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TAS alert - Dang John, I've been looking longingly at the Bishop Cochran base for a while but have been able to resist so far. Photos like that ain't helping

I built a Wells-Karol type jig some years ago with Rigid R2400 laminate trimmer on it. It has worked well but I would really like to have something with a plunge capability and a more precise depth control.

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Steve Smith
"Music is what feelings sound like"

I did hesitate before posting but I could not stop myself. I love the tool but it is pricey. The plunge and the ability to quickly set the depth stop is a plus. Your Wells-Karol probably has the fine lateral adjustment as well. It is a nice feature when I want the to increase the size of the rebate a tiny amount.

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http://www.Harvestmoonguitars.com

God! You guys are killing me with you fancy smancy tools. I don't even know what your talking about. But I'm sure you all do. I have to cut a Channel for a rosette today. It's my second. Learned a lot on my first one. But me and my Dremel are going to improve on last time. Actually I didn't do a bad job the first time .


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I use a Dewalt 611 with precision collets like Toonces, but I use an M Power CRB7 router jig that cuts circles as well as several other router tasks. It does have a micro adjust which makes things easier. Below is a picture of the jig, but it's not mine or my setup.

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Brad

I made cutters like LMI but I use a cutter that I grind for the rosettes that I use. I also use a high speed die grinder modified to a stew mac rosette cutter. SHARP BIT . Dremels was under powered but mostly the run out on them is what really makes them weak for this .
Any fly cutter , use a few clamps on a backing board. The more supported the better the end result.

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John Hall
blues creek guitars
Authorized CF Martin Repair
Co President of ASIA
You Don't know what you don't know until you know it

Thought about using my 3-1/4 horse PC for a while...
This modified Stew Mac jig and Proxxon tool works fine for me with sharp bits. It allows me all the flexibility I need for various different rosettes I make. Dremels just don't cut it for me.



I guess it doesn't matter what you use, as long as it works for you...

Man you all are great. Thank you for the information. This has helped me immensely in choosing the route to go.

I’m basically using the Stew Mac Foredom setup and I like it a lot. My setup has evolved over the years but it has stayed in the Stew Mac family.

I started with their “Precision Router Base Complete Set” and the rosette attachment.

With the set I’ve never used the air pump and didn’t find the Edge Guide\Binding attachment to be all that useful.


When I ordered mine, the rosette attachment was the older version. This was sort of clunky to dial things in. Years later I figured out that the rosette attachment was not allowing the router base to sit flush. I emailed Stew Mac and they sent me the newer version as a replacement. Service doesn’t get any better than that.


At this point I loved the setup. The micro adjust was easy to dial in what you needed and make fine adjustments. Huge improvement.

The weak link in the system was the Dremel. I hated how the cord would wrap around if you weren’t careful and dealing with the switch. You can see that happening in the first picture. I have one Dremel that is decent as far as run out goes, but I've tried others that are not quite as precise for this type of work.

I hadn’t planned on upgrading, but I picked up a cheap Foredom motor, hand piece, and foot control at an auction. The core for the shaft was broken so I got it for a song. It was an easy fix. I ordered the the Stew Mac Foredom hand piece and love it.




The cord\shaft swivels in the hand piece which keeps if from twisting while you run it in a circle. You can also detatch it while you are working on setting things up.


I like the power of the system and the control I have with the footswitch. I know Dremel has a foot switch too, but haven’t tried one.

I don’t really want to slam the Dremel. It worked while I used it, but I’m glad I moved to the Foredom. I also don’t do a lot of high volume building. I’ve used this for guitar projects and other things, but I’m only building for myself. If I hadn’t pieced this setup together over years, I probably wouldn’t have sprung for the Foredom outfit directly from Stew Mac. I just wouldn’t have been able to justify the cost. Piece by piece it worked for me.