Slotted Headstock Jig

[Bob Connor]

This little beauty arrived this morning from http://www.luthiertool.com/, taking advantage of the strong Aussie Dollar at the moment.

Can't wait to get it into the shed to put it through it's paces.

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[kiwigeo]

Bob,

Is that the combo kit? Did you buy any other accessories (router guide kit) with it?

Cheers Martin

[Bob Connor]

I got the Classical Templates with it as well.

Didn't bother with the router guide or spiral downcut bits as they're available locally.

[Nick]

Ohhhhhh, nothing gets an engineers blood circulating than a set of well knurled knobs & plenty of adjustment screws!
Nice purchase Bob (now leave the pics up for five minutes so I can copy it ), it looks like an extremely well produced bit of kit & makes what could be a tricky/ time consuming operation look like becoming a simple/quick one. I made some MDF templates to rout the slots on the Selmers but of course they aren't 'tweakable' for different sized or shaped headstocks like this beauty.

[Kim]

Porn!......Porn! Porn! PORN!!!!

So, how much did this piece of FILTH! cost landed at your door you dirty, dirty boy???

Cheers

Kim

[Bob Connor]

$324 Pacific Pesos. And worth every cent. This beauty will never wear out and yes it is exceptionally manufactured.

These blokes also have an end graft jig that is worth checking out on their site.

[kiwigeo]

Just bought the triple choice jig..does conventional steel string tuners as well as slot heads.

Ive already got the Luthier Tools binding channel cutter and its a cool tool...exceptionally well made.

[Dominic]

Hi Bob, can you change the width of the slot you cut by using different router guides? Or are you stuck with what they give you? I was looking at these while contemplating how to cut the slots in the classical I have just finished. In the end I made a custom jig from mdf and it worker beautifully. I ask because there seems to be no standard width of slot and if you want to stay faithful to plans you would need to be able to make adjustments.
Cheers
Dom

[liam_fnq]

Good to see you stopped twiddling your knobs long enough to get some photos.

It certainly has the look of a quality machine.

Is there an adjustment to allow for centering on any thickness of headstock. some of the other jigs on the market are self centering and we all know how little something has to be out to give us the shits.

[Bob Connor]

Dominic - you could change the width of the slot by changing router guides but I don't think there are too many width guides you could buy. I'm not too concerned about plans as I never use any and tend to build to my own designs.

If you want to build reproductions you can get the blokes at luthiertool to make custom templates for you.


Liam - this jig is self centering so will have to ensure that your headstock is cut with precision initially.

Regards

[woodrat]

Just bought the triple choice jig..does conventional steel string tuners as well as slot heads.

Ive already got the Luthier Tools binding channel cutter and its a cool tool...exceptionally well made.

Hi Martin, What laminate trimmer are you running on the Luthier tools base? They dont make one for Makita just Bosch Porter Cable and De Walt.

Thanks

John

[Puff]

Hi Bob - what is the purpose of the rods at the ends of this jig (The ones with the threads where they meet)? Cannot see any way to adjust them and yet they are at different offsets.

[Kim]

Puff,

Those end rods are two piece and the 'thread' you mention is actually a spring. It is set up this way so the jig can adapt to any angle or 'flair' of the headstock. If you look closely you will see that the holes in the body for the knurl ended side clamping rods are actually elongated for this same reason.

Cheers

Kim

[Puff]

Thanks Kim - I think
What had, and to an extent still does have, my attention is that the rod (jpg1026) lower right hand side has 'gone back into the side rail' with the adjusted head stock taper/flair?

[kiwigeo]

Hi Martin, What laminate trimmer are you running on the Luthier tools base? They dont make one for Makita just Bosch Porter Cable and De Walt.

Thanks

John

John,

I'm running a Porter Cable Lam trimmer....bought it from LMI some time ago.

Cheers Martin

[Kim]

Thanks Kim - I think
What had, and to an extent still does have, my attention is that the rod (jpg1026) lower right hand side has 'gone back into the side rail' with the adjusted head stock taper/flair?

I can see what you mean but as I see it Puff the rod and spring configuration is only there to provide easy fitment of the jig to the headstock. I think they act as a positioning aid which does no more than keep the jig under mild tension until it is clamped in place. If so it would not really matter where the ends of the rods meet, only that they are free to pivot away from each other under spring tension as the jig is positioned to match the angle of the headstock flair.

That is my guess anyhow but I have not actually held one of these jigs in my hand and most probably just like yourself, the above images are about as close as I have come.

Cheers

Kim

[kiwigeo]

Just bought the triple choice jig..does conventional steel string tuners as well as slot heads.

Ive already got the Luthier Tools binding channel cutter and its a cool tool...exceptionally well made.

Bugger..two week wait for new stock to arrive

[Puff]

Just can't help feeling there's more to it than that Kim

[Kim]

OK, so they are probably also there to make the thing look as complicated as possible so every man and his dog does not go out grab'in chunks of alloy and a 1/2 dozen hardened drill bushings and start mak'in their own.

[Puff]

Like seven strings - can you get those bushings singly or only in sets of six Got everything else
Hang on just found some 5/8 steel rod so with the hacksaw, the drill press, the gas axe and a bucket of water all should be sweet huh. Threaded rods and knurled knobs for Africa from surplus router fence guides.

[Nick]

My take on the design is that the two rods at each end are able to slide in & out the outer side rails, they have a cup ( socket) & ball (or hemisphere to be more precise) at their ends so that their axial alignment can change as the amount of the headstock 'wedge' alters. Their purpose? I'm guessing it keeps the sides in perfect alignment longitudinally (as the pin ends are indexed to each other) as you wouldn't get that ability from the threaded adjusters alone as they need some 'freedom' to move, & with the brass rollers able to move (rotate) it would quite easy for one side of tuner bushes to be 'lower' or 'higher' than the other along the central axis. A clever solution to the problem I would say, nice & simple yet very effective.

[Bob Connor]

Correct Nick. Both of those pins slide in and out.

[Puff]

Thanks Nick and Bob - so two sliding rods with just a bit less than a hemisphere bowl in each and a ball bearing in the middle trapped with a spring in tension would do the same trick
Not really intending to make my own copy though it would not be difficult - just wanted to get my head right around it.
Cheers.

[Kim]

I can see that the rods would need to slide in and out, that is obviously necessary to allow the rails to be adjusted to fit the headstock flair. I also understand that a cup and ball joint would be the best functional option available to deal with the coupling of these rods, but I wonder if this is what we are actually seeing here. It could be that the coupling relies solely upon the friction fit of the spring? Hardly as accurate as a ball joint in function I am sure, but much more effective in terms of production cost.

So Bob the question is, are the two rods at each end of the jig coupled together with anything but the spring


Cheers

Kim

[Puff]

May I add to Kim's please. Are they mated as a cup and ball or is that just Nick being a fine engineer interpreter Sorry for all the questions but you are the only one who has one in hand - so to speak.
Kim:- reckon the production cost would be sweet Fanny Adams