Official Luthiers Forum!

Would any of you care to how you make your tail pieces? I think I'll attempt an archtop soon...

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Peter M.
Cornerstone Guitars
http://www.cornerstoneukes.com

I basically jigged it following a lot of the ideas in Benedetto's book.
After pattern routing to shape, I 1)tap gut hole centers and then 2)drill , then 3) route underside slots for the tightening nuts. Finally, 4) I plungeroute holes for string buttons and, using the same adjustable jig, route narrower string slots. The rest is shaping.

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Dave
Milton, ON

Thought this was important and might be missed:



This Quote was from the OLF here:

viewtopic.php?f=10101&t=29289&p=389790&hilit=benedetto+tailpiece#p389790

cheers

My method is nowhere near as elegant as Dave's but works fine for me as I only build one or two a year and have not felt the need to jig up yet.

I start by milling a blank to 3/8" thick and squared up slightly oversized. I then mark a centerline and register everything off of that. I rout the slots for the Benedetto adjuster using a 1/4" box core bit on the router table with stop blocks set up. A chisel is used to square one end of the slots to accept the knurled adjuster knob of the tailpiece cable. I then rout a 1/16" deep x 1/4" wide recess to accept the fulcrum piece. The blank then goes into the drillpress vise and I peck drill the holes for the cable ends using a 1/8" good quality brad point. I then drill the large and small holes for the string ends and connect them using a fret saw and files to true up the edges. Next I use a cardboard template and mark out the shape on the blank with a pencil. Bandsaw out just proud of the line. Then it's off to the belt/disc and random orbital sander to complete the bulk of the shaping. I use a 12" radius block to finish the top curvature with progressively finer grits as well as hand sanding for all the other areas. Glue in the fulcrum and shape/sand. A quick trip to the buffing wheel and it's ready to go.

thanks guys! I would love to see some pictures though...

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Peter M.
Cornerstone Guitars
http://www.cornerstoneukes.com

I do mine almost exactly like Dave. The only real difference is that I clamp my tailpiece to a block and use a forstner bit to hollow the end (just like a Hill-style violin tailpiece) then drill my holes for the adjuster. Also, I hollow out the underside where the ball end of the strings go.
Jason