Couple of things to add: make sure your router is in perfect working condition. When I started, I was using a top shelf porter cable router. I was unaware the bit was wobbling when in use. This caused lots of chip out and uneven surfaces. When I got a proper working router, it gave me much better cuts. This isn’t a common prob, but one to look out for. Also, when using large bits(over 3/4”-1” diameter” slow your routers speed down a notch. Helps a bunch.
You do great work Matt. The basics are important and you seem to walk thru it explaining very clearly. No wonder your classes have great success. Go Matt.
Hi from the U.K. A big THANKYOU for helping me via your great videos. Watching and listening to all of them closely, and heeding your advise has saved me fingers, time, and expensive wrecked timber. I know that it's cold here, but I already have enough firewood!! Cheers, Nigel
Great tips here. The first neck I attempted after two successful necks from pine I effed up the router flung it across the garage and bounced off the wife's car, thankfully she can't drive and thinks she did it. I fortunately learned three things instantly and you mentioned all three cut close to the line, hold it tight against the bit , and only go clockwise.
In all the classes I took, they directed that you do end grain first then long grain because that removed and flaws in end grain cuts. Fyi, my original templates were .25" thick and restricted area for roller to ride. I re-made them with thicker material and added extra bearing to ward off gouging thin templates.
I recommend sanding off as much material as possible even after bandsaw cut. Simply attach your template to the piece and use your spindle sander with the lowest grit sleeve to make the piece almost flush to the template. This solved 99% of tear out problems for me. With some woods like wenge sometimes it's impossible to avoid tear out even when leaving 0.25mm of material
Steve (Maximum Guitars) had an earlier video where he used some water on the heel and head for routing around the end grain sections. After seeing what you did here, I take it that as long as you get minimum overhang from the template and exercise caution and care, the water is not really necessary.
Well, I have showed you what I do and there were no secrets or edited segments. You will need to figure out what works for you and it may or may not be the same for me. Steve is a smart guy and I can recommend his techniques without reservation.
Thanks for the video in answer to my question. This is great. I just ordered the infinity bit which I will use for my next attempt. I don't have a band saw and have been using a jigsaw which I didn't feel comfortable getting too close to the line. But I forgot about my oscillating spindle/belt sander. So next time I will trim up the edges close to the line with the sander before trimming with the template. Thanks again for the video.
I ruined a couple test necks the same way. Learned I had to use small cuts or risk the high speed 1/2” bit biting and flinging the work piece and ruining it. Also, I think you get much closer to template size when making your rough cut than most of us at home amateurs. I have since gone to the infinity tools that you reviewed and had no issues on the last neck I built making a full depth cut.
When I retired and went from plumbing to guitar building, I had to make 2 big adjustments, a sharp pencil instead of a sharpie for marking. And added to digits to my tolerances. Now I work in .001 instead of .1 being close enough!! 😆 🤣
I just bought one of those infinity bits about 2 months back. Still encased in plastic, can't wait to try it out on a body. Previously I was using a whiteside spiral cutter, I either had to take very small passes or pay close to the grain direction and flip the body and template. Had it launch a poplar body across the garage more than once when cutting the wrong way against the grain. 😬 Hoping this infinity bit will let me take it off in one pass, regardless of grain direction. 🤞
I’m very thankful for all your content. Your channel is how I got started. I hope you, Ms. Toast and Chris are all doing great. It has been a ROUGH start to the school year as you can imagine and I’m trying to catch your live shows as often as I can. Keep up the Great Work as you’re a “Guitar Builder WITH a TH-cam Channel’
everything Matt said.....and to reemphasize YOU MUST GET CLOSE to the line before the router table.....for me at the 2 end grain spots I do a 3 tool dance. 1) bandsaw 2) oscillating drum sander to tighten up the line and then 3) router table. For me the high E side of the heel has never been an issue but that low E side makes me pucker every single time. Everything Matt said plus a little extra attention to getting close to the line at those end gain spots seems to help.....but I still pucker.
Thanks Matt. I have a tall Infinity bit. Works well but scares the crap out of me sticking out of the router table so far. Maybe I'll get the shorter one.
Thank you so much for making this video. I’ve been stalling on making a neck out of some beautiful wood because my last few attempts went horribly wrong. I’m ordering some infinity bits today, for sure.
Excellent video - thanks for the advice. I had same issue as patreon with getting to the unsupported corner and getting tearout even with a brand new spiral bit like yours. Question: I am thinking of trying an Infinity bit like in this video, with bearings top and bottom. Question: To avoid tear out, would it be a good idea to flip the template to be on bottom then raise the bit to ride the bottom bearing on the corners and endgrain that are unsupported?
😂 Matt I love you man! "Stop telling me about mics! I'm not gonna do it!" "You're gonna need some tools." 😂 All these armchair experts telling a professional how to do things cracks me up. Keep doing it how you do it Matt. Even without your tools, with a little ingenuity, they're still helpful videos. One day I'll make a guitar, but I'd like it to be after I can actually play the damn thing. 😜
Great stuff! Do you think a "Build a lot of necks" class would be popular? Or maybe a "Build one guitar and a couple extra necks" extension (for more $) to existing classes?
Hey, when do you route the truss rod channel? Looking for a new method, I always do that first before the basic shape is cut out, that way I can ride the fence with a square piece of wood. This method lends itself to heel adjust rods better , but I really want to get away from that. Thx in advance
HI Zach I usually route for the truss rod right after this step. I use the pin router for this rather than the fence... which also works well. Steve at Maximum also has some cool truss rod templates that use a bushing. I think you will see that video soon
@@TexasToastGuitars thx bro! Steve is supposed to be making me a custom set of templates for my guitar design this December. Looking forward to it! Thx again!
Great video. I have a router bit question for you. Even though I follow the "cut downhill" rule when putting the roundover on my bodies, I still get quite a bit of tearout. Is there a better style bit I could use for this task?
The end grain cuts on maple are the worst. I use my 12" disk sander to get as close as possible to that line so I'm just taking a sliver off at the heal and head.
Assuming no overarm router on site...the truss rod slot is going to suck with no parallel edge to center cut.....of course we have many ways to do this but a newbe ?
The moral of the story is don't use cheap router bits. I know they seem expensive, but in the long run they save you money. If you destroy your neck blank, it will cost you much more.
Sounds like you're getting pissed about people sending advice on the production side of your videos which is fair enough. But if you bought a better mic and added sound dampening to the room we'd be able to hear you getting pissed better 😂
Couple of things to add: make sure your router is in perfect working condition. When I started, I was using a top shelf porter cable router. I was unaware the bit was wobbling when in use. This caused lots of chip out and uneven surfaces. When I got a proper working router, it gave me much better cuts. This isn’t a common prob, but one to look out for. Also, when using large bits(over 3/4”-1” diameter” slow your routers speed down a notch. Helps a bunch.
Great point!
Really enjoy watching videos on "how I do it" - please keep them coming - cheers from Canada
Thanks Dan, will do!
You do great work Matt. The basics are important and you seem to walk thru it explaining very clearly. No wonder your classes have great success. Go Matt.
I appreciate that Kevin, we love doing the guitar building classes and sharing a little bit of what we learned over the years.
Hi from the U.K.
A big THANKYOU for helping me via your great videos.
Watching and listening to all of them closely, and heeding your advise has saved me fingers, time, and expensive wrecked timber.
I know that it's cold here, but I already have enough firewood!! Cheers, Nigel
Great tips here. The first neck I attempted after two successful necks from pine I effed up the router flung it across the garage and bounced off the wife's car, thankfully she can't drive and thinks she did it. I fortunately learned three things instantly and you mentioned all three cut close to the line, hold it tight against the bit , and only go clockwise.
We all have some horror stories like that John, you know how it is, just got to keep plugging away
In all the classes I took, they directed that you do end grain first then long grain because that removed and flaws in end grain cuts. Fyi, my original templates were .25" thick and restricted area for roller to ride. I re-made them with thicker material and added extra bearing to ward off gouging thin templates.
*
I recommend sanding off as much material as possible even after bandsaw cut. Simply attach your template to the piece and use your spindle sander with the lowest grit sleeve to make the piece almost flush to the template. This solved 99% of tear out problems for me. With some woods like wenge sometimes it's impossible to avoid tear out even when leaving 0.25mm of material
Good advice
Hey Matt, listen to me! Do what you want dude, just keep filming and we’ll keep watching.
Thanks brotherman
Steve (Maximum Guitars) had an earlier video where he used some water on the heel and head for routing around the end grain sections. After seeing what you did here, I take it that as long as you get minimum overhang from the template and exercise caution and care, the water is not really necessary.
Well, I have showed you what I do and there were no secrets or edited segments. You will need to figure out what works for you and it may or may not be the same for me.
Steve is a smart guy and I can recommend his techniques without reservation.
great tips on the router for all my projects. feel like I will be prepared when I get out there for a build.
You can do it!
Thanks for the video in answer to my question. This is great. I just ordered the infinity bit which I will use for my next attempt. I don't have a band saw and have been using a jigsaw which I didn't feel comfortable getting too close to the line. But I forgot about my oscillating spindle/belt sander. So next time I will trim up the edges close to the line with the sander before trimming with the template. Thanks again for the video.
Glad it was helpful Jerald
I ruined a couple test necks the same way. Learned I had to use small cuts or risk the high speed 1/2” bit biting and flinging the work piece and ruining it. Also, I think you get much closer to template size when making your rough cut than most of us at home amateurs.
I have since gone to the infinity tools that you reviewed and had no issues on the last neck I built making a full depth cut.
You got to get close
@@TexasToastGuitars maybe even touch it up on the spindle and belt sanders before hitting the router table. Get it right to the pencil line
Sound techiques for using a router table. Great start to a neck Matt!!
Thanks brougham, wait till you get a load of what we got going for y'all in November
When I retired and went from plumbing to guitar building, I had to make 2 big adjustments, a sharp pencil instead of a sharpie for marking.
And added to digits to my tolerances. Now I work in .001 instead of
.1 being close enough!! 😆 🤣
I know that's right brougham
Another great video from you guys.
I just bought one of those infinity bits about 2 months back. Still encased in plastic, can't wait to try it out on a body. Previously I was using a whiteside spiral cutter, I either had to take very small passes or pay close to the grain direction and flip the body and template. Had it launch a poplar body across the garage more than once when cutting the wrong way against the grain. 😬
Hoping this infinity bit will let me take it off in one pass, regardless of grain direction. 🤞
I think you will really like the Infinity bits
Always great to see Hot Band Saw Action with Matt! Thanks for the video, as always full of practical advice!
Thanks for watching Brother Steve
I’m very thankful for all your content. Your channel is how I got started. I hope you, Ms. Toast and Chris are all doing great. It has been a ROUGH start to the school year as you can imagine and I’m trying to catch your live shows as often as I can. Keep up the Great Work as you’re a “Guitar Builder WITH a TH-cam Channel’
everything Matt said.....and to reemphasize YOU MUST GET CLOSE to the line before the router table.....for me at the 2 end grain spots I do a 3 tool dance. 1) bandsaw 2) oscillating drum sander to tighten up the line and then 3) router table. For me the high E side of the heel has never been an issue but that low E side makes me pucker every single time. Everything Matt said plus a little extra attention to getting close to the line at those end gain spots seems to help.....but I still pucker.
Well, now you know how I do it
Keep it real my man..love it
Thanks Donnie, we'll do my friend
Awesome tutorial!
Thanks Matt…. that will definitely come in handy!!!
Hope so brougham
Thanks brother! Cheers!
No problem 👍
Great video. I learnted stuff. Can't wait to break out the chisels and files and start my own neck.
You can do it!
Thanks Matt. I have a tall Infinity bit. Works well but scares the crap out of me sticking out of the router table so far. Maybe I'll get the shorter one.
That tall one is a monster, I would rather use the shaper. Believe it or not that 2" bit is the loudest thing in the echo shop
Excellent explanation as usual , Matt !! Love these videos !!
Glad you like them Mike
Veeeeery cool and interesting video. Thanks Matt!
Thanks my friend
Thank you so much for making this video. I’ve been stalling on making a neck out of some beautiful wood because my last few attempts went horribly wrong. I’m ordering some infinity bits today, for sure.
Go for it Richard, good call on the Infinity bits, we really like them
Nice work!
Thanks Julian
You should use a stunt double when working the power tools🥸🥸🥸
Good idea!
Great tips! Thx.
Glad it was helpful!
thanks for these vids mat.so much good info,i hope to be able to come out to a class soon.
I hope so too Chris
Excellent video - thanks for the advice. I had same issue as patreon with getting to the unsupported corner and getting tearout even with a brand new spiral bit like yours. Question: I am thinking of trying an Infinity bit like in this video, with bearings top and bottom. Question: To avoid tear out, would it be a good idea to flip the template to be on bottom then raise the bit to ride the bottom bearing on the corners and endgrain that are unsupported?
😂 Matt I love you man! "Stop telling me about mics! I'm not gonna do it!" "You're gonna need some tools." 😂 All these armchair experts telling a professional how to do things cracks me up. Keep doing it how you do it Matt. Even without your tools, with a little ingenuity, they're still helpful videos. One day I'll make a guitar, but I'd like it to be after I can actually play the damn thing. 😜
Thanks Sean
I make videos for people who get me and I like your style
LOL. I build guitars but can't be bothered with sound;) I kid, I kid.. love ya bro. Thanks for the vid!~
I guess you missed the point of that rant
I need a new bandsaw blade, on my old Shopsmith saw. What tooth count do you use on yours, Matt???
Same for stock??
Thanks!
I like the Starrett skip tooth blades
I’d like to make a 7 degree headstock on a tele or strat neck without a scarf joint with a heel wheel truss adjust, any videos already made ?
Well for 3 out of 4 of those there are videos
Wondering if you put a link to the template you used here? Steve's template?
Did you look in the description?
There is a link to Maximum Guitar Works.
Coolness
Thanks man
Great stuff! Do you think a "Build a lot of necks" class would be popular? Or maybe a "Build one guitar and a couple extra necks" extension (for more $) to existing classes?
We do offer a paint class with a build a necks portion while paint is drying
Hey, when do you route the truss rod channel? Looking for a new method, I always do that first before the basic shape is cut out, that way I can ride the fence with a square piece of wood. This method lends itself to heel adjust rods better , but I really want to get away from that.
Thx in advance
HI Zach
I usually route for the truss rod right after this step. I use the pin router for this rather than the fence... which also works well.
Steve at Maximum also has some cool truss rod templates that use a bushing. I think you will see that video soon
@@TexasToastGuitars thx bro! Steve is supposed to be making me a custom set of templates for my guitar design this December. Looking forward to it! Thx again!
I needed this. Thank you. 🙏Where do you get your bits?
You bet, those are from Infinity Tools
Excellent video. Thanks for not speeding up the bandsaw cuts. Not everything cuts like buttah. Reality is important.
Glad you liked it Jim
Great video. I have a router bit question for you. Even though I follow the "cut downhill" rule when putting the roundover on my bodies, I still get quite a bit of tearout. Is there a better style bit I could use for this task?
I don't know of any special round-over bits that help prevent tearout. Actually, I have never had any issues with this.
@@TexasToastGuitars interesting. Maybe I just need to buy a better quality bit. Thanks for getting back to me.
Never take too much wood at a time. You either need a good bit or don't rout across the end grain, just get it on the sander.
Good way to go
The end grain cuts on maple are the worst. I use my 12" disk sander to get as close as possible to that line so I'm just taking a sliver off at the heal and head.
That works great too
Assuming no overarm router on site...the truss rod slot is going to suck with no parallel edge to center cut.....of course we have many ways to do this but a newbe ?
Why would you assume there is no overarm router?
Why would you not be using the Maximum Guitars truss rod slotting template?
And so on...
You know who else just goes clockwise? Clocks. ⌚ ⌚
Except the anti-clocks... they go anti-clockwise
My delicate ears! You should get a microph....
Oh... never mind ... 😉
Always enjoy these how to videos!!!
Some people
Instead of getting a microphone you should get one of those voice disguiser things. Like the ones kidnappers use. That’ll really grind some gears.
Good idea
The moral of the story is don't use cheap router bits. I know they seem expensive, but in the long run they save you money. If you destroy your neck blank, it will cost you much more.
You know that's true
About 3 hours ago I drew around a neck with quite a blunt pencil. And. I m sorry.
Don't play with my emotions
Sounds like you're getting pissed about people sending advice on the production side of your videos which is fair enough. But if you bought a better mic and added sound dampening to the room we'd be able to hear you getting pissed better 😂
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