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Tell the boss it's time to edit the list. He needs to add another step.

"- Donate Keurig to a good cause. But a Nespresso." [FACE WITH STUCK-OUT TONGUE AND WINKING EYE]

In a moment of needing something to do, I took the chisel to it yesterday and got things within 1/32" all around. I was surprised by how well it worked. When I cut it to shape on the bandsaw, the saw pulled fibers out like crazy. The chisel left nice, clean lines, particularly on the end grain where most of the havoc had been wreaked previously. I'll be able to get into the shop to finish up with the router tomorrow.

Thinking this process through has made me realize I don't need to leave as much overhang (roughly 1/4 to 3/8"). David Farmer mentioned undersizing the top. I'm not willing to go that far, but 1/16" to an 1/8th overhang is certainly reasonable.


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Don't you just love it when the best tool for a job turns out to be a nice sharp chisel or plane?

It's easy to work down hill with a chisel. The only place you have to be carful about is right where the grain switches direction at the waist.

I use one of those diamond cutoff blades for Dremel, and drum sander to finish. If everything is glued down solid, likelihood of tear out is lower when using proper router cuts. Spiral downcut good too if most overhang trimmed away. So far, no disasters with drum sanding approach. I don't eschew router approach, just too much setup work for my liking.

[quote="James Orr"] ........... took the chisel to it yesterday and got things within 1/32" all around ...... The chisel left nice, clean lines, particularly on the end grain where most of the havoc had been wreaked previously........
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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.

I didn't read all the posts so forgive me if I am redundant... I used to trim the plates just inside the side perimeter so that when I'm sanding sides I'm not fighting the back and top plates and end grain in some locations. Made it much easier to do.

This took two passes. The first with a flush cut bit and the second with the binding bit set with the bearing that gave me the shallowest cut possible beyond flush. Climb cuts in both instances as well.

1/4" downcut carbide spiral bit with flush cutting bearing on the tip for me. Very quick, and zero trouble

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Rian Gitar og Mandolin