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TrueChannel Routing Jig
Assembly instructions
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i-5653 Updated 03/07
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Install the guide post
The vertical guide post can be mounted to a smooth, flat benchtop, but it’s most convenient to create a plywood base board just for this purpose. We recommend cabinet grade plywood, because it’s flat and stable.
1. Cut a 24"x36" sheet of 3/4" plywood, or prepare your benchtop surface.
A light finish on the plywood base and body carriage will allow it to slide easily. Make the carriage glide even better with a little paste wax applied to both surfaces and all excess wiped off.
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2. Locate the two holes 1" apart. The hole nearest the edge of the board is 1" in from the edge.
Drill the two 5/16" holes through the board. Use a brad-point bit to create clean holes without tear-out.
3. On the underside, use a 3/4" spade bit to create a recess for the large tee nuts, at least 1/16" deep.
4. Insert the large tee nuts from the bottom and tap lightly to seat.
5. Attach the guide post assembly to the base by tightening two mounting bolts into the large tee nuts.
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Assembling the body carriage
1. Screw the plastic-topped height adjusting screws into the "seat" of each plastic block.
2. Attach the white plastic blocks to the aluminum sliding brackets using button-head screws. The two shorter blocks are for the lower bouts of the guitar, the two taller blocks are for the top bouts.
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3. The narrowed side of the brass tee nut fits in the groove in the sliding bracket. Insert each socket-head cap screw and washer through the bottom of the wooden body shape (with the counterbore side down). Feed through the sliding bracket, and into the brass tee nut.
Mount the sliding brackets in the outermost holes on the body carriage for large instruments. The inner holes fit many smaller instruments.
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Assembling the router carriage
The router carriage rolls vertically on the guide post, holding your laminate trimmer. It is designed to fit most popular brands of laminate trimmers. You can also add holes to accept brands that don't fit the slots provided.
1. Remove the baseplate that originally came with your laminate trimmer.
2. Tighten your cutter bit into the collet of your laminate trimmer.
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3.
Position your trimmer on the router carriage so the cutter bit is centered
in the guide hole. Tighten it in place using your original baseplate screws
with the mounting washers we’ve provided.
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4. The brass stop prevents the router carriage from dropping down against the base board. Tighten it at a position midway down the guide post.
5. Place the router carriage onto the guide post with the small guide wheel in the front groove and the larger
wheels in the side grooves.
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Setting
up the guitar body
If you are routing a large-body guitar, mount the sliding bracket bolts
in the outermost holes on the body carriage. The inner holes fit many smaller
instruments. For very small or unusually-shaped instruments, cut a custom
plywood carriage. Make it a bit smaller than the instrument’s outside
dimensions, so it won’t touch the guide post while routing.
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1. Leave the brackets slightly loose and position the carriage base evenly over the body. Slide the brackets in until they contact the sides, then tighten them. Make sure the body is resting on the height adjusters.
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2. Remove the body and turn the carriage over onto the base board, then reinsert the body in the carriage.
3. Using a square on the base board, screw the height adjusters up or down until sides are as close to square as possible. Check for squareness at the neck and tail end.
4. If your top and back overhang the sides, it will prevent you from checking the sides with the square. In this case, file a notch at the neck and tail end, so the square can rest flush to the sides.
You can trim off the overhang with a sharp knife and a file, or get in close with hand tools and flush-cut with a ball-bearing router bit.
When you turn the instrument over to rout the other side, use your square again to make sure the sides are as square to the base board as possible.
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Setting
up the laminate trimmer
The cutting bit must extend far enough to accommodate the depth of the
guide ring on the router carriage. For safety and for good results, be sure
to leave enough of the cutter shaft in the router for a secure hold.
Set the brass stop about 1/2" lower than the lowest position the router
carriage will require for the cuts you are about to make. This keeps the
router carriage up and away from the base board, so the router never drops
far before reaching the brass stop.
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Wood tear-out is always possible when routing, but especially with long-grain, quartersawn tonewoods. Therefore, start with four “climb-cuts,” so-called because the router is “climbing,” or being pulled along as the bit grabs the wood.
Begin at the centers of the top and lower bouts on both the treble and bass sides (illustration 1), with the router base moving in the direction of the rotating cutter (clockwise). Rout up to the areas indicated by the arrows. When all four climb-cuts have been made, you can move the router in the opposite direction (counterclockwise), cutting into the wood rather than climbing (illustration 2). Make one continuous pass around the guitar. When you reach the areas that were already climb-cut, the router will pass without tear-out.
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TrueChannel Binding Routing Jig
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