Can I pick your brains? How would you solve this puzzle....
Hiya,
Long time no speakee...i have a challenge & you guys popped straight into my non engineering mind!
I seek to be able to drill a hole about 4mm diameter, very accurately (ie no divergence) all the way along a 450mm long guitar neck...
http://img98.imageshack.us/img98/5528/6512string.jpg
....so that the resulting bored hole runs just beneath the fretboard (the fretboard is the 3mm veneer dark wood on top of the neck ie where where the guitar puts his fingers)
Two problems...
1. What kind of custom rig would be in order (I'm thinking any drilling bit/rig would need to 'hang' vertical so gravity doesn't 'pull' on the bit, causing it to diverge)
2. Where on earth could I buy a drill bit just 4mm diameter and 500mm long! (or how would you approach making one?!). I have found places that sell 500m bits, but they start at 6mm diameter, which is excessive for my needs.
Things to consider....
No snappage - it would be catastrophic to have the bit snap half way along
Really accurate - it would be even more of a tragedy to see the drill bit surface out of the guitar's fretboard at the end of its travel!
repeatability - I'd like to do this to a few necks!
Many thanks,
Hank.
Re: Can I pick your brains? How would you solve this puzzle....
Hi Hank
Perhaps you need a gun drill. You blast air through to clear the chips so they don't push you off course. (Oil or oil air mix if drilling guns)
You spin the wood. The axis of rotation defining a straight line through the part where the wood is moving slowest. IIRC the gun drill shies away from the faster cut and automatically centres itself on the axis.
I have some long gun drill bits if you want pics.
Knowlege exhausted
Robin
EDIT: PS: Suggest, drill the hole, cut the neck around it
1 Attachment(s)
Re: Can I pick your brains? How would you solve this puzzle....
Quote:
Originally Posted by
HankMcSpank
Hiya,
Long time no speakee...i have a challenge & you guys popped straight into my non engineering mind!
I seek to be able to drill a hole about 4mm diameter, very accurately (ie no divergence) all the way along a 450mm long guitar neck...
http://img98.imageshack.us/img98/5528/6512string.jpg
....so that the resulting bored hole runs just beneath the fretboard (the fretboard is the 3mm veneer dark wood on top of the neck ie where where the guitar puts his fingers)
Two problems...
1. What kind of custom rig would be in order (I'm thinking any drilling bit/rig would need to 'hang' vertical so gravity doesn't 'pull' on the bit, causing it to diverge)
2. Where on earth could I buy a drill bit just 4mm diameter and 500mm long! (or how would you approach making one?!). I have found places that sell 500m bits, but they start at 6mm diameter, which is excessive for my needs.
Things to consider....
No snappage - it would be catastrophic to have the bit snap half way along
Really accurate - it would be even more of a tragedy to see the drill bit surface out of the guitar's fretboard at the end of its travel!
repeatability - I'd like to do this to a few necks!
Many thanks,
Hank.
Hi. so the picture below is what you would like to achieve but after the neck is constructed??
Attachment 4493
I did always wonder how they did it...
Re: Can I pick your brains? How would you solve this puzzle....
i allways assumed the tension rod ran down a slot that you would cut into the neck face and cover with the fret board ?
wouldnt work if your just adding a veneer as the fret board
i would s**t myself trying to drill over that distance:wink:
you have got me thinking now!!
if the standard is to bond your fret board over the slot then it would be easy .....
iv just measured one of mine.... the fret board is 5mm deap, rose wood i think
Re: Can I pick your brains? How would you solve this puzzle....
you beat me to it rick..... they are just slotted buy the look of them :)
Re: Can I pick your brains? How would you solve this puzzle....
Quote:
Originally Posted by
blackburn mark
i would s**t myself trying to drill over that distance:wink:
And you beat me to that!!!
I'm not joking they were the exact words i thought when i read the post!!!:rofl:
Re: Can I pick your brains? How would you solve this puzzle....
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Ricardoco
And you beat me to that!!!
I'm not joking they were the exact words i thought when i read the post!!!:rofl:
hahahaha!!! i reckon you owe us a cake hankmcspank for saving you the nightmare:lol:
Re: Can I pick your brains? How would you solve this puzzle....
no it's not for a truss rod - it's for wires (LED fret markers).
Agreed, it's an onerous task, but believe me, I'd sh*t myself more by way of heating the fretboard with steam, prizing it off with lever, routing some wire channels, sanding the glue off the fretboard and neck, and then putting it all back together and then aligning it back up - ie aka this guy's way...
http://acapella.harmony-central.com/...-inlay-project.
....drilling a hole down the neck is the way to go!
I've knocked up a small 12 led (10 channel) led chaser & want to fit some LEDs in the fretmarkers of my cheap guitar as an experiment.
Re: Can I pick your brains? How would you solve this puzzle....
WHAT???? you mean no cake???? downer!!!.....
it makes some sense now.... id be tempted to explore the posibility of drilling side on under the frettboard to the truss rod cavity
and pray there is enough room in there for your wires
can you still get the truss rod out ?
Re: Can I pick your brains? How would you solve this puzzle....
Quote:
Originally Posted by
blackburn mark
can you still get the truss rod out ?
Not understanding the question, I've not done anything yet, I'm at the preliminary stage asking for ideas/info how to drill a long thin hole :naughty:- where does the truss rod fit into this line of thinking?!
