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http://www.brockpoling.com/luthiersforum/forum/useruploads/S prockett/2004-12-29_120751_DremelStockShot.jpg This appears to be the very thing I was complaining about the Waverly / Stewmac circle tool not having. It is great adjusting vertical depth, but not Radial dimension, which is every bit as critical. This tool appears to solve the problem. Who sells it and how mucho? TIA bd

[QUOTE=Dickey] This tool appears to solve the problem. Who sells it and how mucho? TIA bd[/QUOTE]

Micro fence

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Don Atwood
Arlington, VA

Hey Bruce...

That tool was long time in the making, I started out using the StewMac circle jig and was never very happy with the control over the diameter portion of it. I got pretty good at using it but I never trusted it, if that center knob got loose while you where cutting you can wreck a top (which I did my first time out). I had been wanting something better for quite some time...

A couple of months ago we attended a woodworking show and I ran into these people making a tool call the Micro Fence (http://www.microfence.com/), he had sitting on the table a rosette he had done and so I basically asked a bunch of questions and ended up forking over about $250, he also suggested that I get a Porter Cable 7310 laminate router for it which I did.

After tinkering with it a bit I did a classical rosette using the PC 310 and his setup and was not very happy, the 310 is too powerful IMO to do delicate rosette work and I could not see what I was doing. Plus it takes 1/4" shank bits and all my rosette ones are 1/8", and the smaller bit you use to cut out spruce the less tearout you get (within reason cause a 1/32" bit breaks very easily).

So I took my SM circle jig apart, got some poly carb sheets and after 4 prototypes ended up with the one you see there. The wonderful part of it is that I can adjust the depth using the SM tool and the diameter using the micro fence. For one of my healdsburg guitars I sanded the rosette a little too thin in one area burning through the purfling trim and the shell, so I pulled out the jig and routed out the existing channels and re-inlayed purfling and paua, try that with the SM tool

Whats even better is that my son and I are building Dreadnoughts together and we did his backstrip using the tool, I set an edge, bolted on the wood piece that comes with the Micro-Fence and was able to adjust the width of the channel by getting an initial size and then counting using the wheel..

I consider this (with the modified jig) and my lie-nelson planes to be the best investments I've made for building guitars, they ain't cheap but man are they worth the money.

Cheers

-Paul-

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-Paul-

Patriot Guitars

Thanks Paul, now to see my machinist and have him make a one in all tool, send it to a contact in Taiwan, and soon we'll all have this gizmo in our armamentarium. Thanks for the great explantation, cool looking machine, I was in love the moment I saw it.

Paul, it appears your pivot point must be somewhere in the base of the machine to get a short enough distance to cut out the soundhole. You wouldn't happen to have a picture of the microfence in action would you? I'm interested in the setup and maybe can finally find a use for my StewMac router attachment.

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Don Atwood
Arlington, VA

[QUOTE=Don A] Paul, it appears your pivot point must be somewhere in the base of the machine to get a short enough distance to cut out the soundhole. You wouldn't happen to have a picture of the microfence in action would you? I'm interested in the setup and maybe can finally find a use for my StewMac router attachment. [/QUOTE]

You can see more pictures here:

http://www.patriotguitars.com/rosettejig.htm

If you need more I'm charging the battery on my camera and will take one of the bottom, there is a 1/4" hole in the base right next to the poly carb. I can do holes about 2-1/2" diameter, with the original setup the foot of the unit went under the router base (it floated on two little feet) as cool as that was I wanted the dremel down on the wood so I could see and control it..

Cheers

-Paul-

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-Paul-

Patriot Guitars

Thanks for the link Paul. I can see the the hole for the index pin in these pictures. I had thought that the first block (blue) was attached to the base you made and moved with it. I believe I am going to have to get one of these. A bit more expensive than the Cochran sold at Allied Luthier but it looks like it can be adjusted much more accurately. Thanks for the good tool tip.

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Don Atwood
Arlington, VA

This is a very nice enhancement to the basic Stew Mac jig but somewhere I saw a picture of a similar jig to the microfence with a big plus and that is the addition of a micrometer head between the microfence like base and the Stew Mac jig so that you could not only make radial ajustment but could measure the difference.

An import micrometer head can be had for as little as $20 that if built into the jig would give very fine adjustments that could be verified visually.

The picture I saw was part of a shop tour of a production shop, but I cant remember whether it was Taylor or whoever...The micrometer head would push against the bar that extend the Stew Mac jig.