"Easy" Headstock Thickness?

[Jason May]

Discussing a flat neck without an angled headstock.

This is something I've struggled with. I have a robo sander, a router table and a band saw. The most accurate way I have found, but is lengthy and requires being very safe is to band saw close to thickness and then use my miter gauge to slice the headstock to thickness. I want to create a FAST and SAFE way to do this. I may be there already, but looking for better ideas.

I've tried my robo sander and my belt sander to smooth out the headstock, but it is never anywhere near as even as my router. Also, the robo sander takes FOREVER removing material and I have a really heavy grit. Maybe my drill press is set too slow?

Thanks for any help guys!

[Roosterman]

This clown should never have been allowed a router anyway.....

[Bob Harrison]

JuJu,

By the way happy birthday olde boy. I have had several myself and hope you have many more.
Thanks for the tips on routing, I never thought of resharping the bits.

I have been thinking about building a fixture to be bolted onto my milling machine quil too add a router. A router cuts wood better than my mill. My mill has a table 10" x 54", and the ram arm rotates lots of room.

Cheers
Bob:)

juju said:

Yes saftey is # 1 as with all power tools - after all we only get one set of fingers and when there gone there gone !

main thing i find with Routers is people try to do everything in one pass - this leads to BIG problems from slowing the router cutter down , excesive heat build-up and vibration in the cutter which tends to grab at the wood

if i'm cutting a Neck Pocket i will do that in maybe as many as 8 passes for 20mm or 3/4" ish depth of the pocket

i also keep my cutters sharp with the aid of a Diamond Stone a must have item

i must admit i'm a bit of a Router freak - i also have three and a Dremel router base which i think is Cheese i need to make a juju special - once i find the correct threading Tap for the dremel mounting thread - i also bought a new router Table last month cost me £600 and i love it ...but i'm not posting pictures or i'll be classed as a Router Pimp lol! :))))

hehe! Bob you would be suprized how many folk dont like Clowns :)

[juju]

Hey thanks for the Birthday greeting :)

you know i was trying to make the flexi drive from my Dremel fit down inside the Quil but mine is only a wee baby of a Miller with a MT2 Taper so it's not quite big enough to take the Flexi Drive - so i need to make my own or just make a Milling Table and support for the Dremel - i guess with my new Alloy Casting the worlds my oyster & a little head scratch lol!

i'm sure your miller would be more than addiquate to take a dremel flexi or make one to accept a 1/4" collet - most of them are just made from Auto Speedomiter drive cables (with the square Ends ) - you could use a standard router just laid aside the miller with the flexi drive going straight down the quill- ideas ideas ideas ????? mmmmm

Bob Harrison said:

JuJu,

By the way happy birthday olde boy. I have had several myself and hope you have many more.
Thanks for the tips on routing, I never thought of resharping the bits.

I have been thinking about building a fixture to be bolted onto my milling machine quil too add a router. A router cuts wood better than my mill. My mill has a table 10" x 54", and the ram arm rotates lots of room.

Cheers
Bob:)

[Bob Harrison]

JuJu,

What I am going to build is a fixture that bolts to the quil with the router about 8"to one side (dog legged). CNC guys have done this to get the rpm's up on a cutter.

I think what we should buy is a K2 table top cnc.. It would be great for building pups and inlays. Hi tech.

juju said:

Hey thanks for the Birthday greeting :)

you know i was trying to make the flexi drive from my Dremel fit down inside the Quil but mine is only a wee baby of a Miller with a MT2 Taper so it's not quite big enough to take the Flexi Drive - so i need to make my own or just make a Milling Table and support for the Dremel - i guess with my new Alloy Casting the worlds my oyster & a little head scratch lol!

i'm sure your miller would be more than addiquate to take a dremel flexi or make one to accept a 1/4" collet - most of them are just made from Auto Speedomiter drive cables (with the square Ends ) - you could use a standard router just laid aside the miller with the flexi drive going straight down the quill- ideas ideas ideas ????? mmmmm

Bob Harrison said:

JuJu,

By the way happy birthday olde boy. I have had several myself and hope you have many more.
Thanks for the tips on routing, I never thought of resharping the bits.

I have been thinking about building a fixture to be bolted onto my milling machine quil too add a router. A router cuts wood better than my mill. My mill has a table 10" x 54", and the ram arm rotates lots of room.

Cheers
Bob:)

[Bob Harrison]

This is the K2 router that I want. Cheers Bob:)

juju said:

hehe! two fully grown men scared of a little Router :) hehehe!

[Jason May]

I actually have all the cut files for a CNC machine. My buddy has a 4'x8' CNC router table and they've had the cut files for two years. I would really love to have my own.

[Bob Harrison]

JuJu ,
Router pimp us out , Would love to see what you have done with a router. I a very long time ago gave up caring what folks think of me. Just look at my winder machine.
C heers
Bob :)

Bob Harrison said:

JuJu,

By the way happy birthday olde boy. I have had several myself and hope you have many more.
Thanks for the tips on routing, I never thought of resharping the bits.

I have been thinking about building a fixture to be bolted onto my milling machine quil too add a router. A router cuts wood better than my mill. My mill has a table 10" x 54", and the ram arm rotates lots of room.

Cheers
Bob:)

juju said:

Yes saftey is # 1 as with all power tools - after all we only get one set of fingers and when there gone there gone !

main thing i find with Routers is people try to do everything in one pass - this leads to BIG problems from slowing the router cutter down , excesive heat build-up and vibration in the cutter which tends to grab at the wood

if i'm cutting a Neck Pocket i will do that in maybe as many as 8 passes for 20mm or 3/4" ish depth of the pocket

i also keep my cutters sharp with the aid of a Diamond Stone a must have item

i must admit i'm a bit of a Router freak - i also have three and a Dremel router base which i think is Cheese i need to make a juju special - once i find the correct threading Tap for the dremel mounting thread - i also bought a new router Table last month cost me £600 and i love it ...but i'm not posting pictures or i'll be classed as a Router Pimp lol! :))))

hehe! Bob you would be suprized how many folk dont like Clowns :)

[Randy S. Bretz]

I like free- hand routering, did this bench top for miki.

[Roger Martin]

I bought a table router a couple of years ago. I thought it was the answer to all my problems of not being fast enough turning out product.What I found ( for ME at least) is that it wasnt worth the frayed nerves I had every time I reached for the "ON" switch.
My router table is now piled on top of the "not in this lifetime" pile of tools that seems to be growing in a corner of the shop.
When I bought my 14 inch bandsaw, I found I'm comfortable with it, and soon my table saw will join the " not in use" pile also.
Almost everything I cut now is with the Bandsaw.But at the same time I have to say that I do very little innovating now, most of my builds are either the tried and true sellers,or the very occasional custom job that some one was willing to pay extra for.I cant justify the extra time it takes for that fancy build for what little bit of money I can get for that "custom" build.
Since those type sales come so seldom in my market I tend to turn them down more often, and refer most to the internet to find a builder more suitable to what they want.
I have a policy of building only what I think I can sell within a week or 2, any longer then that and it's costing me money for it to hang on the wall of the shop.

[Jason May]

I need a BIG band saw. I have a 12" Ryobi from Home Depot which is okay for some stuff, but if I try to rip the face of a headstock, it's not too interested in cutting straight. I use my table saw a LOT now that I have a 9" blade on it. I feel a lot more comfortable using my router with the jigs I've built for myself. Slow steps like JuJu says. I really need a plunge router base though to make my life easier. I'd be jealous to see JuJus pimpolicious router collection. If you have the right router and set up, it's not that scary. But it can get pricey getting all the goodies. I love bandsaws. Especially using them to remove material so I only have to snip wood off with my router rather than gouge it out.

Roger Martin said:

I bought a table router a couple of years ago. I thought it was the answer to all my problems of not being fast enough turning out product.What I found ( for ME at least) is that it wasnt worth the frayed nerves I had every time I reached for the "ON" switch.
My router table is now piled on top of the "not in this lifetime" pile of tools that seems to be growing in a corner of the shop.
When I bought my 14 inch bandsaw, I found I'm comfortable with it, and soon my table saw will join the " not in use" pile also.
Almost everything I cut now is with the Bandsaw.But at the same time I have to say that I do very little innovating now, most of my builds are either the tried and true sellers,or the very occasional custom job that some one was willing to pay extra for.I cant justify the extra time it takes for that fancy build for what little bit of money I can get for that "custom" build.
Since those type sales come so seldom in my market I tend to turn them down more often, and refer most to the internet to find a builder more suitable to what they want.
I have a policy of building only what I think I can sell within a week or 2, any longer then that and it's costing me money for it to hang on the wall of the shop.

[juju]

well since you said you'd like to see my collection heres a taster for you - this is the new router table i bought a couple of months since - it's a Korg Bench top /Site Model - the router insert plate is made by Woodpecker and has a built in lift system which enables you to adjust the cutter height from the top of the router table by cranking the black cranking handle - the router is a Dewalt heavy duty which i have had for 10 years

i'll add some more pics of the other routers and cutters soon juju :) I'd be jealous to see JuJus pimpolicious router collection. If you have the right router and set up, it's not that scary. But it can get pricey getting all the goodies.

[Bob Harrison]

Yep, you got some pounds I mean bucks tided up there.LOL Thanks for sharing. Bob:)
juju said:

well since you said you'd like to see my collection heres a taster for you - this is the new router table i bought a couple of months since - it's a Korg Bench top /Site Model - the router insert plate is made by Woodpecker and has a built in lift system which enables you to adjust the cutter height from the top of the router table by cranking the black cranking handle - the router is a Dewalt heavy duty which i have had for 10 years

i'll add some more pics of the other routers and cutters soon
juju :)

I'd be jealous to see JuJus pimpolicious router collection. If you have the right router and set up, it's not that scary. But it can get pricey getting all the goodies.