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Is there an elegant and safe way to cut the tail wedge? I've tried a razor saw, scoring with a blade then free handing routing to that scored edge with a dremel router.

Does anyone make a nice jig? Maybe a tail wedge template for a dovetail/mortise jig?

I made up a "V" template I can clamp on the guitar body. I cut the wedge with a router. Clean edges every time.

If you want to buy something for this than take a look at this link.

http://www.luthiertool.com/edge%20vise.html

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Josh House

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This works very well thanks to my buddy Dan Minard. Get one of these.http://www.leevalley.com/US/wood/page.a ... 1208,41779. I don't have a photo and the jig I made is pretty crude but effective. Make up a board with a tapered slot in the centre. The slot wants to be 10". This is necessary because you are using this jig to cut both the slot and the inset piece. Mine clamps to the guitar butt and then the clamping pieces remove from the jig and screw it to a sacrificial board with the butt wedge carpet taped to it. Maybe the other Dan will see this and post a picture. His jig is much prettier than mine. I actually have to make a new one because the slot is not long enough on the one I made.

Hope this helps.

Here's one I made. The jig clamps to the guitar's top and back with leather covered blocks, one of which is adjusted back and forth with the screws on the bottom to fit a guitar of pretty much any size. A router with a square base rides along the two adjustable ledges to define the outside of the wedge. It's very flexible and pretty fool proof.

Little Candle light , some good wine soft music ... as elegant as you can get ..


Seriously I use a Jig Much like the first one James posted a pic of .

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[quote="WudWerkr"]Little Candle light , some good wine soft music ... as elegant as you can get ..

Wine. Really, Wud, wine? Well, as long as it's red.

Alex

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"Indecision is the key to flexibility" .... Bumper sticker

Like this?

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The name catgut is confusing. There are two explanations for the mix up.

Catgut is an abbreviation of the word cattle gut. Gut strings are made from sheep or goat intestines, in the past even from horse, mule or donkey intestines.

Otherwise it could be from the word kitgut or kitstring. Kit meant fiddle, not kitten.

Or this?

Perhaps this?



Alex

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"Indecision is the key to flexibility" .... Bumper sticker

Wud, Alex, Colin and Nick beat me to it......................I never get a chance.....................I'm taking my tail wedge and elegance and going home!!
Tom

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

This is very low-tech, but I used a straight edge, saw, and chisel on this one. The technique should work with anything bordered by straight lines. Saw the borders using the straight edge as a fence, chisel out the waste.

Sometimes I'll set up a fence and use a laminate trimmer. Tape a block of plywood to the side using double-sided tape. Takes more measuring and finesse. Obviously more chance for disaster if the tape gives.

A vise-type jig would be great, but the saw and chisel works fine for me. There's less to set-up, and one less jig to master.

Nice jig James. I believe I'll make me one of those.

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Joe Beaver
Maker of Sawdust

That's a purty goat.

There have been MANY excellent ideas offered here, though some offered imbibing which I'm pretty sure won't mix well with power tools

I highly recommend Luthier Tools and their template system

Like James Orr, I do mine by hand. I carefully draw the desired cut lines on the tail, looking for perfect centering and wedge angles. The lines are cut with a steel-backed dozuki against wood block held in place with a folded piece of 80 grit sandpaper to keep from shifting. Cleanup with chisel.

I've done many like this and I've got very good at it -- probably at least as fast as most folks with router and template, and deadly accurate.

I enjoy this bit of quiet wood working -- don't need another reason to make noise in the shop.

BTW, I use epoxy to glue wedge (and purflings) in place, so my chiseled surface doesn't need to be perfectly even.


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Pretty much what I do - I like the sandpaper on the block idea, I'm stealing that one

I chisel out most of the waste and then clean up with a Veritas miniature router and shoulder plane (yes, they really work quite well once they're sharpened).

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Steve Smith
"Music is what feelings sound like"

I do it by hand too, except perhaps simpler than what James, Tim, and Steve describes. I very carefully score the lines with a new exacto blade, then very carefully start chiseling away wood up to the scored line with a sharp chisel, then repeat scoring and chiseling until the edge is well formed, then chisel out all the wood in the middle. Seems to work well for me.

But if I built full time I would invest in (or make) a jig and template to do this task to save some time. I read an article by Greven in the latest Lutherie mag and he uses a router template but instead of a clamp type jig to hold the template, he simply double-stick tapes it onto the guitar.

My latest:

I print autocad drawings of the wedge shape, double side tape one to the butt, and one to the stock I'm cutting the wedge from. Then tape a straight edge down to the butt, score the lines, chiesel out the middle. Cut the wedge, get a good dry fit, then glue it in with medium CA on one part and accelerator on the other. Probably takes me half an hour start to finish.

I do mine by hand, as I find it more flexible and easier to lay out that way, if I need to adjust things slightly to make up for any inconsistencies in plate alignment, wood grain or whatever. I attach a small steel ruler with double stick tape to act as a fence, and saw with a Japanese mini saw (towards waste side), chisel the waste out, glue in wedge with hide glue.

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Rian Gitar og Mandolin

Score the lines with knife, saw down 2 mm with exacto razor saw ,route with L/N mini hand router , I like a large wedge. sometimes. clean up with mini crank neck chisel, glue in a decorative wedge using fish glue, which gives me time to align everything spot on.

I make up the wedge with all trim and make it long. Then I tape it to the box with double stick and scribe with a #11 blade. Remove the wedge and hog out the middle with a Stew-Mac/Proxxon router setup with a 1/8" bit and finish off with a small file with a safe edge. Cyano and tap it in, saw off the excess.

Personally I quit doing it as a wedge on #2. Not a lot off convergence of lines on a guitar, but using one here makes it easier. Looks odd IMO. I take a piece of the binding with the purfling scheme attached and center it, score it with a blade and chisel it out, takes about a minute. Now I have done some of those elaborate mitered lines and all. But thats another story.

Tim

Here are some pictures of the fixture that I made. I clamp the rim to the fixture and use a laminate router with a pattern bit to rout the channel. It's easy, fast, clean and accurate.

I make the wedge itself on the table saw and sneak up to a perfedt fit as needed.

I don't know what an eloquent way is. I use a pencil, Japanese saw, straight edge and sharp chisel.

I used a routing rig for years, but sold it. I find just the simple is probably as fast and clean as the time it takes to set up for the routing.



All you are looking for is a clean channel and sharp edges for things to lay right, however you get there.

eloquent, means dressing properly for the job of fitting the tail wedge LOL.