Oh look, more templates!

Pictured: The Topography of Desire

Remember a while back when I said, "My thought process (if we are going to call it that) is that digging holes is probably what should be next." And by digging holes I meant the neck pocket and the pickup cavities.  My reasoning was that a flat guitar body is easier to route than a curved guitar body.  There is a sort of simple (nay, simplistic) logic to it: It's easier to balance on a brick than on a basketball.

If you have been reading along - you probably have guessed that this was not, in fact, what I did next.  As I write this post neither of the body blanks has a neck pocket or pickup cavities carved out.  I blame this development on Scott Wilkinson.

Who is Scott Wilkinson you ask and why am I blaming thim?

When I start any new guitar build - I do a fair amount of research as to the process involved.  I try to identify a few different ways that other people have accomplished things and pick the one that is most closely aligned with my skill set and current tool compliment.  Quite often I borrow a little from several approaches.  But really, I like to see how other people have tackled their projects and in what order (and why).  

Scott (also known as ExNihilo on the MyLesPaul.com forum) outlined a very clear process for how to build a Les Paul based on the classic 1950's version of the guitar.  I decided that since his approach was so well documented and lauded that there might be something to it.  The reasoning is this: it will be difficult to gauge the proper depths and placements for the neck pocket and pickup cavities until the body blank is in a semi-final size/shape.  To be clear - my build differs from Scott's in a few crucial ways but using his experience as a guide -  the next logical step for me is to carve the tops of these body blanks.

Which of course means more frickin' templates... 

Courtesy of Scott Wilkinson (aka ExNihilo)

In addition to posting his build experience online Scott also posted a PDF of the templates that he created to carve the top of his Les Paul using a router.  So, because I was having so much fun making templates I decided, "Why not make seven more?"

Not Pictured: Tons of Fun!

The PDF helps you carve the guitar top by breaking it out into unique strata that you route to different depths.  When I get to the actual routing this will make more sense but for now - each line in the drawing equates to a different template that I will use to rout the body blank.

I chose to print out one of these PDFs and cut out each individual strata.  It seems like most people print out seven PDFs and cut away what they don't need.  Both ways work.  But my way was very 'fussy' when it came to tracing them as the paper strips were pretty flimsy.

If I were to do it again - I probably wouldn't try to save the trees.  I'd spend more time saving my sanity by printing out the seven pages. 

...the tree-hugger in me died a little bit writing that sentence (but then again my hobby requires trees to be cut down so who's fooling who?).  

Regardless of the method you use - the goal is to end up with seven templates of different sizes. I used the jig saw again to cut out the rough shapes and then cleaned them up with the belt/disc sander. - just like I did with the body blank template.  This process kicks up a lot of sawdust.

Post Jig Saw but Pre Belt Sander

Now might be a good time to mention dust management / mitigation. 

You shoulda seen my shoes!

See that?  It's sawdust.  

Lots and lots of sawdust

I'm no doctor but my guess is that a bunch of this crap in your lungs probably isn't good for you.  So, I wore a dust mask while shaping these on the sander.  In fact - I've been wearing eye, ear, and dust protection for most of the steps in this blog. 

The first time you put one on you have to say, "Luke, I am your father!"
It's the law.

Since I don't have a dust collection system or air cleaner in my shop I went overboard with a heavy-duty dust mask.  The one in the above picture is really meant for spraying finishes or other VOCs.  A sanding/painters mask is probably good enough.  I like using it because it works really well at keeping dust out of my lungs and because regular dust masks usually fog up my eye protection and this doesn't.

They are your lungs - so do what you like.  But if you are going to make a habit of this hobby (and you don't have the cash for a real dust collection system) you might want to think about picking one of these up.

Guitars are like onions...
...or is it parfait?

In the end - you sand - you shape - you take your time and try not to lose your mind doing the same thing over and over.  I'll share a secret with you - not one of those templates is exactly like the drawing they are supposed to emulate.  These are just to get you to a starting point with your top.  There is a whole lot of planing, sanding, and scraping that needs to be done after the router and these templates are packed away.  Don't fuss and fret over these.  It's a long road ahead.


You may be wondering what the lines are on the above templates.  They are to help me line up the templates with the body blanks.  I'll draw a similar set of lines on the body blank and use these registration marks to lmatch everything up correctly.

As a final note:  This is just one way to carve a top.  In my research I also found a phenomenally talented (and tattooed) luthier who did this all free-hand with an angle grinder.  Go your own way!