Day 155: More Soundboard Work

I was able to work on the soundboard a bit over this last weekend. Now, before I go any further, I'll address the gorilla in the room: I used a jig saw to make the final cuts on the soundboard. As I shared this tidbit on the book of the face, heads began to spin. I explained how I use a couple of marking tools that actually slice into the wood. In a soft wood like spruce, this allows me to create a mark and cut, say, 1mm away from it. This not only makes a nice cut (I use a special Bosch jig saw blade that's super-sharp), it tears the wood away between the cut and the mark.

Later today, I will work on trimming the roughness down with a spokeshave or block plane. All will be well. I promise.

The photos below illustrate what kicked off the flurry of comments.

Again...all will be well.

I also began preparing to drill the tuning pin holes into the pinblock by slicing and dicing the plan accordingly. In Mr. Miller's eBook Most Excellent, he describes gluing the 2" oak block block into the case once the cosmetic spruce laminate is glued over it. Then, he describes how you can also wait until later to make that happen. I should have waited until later. Likewise, I should have left the bottom off until much later in the game. I have many of these (hundreds?) that I won't bore you with at time time (I certainly will later). Regardless, I'm now in the tricky position of drilling holes relatively freehand using a drill bit guide block.

Once I finish cleaning up the soundboard, I'll get the pinblock drilled. It's still incredibly hot in this part of the country. As you may know, I work in a two-car garage. The garage door is on the sunny side of the house, so the aluminum (aluminium for my British friends) heats up nicely, turning the garage into a cozy, little oven. I'm hoping things settle down soon.

On a tangentially related note, I was able to get the new router installed into the table saw extension plate. This required some fancy geometry that I thanked my high school algebra/geometry teacher for in absentia. Yeah, I finally used it.

I laid out the holes on a piece of parchment and transferred them with a felt pen to the plate. I then drilled with abandon and, before I knew it, the thing was mounted.

Drilling aluminum is a wonderful thing.

No excuses now - time to route something.

Until next time...