The Setchell Jig for Carved top guitars

[fanlee]

Hi.
I am a newbie and have received invaluable help from members here.

So I hope that this will be useful to others. It is my copy of a jig thought up by Anthony Stechell an English guitar maker.

It's good for Gibson type carved tops and binding channels.

Course there's still some sanding to be done.:D

Thanks to all for their help in various areas.

[BobL]

very nice!

[MICKYG]

This is a great idea, and may inspire me into making an archtop which has been on the backburner for a couple of years. There is a section for guitar's and luthiers now on this forum.;)

Regards Mike.

[Fluddman]

Nice looking guitar - what wood is it? Sounds like you have made a few guitars. I've been playing for 30 years but have never got around to making one - how did you get started?

I look forward to seeing the finished product.

Happy pluck'n

[fanlee]

Nice looking guitar - what wood is it? Sounds like you have made a few guitars. I've been playing for 30 years but have never got around to making one - how did you get started?

I look forward to seeing the finished product.

Happy pluck'n

LOL!! This is my first 'real' DIY project. I am using ready made necks from Warmoth. The project is: 1 Warmoth neck & body where I will finish & assemble the readymade neck & body, while I will attempt to make & finish 1 SG body & 1 CS336 body as well. Soprt of learning on the job. LOL.

What got me started? I wanted the iconic telecaster you know butterscotch blonde, maple neck and while the idea of buying another guitar didn't go down all that well with the War Office, building one was met with encouragement. So I bought Warmoth neck & body for the tele & assembled it with quality hardware.

Then I thought I might have a go at the almost full monty so to speak.

The wood is Queensland Maple. It has similar properties to mahogany and is widely used. Maton use it among others. I just bought a plank at my local timber shop and lucked into the beautiful piece I used as the top.

I look forward to seeing it finished as well!!:D

I hope I can do the beautiful timber justice.

.

[thetassiebfg]

Nice looking piece of work.. hope she sounds even better

like the jig too, care to share some details on either the original source idea for the jig (just googled it and only came up with this thread) or how you have gone about making it.. you know all those things like dimensions and how it actually works.
my brain is not currently talking to my body so though my eyes are looking at the pics its not clear to me how the jig works.. does the actual jig travel in an arc or does it allow you to make cuts at a constant hight all the way around the guitar etc

Andrew

[Fluddman]

I have one of those Iconic tele's - though mine's a thinline. I know the one you describe (same one that Springstein plays). I'd love to build one and whack a set of Kinman pickups in it. Dream on .....

[fanlee]

Nice looking piece of work.. hope she sounds even better

like the jig too, care to share some details on either the original source idea for the jig (just googled it and only came up with this thread) or how you have gone about making it.. you know all those things like dimensions and how it actually works.
my brain is not currently talking to my body so though my eyes are looking at the pics its not clear to me how the jig works.. does the actual jig travel in an arc or does it allow you to make cuts at a constant hight all the way around the guitar etc

Andrew

Hi Andrew.

My pictures aren't all that brilliant. Sorry. Basicaly it's a box with no ends made out of MDF. The top extends and is shaped to take the router and there is a hole for the plunging of the bit. The router dimensions determine the dimensions of the....er...structure. I drilled holes in the extended part of the top to take sawn off galvanised nails so that they aligned with the holes in my router base. I got nails as close as possible to the size of the holes in the router base

Inside the box on the floor is the moveable tongue with a pointy end that aligns under the router bit. It is clamped in any appropriate fore & aft position and pushes up against the side of the guitar fairly low down. So you find the 'zero' width cut position and move the tongue back into the box to track the bit over the surface of the guitar. Plunge governs the depth of cut.

I worked from the inside out. The first and shallowest cut went from the innermost boundary of the cut to the edge. Then I stepped the tongue forward 1cm I think & increased the depth to make the second step which was not as far 'into' the body. Tongue forward (ie bit futher out towards the edge) & router deeper for the next step & so on. This was a shallow carve as carves go totalling 4mm.

The jig stays still & the body is moved along maintaing the contact with the point of the tongue to produce the constant width of cut. I will have to do the inside of the cutaways with a powerfile of something.

Try googling 'Anthony Setchell'. He has a web page which is great detailing a Les Paul build.

He posted the pics on at least two fora and I did my best to build a copy. I added the 'strips' on top because I am very windy about MDF flexing and hoped they might stiffen it up a bit. I have no idea whether they did or not.

I will try to take a more informative picture. Meanwhile I am happy to try to answer any questions.

Regards

.

[thetassiebfg]

Thanks for the info fanlee.. I was getting to that conclusion.. slowly but having it in writting definately helps..

Must have miss typed before just googled again and got a heap of hits

Cheers
Andrew

[fanlee]

OK Andrew.

Here are a few more photos I had already. They should be more helpful than the others.

.

[thetassiebfg]

You are right my befuddled brain does make more sense of them.. Thanks for the photos

Andrew

[Setch]

Nice work fanlee - nice too see someone else using the jig.

The post about the jig is stuck in the mimf library queue at the moment, so I put it up on my blog for anyone who didn't save it:

http://www.setchellguitars.co.uk/ant/blog/?p=111

[fanlee]

Thanks Setch.

I can see I need to change a few things for next time.

One thing..you mention the jig is great for binding with a bearing bit.

Do you mean to 'smooth' the binding after it's glued on, or to do the recess for the binding?

Why do you need a bearing bit?

Sorry...I can't grasp why the setup as it is couldn't do either, or maybe I don't know what a bearing bit is...
Rob.

[Setch]

The jig wouldn't be suitable for binding, because you need a 100% consistent width rebate for the binding to lay in. If you angle the guitar so the side isn't exactly perpendicular to the guide, the width of the rebate is slightly uneven, which doesn't matter when routing steps to rough in a carve, but makes a lot of difference when cutting a 1.75mm rebate!

A bearing bit is like a rebating bit or flush-trim bit - it has a ball bearing on the tip of the cutter to guide it. The difference in diameter between the bit and the bearing controls the width of the rebate created.

eg: http://www.stewmac.com/shop/Bindings,_trim/Tools_and_supplies_for_binding:_Binding_channel_cutting/Binding_Router_Bit_Set.html

Luthiery suppliers sell specialised sets, but you can also make your own with a rebating bit and 'tyres' turn on a metal working lathe. The cheapest way to make a binding cutter is to swap the tip bearing from a profile bit (ovolo, roundover, ogee etc) with the bearing from a 1/2" flush trim bit - this makes an ideal channel for single ply binding like you'd find on a Les Paul.

[fanlee]

....Just to confirm I've grasped the idea of the jig with binding channels...

You use a bit with a slightly larger diameter than that of the bearing that's on the end..as if you were going to run it round with the router on top of the workpiece....but you put the router on the jig, take out the 'tongue' and feed the workpiece around under the jig like doing the top carve, but the bearing rides on the side of the job.

Is that it?

Can you get into the cutaways?

TIA

Rob.

[Setch]

Yep, you got it.

IIRC I got into the cutaways alright, I think I considered the depth of the cutaways when deciding how long to make the overhang on the jig.

[fanlee]

Dear Setch
Sorry to switch topics slighly...
In adjusting the pot angles using a 3/8 bearing on a half inch roundover bit..What is the diameter of the 1/2 inch roundover bit shank?

A 1/4 inch shank leaves 1/16 inch each side to make a 3/8 bearing.

Have I got this wrong, or does your roundover bit shank have a smaller diameter.

I think this is an intriguing idea and am wanting to practise it but can't find a 3/8 bearing with a 1/4 inch ID.

TIA
RobSm