Devices & Templates

São Paulo, March, 8th, 2014

Hi guys, today I would like to show some devices and templates I used to use here.

I think we can start with some definitions about these two words:

* Templates: for me, is a piece of wood or acrrilyc that has a specific shape and help me to copy this shape, several times with repetibility, quality and precision.

* Devices: can be an amout of some diferrent or equal materials that helps me to process one or more operations with quality and safety.

To create templates and devices will depend of the capacity of each one, it will depend of for what do You need a template or a device.

In my case, I love to create templates and devices. I almost can say that is so funny than to build guitars.

I love the idea to spend hours making projects for T&D, and later try to reproduce from the computer screen to reality!!

Everything starts with a need! What do You have to do? What do You need ? Does it really need to be created?

These are the questions You have to make to yourself before spend money and materials!

One common aspect of the T&D is that they were made to be used for several times!! "Times" is the key word!!!

After you decided what do You want to do, the next step is, I think, the most difficult phase...CREATIVITY!!!

It´s difficult to talk about creativity, because is something very personal, but if You start one day You can do nice devices in the near future. Nobody borns knowing everything!!!

I would like to spend more time doing T&D, but as you might know I work in a company, I use my weekends to work on my hobby.

I will tell You how I proceed normally, maybe this will guides You in some way.

1 Needs: define what do You really need.

2 Creation: create a design that will be a reference to your template, I use a CAD softtware 3D to create my projects

3 Print the project with all dimmensions

4 Be sure that You checked all aspects involved in the project that may affect your instrument, don´t forget the SAFETY as well.

5 Try to reproduce, using wood, accrilyc ro any useful material. As my projects are mad in a CAD software, I can use the advantage to generate files for laser cutting (process used to cut MDF or accrilyc)

T&D requires times and dedication, oh I forget to tell You ... Money!!!

Let me show You some of the tools I created and You can see that is not so difficult but You really need to have some abilities!

Here I made a larger table for the drill, because I use the dril also for sanding some parts and normally the table that comes with the drill is too small.

I used here two Screws (Allen) to fix the MDF table to the original drill table.



This device I made to support the neck of the guitar when I am sanding the scale. As You might see, this device has three support for the neck and I use a double face tape to fix the neck at the supports.

Here you can see how it is assembled. One word about production process... You can see on Youtube a lot of different ways of how to build a guitar, open your mind to another possibilities.

The neck in the final sanding operation.

This is a device that I made to keep the frets in the scale while the glue is drying.

This is a template for a body guitar, made in accrilyc material. The countours are made to use the Router with a bushing or a bearing.

Here another example of a template. This time I am using a template for the headstock to copy the accrilyc part to the wood using a router.

This is a very simple device I made to save the frets beforre to fix then on the scale. It s a peace of MDF lost in my mess room and I made 25 little holes to identify each fret position.

Guys I apologyse to You guys cause I lost one of my HD´s and unfortunately I lost a great amout of informatiosn and pictures thad I had. Hope to repair this hd and have my pictures back and we can add some extras pictures here.

As a bonus, I will show You the pedalboard I designed. It´s made of sheet metal stell, not so big, but you can also use a Wah-Wah pedal in the right of the part, in a separate plan.

In the next week one friend of mine will test this pedalboard and hope to get some few changes and start to sell it in the internet.

Only for You to understand, I´ll prepared a special post for this pedalboard where I´ll try to show You how I developed this item.

Tks a lot to everyone!!!