Correct Body thickness

taylornutt · Post by **taylornutt** » Sat Mar 13, 2010 3:22 pm

I am building my guitar templates this weekend and I have started to look for a place that could plane my Ash guitar stock down to the proper thickness for each body. I am going to cut a block for each guitar body and have them planed individually. I have been doing some research for the specs on body depth and here is what I came up with:

Jazzmaster: 1.75"
Mustang: 1.5"
Squier Super-Sonic: ?
Baja Telecaster: ? (1.5" to 1.75")
Jag-Stang: 1.7" (43.5mm) -from Robert(original)

Can anyone with a Super-Sonic or Baja Telecaster confirm the body thickness for me. I might go play some Teles today and measure the body thickness that way. I have never touched a super-sonic so I have no idea how thick it is. Any help would be much appreciated.

johnniespring · Post by **johnniespring** » Sat Mar 13, 2010 8:20 pm

1.75" is the standard size for fender solid bodies.

Joey · Post by **Joey** » Sun Mar 14, 2010 7:25 am

It's better to glue em together, then plane em thru a 15" planer, you'll get a flatter board. You can find a 12" - 13" planer all day long, 15" are harder to come across (check your local cabinet builders). And get em to run it thru a drum sander after they plane it, it'll save ya alot of time.

Remember, expect to lose a few inches (2" - 4") of board at each end from "snipe" from the planer and drum sander, so a 24" long board seems like a waste... but it'll spare ya the agitation when you spray your finish on and see the snipe.

Matt · Post by **Matt** » Sun Mar 14, 2010 11:55 am

Use a cnc machine

robert(original) · Post by **robert(original)** » Mon Mar 15, 2010 3:05 am

keep in mind, poly is thick as shit, so the j.s. is probly more like 40 mms.
there is no sniping action with a drum sander. and try a cabinet builders place.
generally with a drum sander one end is open and the paper is usually only about 5-8 inches, but a few companies have, and do make biggers ones, i have a 16inch delta(yeah, its big, heavy, and fucking pricey)
but its a life saver and i will NEVER sell it, so im sure there is someone around who can help you out.

taylornutt · Post by **taylornutt** » Tue Mar 16, 2010 4:51 am

My guitar planks are a bit bowed. I have clamped them together, but I am not sure how much good it will do. If I can't the planer to work with the boards, I will cut the boards in half, plane them and then glue them back together again.

taylornutt · Post by **taylornutt** » Tue Mar 16, 2010 3:34 pm

Joey wrote:It's better to glue em together, then plane em thru a 15" planer, you'll get a flatter board. You can find a 12" - 13" planer all day long, 15" are harder to come across (check your local cabinet builders). And get em to run it thru a drum sander after they plane it, it'll save ya alot of time.

Remember, expect to lose a few inches (2" - 4") of board at each end from "snipe" from the planer and drum sander, so a 24" long board seems like a waste... but it'll spare ya the agitation when you spray your finish on and see the snipe.

I am experiencing exactly what you are describing. I was hoping to avoid the glueing clamping step, but the bow in the wood is going to be too much to overcome. I will save more time going this route versus trying to locate a 15" planer and I don't have $800 to buy one. Maybe down the road at some point.

taylornutt · Post by **taylornutt** » Tue Mar 16, 2010 11:44 pm

What type of router bit can I use to cut out the guitar bodies?

Would something like this work: http://www.freud-tools.com/freudtopbear.html

I assume I will need the 2" so I can cut all the way through the body

taylornutt · Post by **taylornutt** » Thu Mar 18, 2010 12:28 am

I found the right bit at a Woodworking specialty store

http://www.rockler.com/product.cfm?page=11083

I have my telecaster and Mustang templates done. I am finishing up my Jazzmaster templates tonight and I might work on my Super-Sonic templates based on Dawnofzion's plans. Once I get the Jag-stang traces I will make templates and be done with that phase. Then I will start cutting and planing the wood to the proper thickness.

Joey · Post by **Joey** » Fri Mar 26, 2010 2:33 am

I buy my router bits thru routerbits.com, they have a large selection. I use 1/4" or 1/8" template router bits for the first few passes. Then I put in a normal template router bit, I get em thru Home Depot or Lowes. I like to make fast/shallow passes, biting off more then ya can chew causes friction, wears out your router bits faster, sloppy cuts and more likely to have "tear out" where the router bit rips out large chunks of wood. I dunno the depth of my passes, maybe around 1/8" or less. It varies with router bit, router, wood & etc. I listen the router motor, you want the router to maintain speed. I never lock my router height adjustment, as soon as I finish the first pass, I keep my finger on the trigger and give the height adjustment two quick quarter turns and keep going. Not really the safe thing to do, but I'm used to it.

Keep your eye's open, I watched a 15" Jet planer go for $300 a few months ago. I always buy BIG power tools used.