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Hello All;
I purchased the Woolson Jig plans. Here is my progress so far.
If you have not yet commenced building, this may provide a food for thought.
I modified the plans as follows:
1. I moved the through holes for the threaded adjustment rod 3/4" of an inch to the left than as indicated in the drawings. I wanted more room under the table to mount a body in the event that I finish a mounting jig to hold the body to cut the neck joint in the body.
2. I placed the hold down clamps on a movable/removable board so that I could remove the neck clamps to put the guitar body in that location.
3. I glued on a thin sheet of protective cork.
4. I originally tried an aluminum channel as set forth in the plans. Didn't like it. I went to Home Depot and grabbed a 1/2" aluminum angle. I also made the bar longer than the 18" as in the plans. I made it 24" so as to be able to reach the bridge of a body.
5. I could not tell by the plans, but it appeared as though the top plate was mounted flush to the frame and triangle supports (flush to No. 2 and Nos. 4). This didn't provide enough clearance for the swiveling of the plate (No.5) upon which the neck was mounted. I mounted the triangle supports (No 4 in the plans) so that their top support edge was raised 1/4" above the top surface of part No. 2.
Now I just need to work on a jig to hold the body, instead of the neck.
The neck and body shown in the photos were carefully selected for their illustrative potential....

Dave

Muchas gracias! I need to build one of these during the Christmas break this year. I haven't studied the plans enough yet to ask any meaningful questions.

_________________
Jim Kirby
kirby@udel.edu

Todd
Could you post a photo?
I am modifying my jig to accept the body.
Back to the drawing board....
Thanks

Dave

I hummed & hawed about getting plans & finally decided to do a version of the Simpson jig (less cumbersome I thought). I like the idea of just taping an appropriate shim at the bridge position ....plan for whatever bridge height/scale/breakover etc, grab & tape the shim ... no screw depth/position adjusting/measuring.
(BTW, if the bar on the plans doesn't reach the bridge position, what's the point! ...or did I misunderstand)

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Dave
Milton, ON

Here is another version of this jig that I use. It allows you do clamp both the guitar and neck in the jig at once. This is especially useful when cutting dovetails. You will need to switch from a straight cut bit for hogging out material to a dovetail bit for providing the angle on the joint edge. With this version you only have to switch the bit once and you can cut the mortise and tenon of the dovetail in one operation.

Hey Robbie
I like your adaption. I thought about doing a similar modification, but since I was committed to my current frame, it was not as easy as if I had started from scratch. Since I was committed to the jig as already built, I modified mine to switch out the neck and body at the same location. If you start with the body and go to the neck, it is not terribly inconvenient, as the body clamp can remain (I've not tested it) and will not interfere with the neck. Here are photos of today's changes.

PS Dave Stewart...you are correct. The 18" bar specified in the plans was too short to reach the bridge...go figure.

Thanks

Dave

I went with a alum 22" x 3/4" angle. I put a 3" slot in one leg. i fitted a small wood block to fit one side of the angle and put a counterbored hole in it to accept a 1/4-20 nut which was epoxied in.
Now, I put a piece of 1/4-20 saddle locating rod with the end nicely radiused and polished, thru the whole thing and use a plastic knob to adjust up and down and a 1/4-20 nut with washer to lock it in.
The block with the locating screw slides in either direction to accomodate any scale length I want.
I haven't used this yet but I think it will do the job.

Rusty and/or Todd

I think I might be confused.
The sliding pin is used to emulate the height of a bridge as it contacts the face of the soundboard?
It would need to slide as the height placement of the bridge would vary by the scale in use.
Correct or que?

Thanks

Dave

Dave,
I predetermine where my saddle will be by checking my plans measurements. That gets me real close and I make a pencil mark on my top for this.
The locating pin will slide either direction to meet that mark and it gets locked in there. This will cover a good range of guitar sizes and scale lengths.
I studied Robbie O'Briens and Jon Simpson's videos to kind of get a handle on this. Hope this helps.

Rusty
That helps.
Thanks for the info.

Dave

Todd
I understand you.
All of which now makes me think about scale preferences among luthiers and advantages/disadvantages to the different scales.

Thanks

Dave

Dave,

I've used Robbie's design (I built the prototype shown in the photos) and it works quite well. If you clamp it up on the corner of your bench, you can have both the body as well as the neck on the jig and ready to route at the same time. Which, as Robbie points out, makes a dovetail joint quick and easy; no need to move any guitar parts around on the jig.

At RRCC where Robbie teaches, I witnessed a dozen or so students use it on their first guitars w/out a problem.

Steve

don't quite understand why you need all this. Probably missed something.

_________________
"Preoccupation with an effect gives it power and enhances the error"
from "Your Owner's Manual" by Burt Hotchkiss.