Body Shaping
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<<< Neck Pocket & Pickup Cavity Routing
The bodies are cut roughly
to shape on a band saw,
leaving about 5mm of
waste around the drawn
body shape
A line is marked on the
neck pocket bottom exactly
3
inches from the
back of the pocket,
this being the datum for
attaching the body
template -
the datum is projected
over
the side and onto
the body back using
a square
The body template is taped
firmly to the body back,
aligning with the datum
and the body centre line
The body is routed to
shape in three passes
using edge
trimming cutters -
the first pass uses the
template to provide the
correct
shape
The body after the first
pass is finished
On the second pass, the
template is removed and
the
previous cut provides
an edge for the cutter
bearing to run on -
here's the body
after
the second pass is done
For the third pass, the
body is turned over and
the
remaining waste
trimmed back using a
cutter with a bottom
bearing that runs on
the previous cut
A body with shaping
almost completed
It's starting to look
like a guitar now ...
The final shaping is of
the 'ears' on each side
of the neck
pocket -
here they are marked out
for trimming back to size
The excess wood is
carefully cut away with
a razor saw