Truss Rod routing

[MovinTarget]

#GotClampz?

Only have enough to do one at a time so I'm doing the one I muffed a lil bit on a inlay hole where my drill rolled a little bit before biting. This was really frustrating since I tried to give it a guide hole...

 

[dwizum]

What kind of drill are you using? If you don't have a drill press, I would prefer an old fashioned manual hand drill or brace, vs a handheld power drill. Much easier to control and you can stop instantly if things start to go south.

If the fretboard wood is darker (ie ebony or rosewood) you can sometimes enlarge an offcenter hole enough to get the inlay in the right spot, then fill around it with wood dust and CA, or tinted epoxy. Doesn't work so well with maple IME.

 

[MovinTarget]

What kind of drill are you using? If you don't have a drill press, I would prefer an old fashioned manual hand drill or brace, vs a handheld power drill. Much easier to control and you can stop instantly if things start to go south.

If the fretboard wood is darker (ie ebony or rosewood) you can sometimes enlarge an offcenter hole enough to get the inlay in the right spot, then fill around it with wood dust and CA, or tinted epoxy. Doesn't work so well with maple IME.

Power drill is all I have and its on home-roasted maple

I have 2 bits the correct size for my inlays, forgive me if I don't know the technical names one is steel with a point and *very* sharp and the other is brass? and more rounded.

I liked the brass one because in testing it felt less agressive so I was starting the holes with the steel and finishing with brass, but one hole was a bit shallow so that rounded tip just rolled right out...

 

[dwizum]

I like a forstner or brad point bit since they'll both drill (mostly) flat bottomed holes with clean edges and they're both fairly easy to control in terms of depth, because they don't have "hook" like a twist bit does, pulling them into the wood. Both styles have a small brad point right in the center, so you can tap a centerpunch on your mark to make a divot and the bit will naturally center on it.

Plain old twist bits (what your "brass" one sounds like maybe?) are hard to center well since they've essentially got a tiny flat chisel-like blade at the very center of the point, between the two sloped cutting surfaces, instead of an actual single sharp point like a brad point or forstner has. Twist bits love to just walk off center the instant they touch the workpiece.

 

[Gilmourisgod]

Bradpoint! Ive found standard twist drills useless for anything that requires a lot of precision and a clean hole. You can buy them as single bits some places, but dont cheap out.

 

[MovinTarget]

I'm pushing through even though the inlays are not perfectly aligned... One of the challenges of making one's own instruments is being intimately aware of all the imperfections, so I gotta let it go or I'll never get through the whole process...

Besides, I get the feeling inlays on maple can be kinda brutal not matter what... I've set the inlays and rough-tapered for width with a jig saw:

Getting the sides flat by using my 4' level w/ sand paper taped one side and clamping some boards to use as a guide. Since the neck is almost 1" thick and the level is exactly 1" thick, I can get a pretty flat, smooth side to work from....

 

[moonshinegtrs]

I use Bitteroot and I can't say enough good things about them...
Truss Rods from Bitterroot guitars. Highest quality two way rods. In stock in one of the largest size selections in the market. Designed by a builder for builders

Low profile two way truss rods; two styles, they comes in more sizes than I've ever seen listed anywhere.

They also do discounts for quantities. The best part to me is they include a matching allen wrench for each rod, Pretty Cool!

They come wrapped but I used to use electrical tape to wrap the older style two way rods...


Moonshine