Fingerboard Radius Jig

[Lillian]

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Originally Posted on: Wed Aug 11, 2010

I was doing my usual run through eBay to see what I can't live without in the shop and stumbled across this auction.

While I like the concept, I think its a bit over priced and still needs tweaking. He fell off the rails at least twice while I was watching. BUT I think the concept is solid and worth checking out, so for your viewing pleasure.


youtu.be/
Link

[Kim]

Looks like a poorly thought out cousin of Rick Michelleti's Luthier's Cool Tools Jig to me Lil

http://www.luthierscooltools.com/Dwgs.h ... dius%20Jig

A few questions...

He uses a straight cut bit and a 3 inch board. Does the board need 3" to avoid breakout?? Does it need to be 3" so that you have an uncut strip on each side of the FB to act as support rails for the template that you then trim off later??? Guess that's fine with cheap local wood but that is not what we generally use, wasteful and limiting your supplier and width of string spacings" Maybe? I don't know. If using a straight cut bit, how do you avoid breakout in a pre-slotted board? If you intend to slot 'after' you cut the radius it can be a bitch to do so on a tablesaw sled cause it wont lay flat unless you modify the sled which you would need to do for each profile.

The biggest issue I see is that the jig looks to be quite unstable insomuch that a small laps in concentration could leave you with a ruined board at best, or an out of control router throwing itself across the room at worst. And finally, how long will this guy be able to hear whats going on if he chooses to do routing operations with no hearing protection. I would recommend you spend the time to make the Michelleti jig as it would appear to be quite a few generations ahead of this one.

Cheers

Kim

[Pete Brown]

I "borrowed" this idea from somewhere or other and, with the help of my thickness sander and some double-sided tape, it gets me into the ballpark at least - a variation on a theme I guess. A Stew-Mac radiused sanding beam does the rest.

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[kiwigeo]

Lazy sods.......whats wrong with a sanding block and a bit of elbow grease, a dust mask and a long hot shower afterwards to remove the Black and White Ministral look??????

[Lillian]

Kim, I must confess that I didn't have the sound on. My news junkie was sitting beside me watching the evening news and I left my earbuds at work with my sanity keeper, my iPod. I watched the silent movie and didn't even attempt to read lips.

I agree with your comments, a round bottom bit would be a much better choice. Wonder if he was just using what he had on hand or knew about. Either way, not the best choice.

When he fell off the rails, I realized that it would be real easy for me to botch a board. That's not the kind of easy I was looking for, but thought that extending the rails another foot or so would take care that issue. I still think that though there is lots for him to tweak on his design, that the concept is good. The execution could be much better. And his pricing is a bit much. I think he would be better off making up the bits for the router sled and selling plans for the base. I really liked his base design.

I have always thought that Rick's jig is well thought out. JJ gave an honest review of it after he constructed his. I liked it then and up until Pete posted his sanding jig, I was all over Rick's jig. It was going to be my next shop project. Now, I'm not so sure.

Pete, I think I'll have to see what I can do about giving your jig a test run. Its simple. It has a small footprint, which is becoming an important feature for jigs in the shop. And best of all I have a thickness sander already. I don't mind doing the clean up afterward with a radius sanding block, I just can't do the whole thing by with the block. It hurts my hands too much to do it all at once, which is why I can't do it your way Martin.

[Kim]

Kim, I must confess that I didn't have the sound on.

I was referring to the guy in the vid Lil, he makes a point of telling all to put on safety glasses but he has nothing in or on his his ears as he routs, that is a fast track to industrial deafness as routing is easily one of the loudest ops you can do in a shop.

[Lillian]

Kim, I must confess that I didn't have the sound on.

I was referring to the guy in the vid Lil, he makes a point of telling all to put on safety glasses but he has nothing in or on his his ears as he routs, that is a fast track to industrial deafness as routing is easily one of the loudest ops you can do in a shop.

Oh gawd yes, put in your hearing protection!

I had missed that he was using a straight bit because I didn't want to interrupt the evening news, hence my confession.

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