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Todd: As always....nice one...!

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A person who has never made a mistake has never made anything!!!

Todd, I just use a piece of 3/4" ("one-by") pine, clamped in my vice just like your 3/4" plywood. I don't make a bridge footprint thingie like yours at all. I just stick the bridge directly on the edge of the piece of pine with two or three small pieces of regular double stick tape. It holds on there just fine. One edge of the piece (which I've labeled "bridge mount") is flat, and another edge is sanded to a convex radius that matches the concave radius I put in the bottom of the bridge before I complete the shaping.

Another great, ultra-simple jig, that everybody probably already knows about, is a ripping sled for the table saw. Any time I want to rip a workpiece, but not parallel to an existing edge, I use this. For example, when I'm bookmatching my tops and backs, it's often necessary to rip new edges before jointing, to make a good bookmatch and/or to make the grain parallel to the edge. The jig is nothing more than a piece of 1/2" birch plywood, about as long as a side (for when I want to use it to rip sides) and wider than half a back or top (mine is about 11" wide). One edge has been run over the jointer, the other edge ripped on the table saw. That's all it is. Each time I use it, I set the fence and rip a few thousandths of an inch off the edge of the sled. Then, the edge will line up perfectly with the blade when the sled is run against the fence. So, I draw a line on my workpiece, carefully align that line with the edge of the sled, tape it down, and make a perfect cut on that line. In the case of bookmatching, I'm cutting both halves at once (they've been carefully aligned with each other and taped together, then the cut line is aligned with the edge of the sled and the two halves are taped down to the sled together). The cut comes out so perfect with my little diablo blade that I could almost glue it up just like that.

If I haven't explained this well enough, I could take and post some photos.

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Todd Rose
Ithaca, NY

https://www.dreamingrosesecobnb.com/todds-art-music

https://www.facebook.com/ToddRoseGuitars/

I'm a bit confused by what you are describing Todd R.

when I think of a sled for a table saw I envision the jig having runners which go into the miter gauge slot(s)...from what you are saying I don't think you are using that...the obvious advantage to the runners is that you have to sneeze pretty damned hard to make an ooops (i.e. the whole jig pops out of the slot)...when used with some toggle clamps, sleds like this are pretty damned good to get near jointer quality rips...

OK, why not? Most of my jigs and fixtures fall into this category anyways, so...


First, this is my nut holding vise insert whatchamacallit, for shaping nuts off the instrument


Comes with duct tape and everything!


And how about this little gem? I know, it looks like a badly cut piece of 2x4"...


...but it actually is my specially developed headtock overlay nut slot edge sanding guide!



Here's a handy couple of drilling jigs that I use for the neck block mortise and the neck tenon. I really should get some drill bushings I guess, but they work...

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Rian Gitar og Mandolin

Those are great Arnt! Nice to see some shop improvements that I can afford!

Good thread Todd,
Joe

What would lutherie be without something as beautiful as this:



It may look like an ordinary piece of wood to some but in fact it has a straight edge !!!
My latest discovery of when it comes in handy is as a router guide when making braces for a lattice-braced guitar.

I just make a couple of passes with the router along a piece of bracewood, than set up the bandsaw to make cuts the same width as the router bit to produce something like this:



cut all the braces out, sand them to final thickness and voila:



The same can obviously be used for x-braces as well. It may be old news to some, but I constructed 2 jigs that failed miserably before I came up with this way of doing it.

cheers, Christian

OK here goes,
This is a simple jig for slotting the center strip for the back braces. Line it up and make the first cut with a sharp X-Acto #11. Place the brace and mark the next cut. Make it slightly smaller, pop out the piece with a chisel, and sand the sides of the brace till it squeaks in. Goes fast.







Here's a spacer to get the slots for your carbon reinforcing bars equal distance from the truss rod slot. Mine has two different spacings. Just set the fence on your router table so the bit just touches the spacer.

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It's not what you don't know that hurts you, it's what you do know that's wrong.

Nothing to add except for cool thread Todd, Thanks!

No runners on this baby. It just slide along the fence. I find that works just fine for most purposes. Since I use the sled to cut many different sized work pieces, I like not having any toggle clamps in the way. I just tape it down. Versatility, ultra-simplicity, accuracy, quick as a whip to make... what's not to like?

I only use this for thin stock; since the cut is light and easy, I trust the tape to hold the workpiece in place on the sled. I tape it down carefully and check to make sure it feels very secure before making the cut.

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Todd Rose
Ithaca, NY

https://www.dreamingrosesecobnb.com/todds-art-music

https://www.facebook.com/ToddRoseGuitars/

That's a keeper, Todd. Quick and easy, I like it!

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Wes McMillian
Santo, TX
http://www.wesmcmillian.com

Tapered cutoffs from fret boards make great shims for the fret board extension if you have to do that on a neck reset or a build.







Hollowed out spots on scrap wood make good holders for thinning nuts and saddles

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It's not what you don't know that hurts you, it's what you do know that's wrong.

Great thread, Todd.`

Here's my side marker jig. Just a couple of pieces of scrap. The surface that contacts the face of the fretboard was scraped out to accommodate the FB radius. Its radius is a bit smaller than the FB's, so it sits well on different radii.



This block is a piece of scrap cut to match the headstock angle. I clamp it, tap it tight up against the nut, remove the nut and use the block as a guide for my little dozuki to trim the end of the headstock overlay. Perfect fit every time. I also use it to set the angle on the table of my disk sander to get the right bevel on the bottom of the nut when the nut sits on the headstock.



Pat

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formerly known around here as burbank
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http://www.patfosterguitars.com

Hey, I resemble that comment!

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Todd Rose
Ithaca, NY

https://www.dreamingrosesecobnb.com/todds-art-music

https://www.facebook.com/ToddRoseGuitars/

Another simple winner, there, Pat. I like it!

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Wes McMillian
Santo, TX
http://www.wesmcmillian.com

I've been known to have some cheap jigs and fixtures

Like Arnt, I have a couple of wood 'vises' for holding nuts and saddles while shaping.





Lots of room to dial in the intonation



Here's my simple yet effective neck holder. Great while working on set ups





Really cheap jig for holding the headstock while thicknessing and getting the volute in the drum sander. Eliminates any rocking that happens when pulling out of the sander. Make the plywood at least 2x's as long as the headstock, 3x's is even better.



Just drill in an area that is waste.



I do have a cover for my sander and now use it with this 'jig', just have to make sure there is clearance enough for the neck.

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Great ideas! Rod and Arnt, I like those little vises a lot. Todds, another doh! moment looking at how you hold your bridges.

Filippo, here's an addition to your guitar hangar. I added some 1 x 1 on the end and sanded them round on the belt sander. Now I can hang the guitar and also hold it in a vise, in any orientation. Especially hand when brushing on finish.



Pat

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formerly known around here as burbank
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http://www.patfosterguitars.com