Official Luthiers Forum!

I liked John's phrase so well, I thought it deserved its own post. John, I did like you suggested: I routed that Bubinga in multiple passes. I STILL had the blow-out. The lecture I gave myself involved "climb-cutting" with the router. Always cutting with the grain instead of against it. It the case of those sides--after the top purfling channel had been cut--I should have payed better attention to the direction of the grain in the sides. And sure enough, in the problem area the grain was running at about a 30 degree swoop up into the path of the bit. A mere reversal of course would have cut that cleanly. That said, I've never had trouble with curly Koa or curly maple. Maybe my bit is dull? Or maybe that Bubinga really is "chippy".

_________________
From Nacogdoches...the oldest town in Texas.

http://www.stephenkinnaird.com

Sounds like chippy Bub. I had problems with cracking on my first set. But CA fixed so well I can't remember which side or where exactly. Still I think Bubinga is one my prefered woods. The sound is incredible.

_________________
Dave Bland

remember...

"If it doesn't play in tune...it's just pretty wood"

[QUOTE=Dave-SKG]...I think Bubinga is one my prefered woods. The sound is incredible.[/QUOTE]

Amen, Dave. I'm sold on it, however hard it is to work!

_________________
From Nacogdoches...the oldest town in Texas.

http://www.stephenkinnaird.com

Another thing I have learned to do is apply some finish to the wood before routing, shellac or something but like you say some wood just doesn't like to be cut cleanly. I have never used bubinga. I may have to give it a try soon.

_________________
Tickle your guitar daily, and it'll tickle you back.

For highly figured woods where runout and figure are likely to cause problems, it is recommended that you try to use a tool like a Gramil to score the wood well before cutting with a power tool. This suggestion was made to me by one of those famous builders who's guitars start out at 3x the cost of mine. And he's right. It's a good safe way to go. He uses two of them religiously, one set up with the flat edge and one set up with the curved edge.

_________________
"I want to know what kind of pickups Vince Gill uses in his Tele, because if I had those, as good of a player as I am, I'm sure I could make it sound like that.
Only badly."

That's a real good tip Don. won't take long and saves a lot of Headach/Heartbreak.

_________________
Dave Bland

remember...

"If it doesn't play in tune...it's just pretty wood"

It seems I do things the "weird way". I route my channels with a 1/4" downcut bit with a 1/4" shaft and a laminate trimmer. The set-up is similiar to Don Williams set-up minus the drawer slides and bearing bits. I have an adjustable "tongue" that registers off the sides (much like StewMacs dremel base) and is used to set my depth of cut The good thing is that chipping out and climb cuts are not a problem, the down side is the depth of cut has to be adjusted on scrap before using. I guess it's a matter of choosing your weapon.