When making template do you.....

[dinkyguitar]

Hi All,

So I printed several Les Paul plans using the Catto ones and I glued them to mdf.

So my questions is, do you rough cut the plans and glue them or do you cut along the lines and glue them? I have a little less than 1/4" all the way around the plans.

I'm curious how the paper will react once I start sanding the mdf to the drawing lines....will it stay put or start to curl up?

dinky,

 

[Murkar]

Convert to vector files and have them laser cut from acrylic But more seriously, I would cut right up to the line and then glue them on rather than leaving space (maybe 1-2 mm if you do leave space). But that's just me, I'm sure others do it differently.

 

[crompo]

What did you glue it with ?

Just a tip.

The drawings may have deformed / stretched somewhat when you glued them.

Check dimensions with a freshly printed copy (lay it on top) to see if all is ok.

If you used contact and it's stuck real well then spindle sanding that last 1/4 inch should be fine. May curl a bit but you've glued it now so no choice.

Also - leave a mm or two extra meat on the template by the neck joint in the cutout.

Look closely and ALL real lespaul's have the body arc coming away from the neck in the cutout at the second fret body in from the body joint ie 18th fret.

Shaping exactly to the line of the plan in this area almost always makes the arc come away at the third fret in - ie 19th fret and it always looks funny to me.

Leaving a bit extra on the template allows you to "play" with this area after you have shaped the body.

That is - make the body & neck, fit them up (not glued) and then shape this area in - make sense ?

Last few pics on page one of my build thread shows the extra left in the cutout area for transitioning into the neck onec neck is made.

http://www.australianlespaulforums.com/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=55&sid=a841e6e973ffa291f3587a279f1ea334

Neck joint to the body is at the 16th fret - ie 16th fret is pretty much off the body.

Ask lots of questions !

Hope this helps a bit.

Wayne

 

[dinkyguitar]

That's a great thread crompo!! I have to read it over a few times to get the idea.

Also, I used 3M #77 glue spray and fired a mist at the paper to stick it on. It comes off if you pull the paper so when I cut it out I'll draw it out just in case the paper comes off when I'm working with it.

I'm also planning on taking all the templates sandwiching them together and sanding them so everything is the same..

Thanks again,
dinky,