Jigs!

Costs are rising and times are tough.
Please consider a donation to keep this
place going.

Welcome to one of the most active flamenco sites on the Internet. Guests can read most posts but if you want to participate click here to register.

This site is dedicated to the memory of Paco de Lucía, Ron Mitchell, Guy Williams, Linda Elvira, Philip John Lee, Craig Eros, Ben Woods, David Serva and Tom Blackshear who went ahead of us.

We receive 12,200 visitors a month from 200 countries and 1.7 million page impressions a year. To advertise on this site please contact us.

Jigs!

You are logged in as Guest

Users viewing this topic: none

Printable Version

All Forums >>Discussions >>Lutherie >>

Page: [1]

Message

<< Newer Topic Older Topic >>

Andy Culpepper

Posts: 3023
Joined: Mar. 30 2009
From: NY, USA

Jigs!

For the luthiers, just curious how many jigs you use, which one is your favorite, did you make them yourself, are they your own invention, etc?
By "jig" I mean, some type of contraption that you use to modify a machine or tool for a specific task, like using a guide for routing a headstock, or something you put on a bandsaw to cut a curve, that type of thing.
And include photos please

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Dec. 23 2009 15:03:25

estebanana

Posts: 9372
Joined: Oct. 16 2009

RE: Jigs! (in reply to Andy Culpepper)

Jigs are for catching fish as in bass lures, albacore jigs, trout spinners etc.

_____________________________

https://www.stephenfaulkguitars.com

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Dec. 23 2009 18:16:59

Andy Culpepper

Posts: 3023
Joined: Mar. 30 2009
From: NY, USA

RE: Jigs! (in reply to estebanana)

quote:

Jigs are for catching fish as in bass lures, albacore jigs, trout spinners etc.

lol thanks. I'll put you down for none then?

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Dec. 23 2009 18:38:09

estebanana

Posts: 9372
Joined: Oct. 16 2009

RE: Jigs! (in reply to Andy Culpepper)

In Spanish style constriction you don't really need a lot of jigs like the steel string constructors tend to use. You need a solera, a workboard that let's you build the guitar face down on a platform which has a dished out belly for the top arch. After that you need to good measuring tools, knives, chisels files etc.

but we don't need no stinking jigs mang. :0 Well I have few but they are top, top secret.

The American builders tended to build lots of jigs because until recently most of them did not fully understand Spanish style building. They sort of reinvented it and got lots of things wrong. Not that it's easy to do, but it was worked out to be doable with hand tools and small simple fixtures to be used in combination with hand tools. There are many books written about Spanish building which over complicate the method or explain it incorrectly. Those books were/are in libraries in the US and have caused some confusion because generally those were the first books aspiring guitar makers discovered.

There's is a difference between fixtures, jigs and things you make to use with your hand tools to guide them. Yeah, but I'm sure there are jigs heads out there.

_____________________________

https://www.stephenfaulkguitars.com

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Dec. 23 2009 18:44:33

Andy Culpepper

Posts: 3023
Joined: Mar. 30 2009
From: NY, USA

RE: Jigs! (in reply to Andy Culpepper)

Interesting. I would be fascinated to learn the traditional Spanish style construction...right now I'm working with a guy who has a jig for every job, and is quite clever at making them. It makes it more approachable for a beginner but I also like the idea of using simple tools and working completely hands on all the time.

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Dec. 23 2009 19:40:59

estebanana

Posts: 9372
Joined: Oct. 16 2009

RE: Jigs! (in reply to Andy Culpepper)

The book that comes closest to giving a run down on Spanish style building is Roy Courtnall's book. To build jigs is not bad thing, but there's a lot of clever stuff you can do without them. One thing you may like to see are the tools that you make yourself to do Spanish building. The solera is really a jig, I guess......... or is it a fixture........hmmm.....no se.

Those things would be purfling sizers, binding ledge cutters, ( or a router) peg shavers, rosette hole cutter, (again or router). I'm looking around here trying to find things that qualify as jigs. There's the little miter box for fret board slotting, (or buy preslotted boards to save your tendonitis) And the bench stop or bench hook.

Everything here seems pretty primitive compared to the jigging up some people do. I'm actually having trouble spotting or thinking up things that would qualify as jigs. I was taught to make everything myself and at some point I told my teacher I was getting rid of as many tools as possible that I don't need on the bench. He thought that was a great idea. I have a band saw, a 12" disk sander, and a thickness sander which I got when I had really bad tendonitis and I still use it. I feel pretty wimpy about not hand planing every set of back and sides. I suppose that's my only sin, but my "luthiers elbow" has diminished greatly.

I use the disk sander for my thumb nails, to get them ready to play guitar.

_____________________________

https://www.stephenfaulkguitars.com

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Dec. 23 2009 20:22:38

Anders Eliasson

Posts: 5780
Joined: Oct. 18 2006

RE: Jigs! (in reply to Andy Culpepper)

I basically dont use jigs. A solera, a mould for the sides and a scooped out plate for the front and the back. 100% oldstyle Spanish building.

Most things, like headstocks and bridges, I cut out by hand.

_____________________________

Blog: http://news-from-the-workshop.blogspot.com/

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Dec. 24 2009 0:50:32

Stephen Eden

Posts: 914
Joined: Apr. 12 2008
From: UK

RE: Jigs! (in reply to Andy Culpepper)

I like jigs! Not because I cant do it by hand but because it saves time! Theres still not a great deal that can be used. ? I use a router jig for making the head slots. A jig for drilling holes in the bridge and I am going to make a jig for drilling wholes in the head too. I use a solid mold and thats about it. it is posible to get a jig for routing out the head aswell but this is known to cause issues so i'd rather just do it by hand.

If you can make 1 jig perfectly after that everything the jig makes will be perfect!

_____________________________

Classical and Flamenco Guitars www.EdenGuitars.co.uk

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Dec. 24 2009 1:34:04

jlneng

Posts: 118
Joined: Jun. 28 2009

RE: Jigs! (in reply to Andy Culpepper)

Here is a pic of my favorite tool which was made from a 2x4 and a file which I use to file the ends of the frets after fretting. This way they are all symmetrical.

Images are resized automatically to a maximum width of 800px

Attachment (1)

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Dec. 24 2009 3:21:38

jlneng

Posts: 118
Joined: Jun. 28 2009

RE: Jigs! (in reply to Andy Culpepper)

Here is a picture of my favorite jig. It is a template that I use for the fingerboard. I made the template on a CNC machine out of plastic. I use it to rout the outline of the fingerboard. The template was designed using Autocad. Using it, I get a perfectly symmetrical fingerboard. It is about the only thing besides a solera that I use, aside from tools....

Images are resized automatically to a maximum width of 800px

Attachment (1)

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Dec. 24 2009 3:25:55

Andy Culpepper

Posts: 3023
Joined: Mar. 30 2009
From: NY, USA

RE: Jigs! (in reply to Stephen Eden)

quote:

it is posible to get a jig for routing out the head aswell but this is known to cause issues so i'd rather just do it by hand.

What kind of issues?

I'm making one right now

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Dec. 24 2009 11:56:26

jshelton5040

Posts: 1500
Joined: Jan. 17 2005

RE: Jigs! (in reply to Stephen Eden)

quote:

ORIGINAL: SEden

I like jigs! Not because I cant do it by hand but because it saves time! Theres still not a great deal that can be used. ? I use a router jig for making the head slots. A jig for drilling holes in the bridge and I am going to make a jig for drilling wholes in the head too. I use a solid mold and thats about it. it is posible to get a jig for routing out the head aswell but this is known to cause issues so i'd rather just do it by hand.

If you can make 1 jig perfectly after that everything the jig makes will be perfect!

I agree with Stephen. Jigs, appliances, fixtures or whatever you want to call them can save time and make some of the really tedious aspects of building much less boring. I have five different routers permanently set in various fixtures for everything from bridge inlays to making tentellones. Special sleeves for the table saw so I can put slotting blades on it to make cuts with extremely small kerfs. I can convert an ebony blank into a completely finished fingerboard with perfect square bottomed fret slots in under an hour (probably closer to 1/2 hour if I make more than one at a time). There's so much hand work involved in making a guitar it's nice to be able to concentrate on the really important stuff and let machines do the jobs that they are best suited for.

I love power tools as well. I have two bandsaws, a resaw, table saw, two saber saws, circular saw, planer, jointer, 7 routers, thickness sander, plate joiner, disk sander, ocillating spindle sander, band sander, drill press, various air nailers and staplers, 3 power drills, 2 vacuum systems and 2 vacuum cleaners. Not to mention all the spray equipment, exhaust fans and hand tools and it still takes over a month to build a basic guitar.

_____________________________

John Shelton - www.sheltonfarrettaguitars.com

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Dec. 25 2009 12:20:35