - 0.125 = 0.761 inch will be in the block I glue in there. As a bonus corollary, the "perfect" block size would be 2.25 x 1 x 0.761. Perhaps later I will post the actual measurements of the mulberry block I'm using. It's pretty close, just a bit deeper which isn't a problem.
The Jig Is Up
The piece of wood taped on the body was my first attempt at creating a "jig", i.e. something to guide the router so I don't cut too far. Really it's more important to get the sides right, so I guess I'll tape on two more pieces perpendicular to this one. I bought a piece of 1x2 from the local lumberyard. In the process, I learned that any NxM piece of wood is not really NxM inches, since there's "shrinkage". For example, a 1x2 is really 0.75x1.75. I had planned to do the routing with my trusty corded Dremel and the new plunge router I bought And in fact, I did do some, out in the hallway, however my son, Stratos Jr., suggested that it might annoy our sensitive neighbors (who have in fact complained about other noises from our apartment). Then Mrs H4x0r chimed in, leading me to sulk for a while. I then ordered the finest cordless Dremel money can buy and went back to sulking. It arrived a few days and it looks nice, though it's kind of heavy compared to the the corded one, probably due to the massive battery. My plan is to do all my routing on the roof (I live in an apartment, so the roof, to which I am lucky enough to have access, is a big flat expanse with a few picnic tables which I can use as workbenches).
Next Steps
Now that I have all my goodies, I will proceed thus
Routing
A critical part of my build is installing the wood block under the trem. The el cheapo body I ordered did arrive and is perfect for my purpose of learning how to do the routing. Here's a rough picture of the part of the body that I'll work on
The diagram is a cross section of what you'd see if you had a little camera in the spot routed out for the trem block, pointing towards the neck pocket. I need to rout out a piece that is 2.25x1x(1.022-0.125), i.e. 2.25 x 1 x 0.897. The depth comes from allowing 1/8 inch of the original body to remain. The spec for the trem says that the ferrules are 0.886 long. Using the theory of subtraction, 0.125 of this will be in the Paulownia, and 0.886 - 0.125 = 0.761 inch will be in the block I glue in there. As a bonus corollary, the "perfect" block size would be 2.25 x 1 x 0.761. Perhaps later I will post the actual measurements of the mulberry block I'm using. It's pretty close, just a bit deeper which isn't a problem.
The Jig Is Up
The piece of wood taped on the body was my first attempt at creating a "jig", i.e. something to guide the router so I don't cut too far. Really it's more important to get the sides right, so I guess I'll tape on two more pieces perpendicular to this one. I bought a piece of 1x2 from the local lumberyard. In the process, I learned that any NxM piece of wood is not really NxM inches, since there's "shrinkage". For example, a 1x2 is really 0.75x1.75. I had planned to do the routing with my trusty corded Dremel and the new plunge router I bought And in fact, I did do some, out in the hallway, however my son, Stratos Jr., suggested that it might annoy our sensitive neighbors (who have in fact complained about other noises from our apartment). Then Mrs H4x0r chimed in, leading me to sulk for a while. I then ordered the finest cordless Dremel money can buy and went back to sulking. It arrived a few days and it looks nice, though it's kind of heavy compared to the the corded one, probably due to the massive battery. My plan is to do all my routing on the roof (I live in an apartment, so the roof, to which I am lucky enough to have access, is a big flat expanse with a few picnic tables which I can use as workbenches).
Next Steps
Now that I have all my goodies, I will proceed thus
- Tape two more wood strips to the body to guide the router on the sides of the hole
- Go up to the roof and rout the cheap body (bringing the dust buster for clean up of course)
- Assuming that all works ok, do the same on the Paulownia body
If I had to bet, I will only get through the first two, and the third will have to wait for next weekend, which is the start of my being "on holiday" as they say in Weehawken.
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