Official Luthiers Forum!

Just checking myself. Got the body in the jig after zeroing it out with the calibration board. Then after placing body in jig, my reading was 0.32”. Zeroed that out. Then, 3/8” bridge - .25 fret board - 0.039 fret height + 1/16” gap above bridge. Sound about right? .1485”. In negative territory.

I’ll be using mine for the first time pretty quick here. Have you called Chris? I haven’t yet, but I’d be interested to hear what he said if you did.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I'm getting ready for first use too.

_________________
Steve Smith
"Music is what feelings sound like"

Hey all. I forgot to come back and update. Yes, that was the correct procedure. I have bookmarked this to remind me. I wish there were videos. Maybe I will make one. Feel free to ask questions. I have used it many times. I feel like I understand it now.

Did any of you buy the end vise with the extended dogs for cutways?

I'm bringing this back up to see if you guys found my calculations to be correct.

Btw, when I say "zeroed out" i mean I used the table adjustment knob. I did not zero out the indicator.

Does anybody care to post there experiences with this jig? Curious about your measurements

Mike--

I have only used mine once so far on a real guitar (I bought it used several months ago). I think I set mine for a smaller offset than yours (like maybe 1/8"), but I can't find my notes at the moment. As you know, it is very guitar specific. If you have a different fretboard, different frets, different bridge height, etc., the calculations come out differently. I'm very happy with my jig. I had some piddling around to do at the beginning, because it was new to me, but once I got my sea legs, I found it to make sense and work well.

I’ve used it on about a dozen so far, works as expected. IIRC, you’ve had some issues in the past with cutaway? I’ve not built a cutaway so can’t speak to that. I did create some drilling plates for it, both uke and guitar. I’ve talked with Chris about making them available but haven’t been able to progress that forward like I would like to. Too much work and life in the way.







Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

_________________
Insta - https://www.instagram.com/cbcguitars/
Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/cbcguitars

A few years back i posted a 3 part tutorial in the tutorial section ,check it out it may be usefull.

Those tutorials are helpful, Robin. Thanks for the reminder that they exist.

Another helpful hint I can offer: I attached a large footprint router base (with the appropriate stepped hole for the template bushing) to my router for the use of this jig. A regular base feels too small and prone to tipping.

Another: I found that for instrument bodies other than a 12 or 14 fret neck, 25.4 inch scale, you might need to drill more mounting holes for the arm that holds the dial indicator in order for the dial indicator to land at the saddle slot location. I had to, anyway.

Otherwise, I tried hard to follow the written instructions (downloadable from LuthierTool), and it worked out OK for me.

I've only used mine twice so far. I do dovetails and it gets everything very close but still needs to be tweaked a bit.

_________________
Steve Smith
"Music is what feelings sound like"

Brad, that new edge vise jig... what problem is it solving over the conventional design? Is it better for small things? Cutaways? -Mike

I did have a discussion with Chris. The above calculation should be treated (of course) as a general guide. The specifics of which are related to your design. For me, it would be spot on if the guitar was perfectly rigid. So, that 1/16" part is probably overkill. What you actually use there is dependent on your design, material choice, and string selection. It is also based on an upper bout design that is flat. Somebody mentioned that they used 1/8" (without mentioning bridge height, fret board height and fret height, so take that with a grain of salt). That is interesting if those parameters match mine.

So, as a warning, my numbers are just that. Mine. But the equation will get you in the ballpark (sans the hard 1/16" inch thing which you must figure out on your own).

Hey Mike,

Do you mean the drilling templates I made? Those are just allowing the holes for hanger bolts to be drilled while the neck is still in the jig. This ensures they are exactly perpendicular to the bottom of the tenon.

If you mean the edge vise itself, that’s the old one that doesn’t have the extended dogs. So nothing new with that one.

Brad


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

_________________
Insta - https://www.instagram.com/cbcguitars/
Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/cbcguitars

Brad,

That edge vise in top picture. What is that for? Why do u own it? I always assumed it was a response to the cutaway problem.

Mike

Hey Mike,

The edge vise in my picture is the one that comes with the neck angle jig. Was there perhaps an earlier version that worked differently?

Brad


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

_________________
Insta - https://www.instagram.com/cbcguitars/
Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/cbcguitars

Ok. I am aware there is a new vise. I was just wondering if you had tried it on a cut-away. I have the older vise, square opening. And all the templates. One scheme to make it work on cut-aways was to increase dog length on one side. That works if vise lip has something on which to rest on the cut-away side. In most of my cases, it does not.

I just spoke with Chris. He is sending me a the new edge vise. THIS is what I have been looking for. Doing cut-aways with old vise was difficult.

Cool. I had no idea there was a design change along the way for the vise.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

_________________
Insta - https://www.instagram.com/cbcguitars/
Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/cbcguitars

There are two versions of the end vise. The one for cutaways has extended dogs and costs $25 more.

Just a heads up for those who own the old vise. The extended dogs will not work with the old vise. They were designed for the new vise. See pic. I intend to keep using the old vise for end grafts and normal bodies.