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Hello. I am working on my first build. I'm fairly new to woodworking and definately new to guitar building (although I'm already hooked and have my first 10 builds sketched out...subject to change of course). My question is about guided router bits. My uncle who is an amazing craftsman, but unfortunately lives a few states away, told me to make a template, which I did, and tape that to my body blank and use a guided router bit to clean up the edges after I did a rough cut out of the body. My question is, is this the best way to "clean up" a body and if so, where do I find a 2" guided router bit because I've looked everywhere I can think of. Thanks in advance.

Dan

I got my 1/2" x 2" flush trim bit from Rockler.com (http://www.rockler.com/product.cfm?page ... lter=90858) - works great in the router table.

If your bit is not as deep as your body, you can do it in two passes. First pass with the template on, then remove the template and use the freshly routed part of the body to guide the bearing.

I use two guide bits: one with the bearing on top of the bit, the other with the bearing between the shaft and the bottom of the bit. These are both standard 1/2" x 3/4" long.
I route with one bit, install the other bit and filp the workpiece over and use the cut surface as the bearing guide.
Rough saw the piece close to the template edge before routing to minimize tearout.
Dan

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Yeah I use the MLCS bit too. They are a short drive nearby me. They also offer free shipping which is great. They also own the http://www.eagleamerica.com/ brand that sells router supplies.

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I got a couple nice Bosch bits from Lowes. They're pretty well built and still working great for me, I love the 1/2" x 3/4" flush trim with the bearing mounted between the cutter and shank. I'm fairly new to lutherie myself but I've got a couple builds under my belt so far. I cut out a template from a sheet of 1/4" acrylic, then stick the template to the top of the blank using screws drilled into areas that'll be cut out later such as the pickups and neck pocket, and route around the blank in 2-3 passes to cut the total depth.