Tuckstir yes, humble MDF. And I’m going with laser cutting because this guy has been responsive and has good pricing- i approached a few guys over the last 3 years about CNC milling but for various reasons they never came back with anything.
Luckily Fender designs are so modular that it will be easy to replace the body if this one doesn’t work out
Haha ok.. was wondering why you wanted to smoke out a factory..
?
next time give me a shout
we Have A CNC router which we mostly use to cut Polycarb Windows
Fender designs been a bolt on.. as long as you keep the brigde position relative to the neck pocket.. you could make any design..
MMMMM fretlest Flaming flying V with F-holes. ?
Tuckstir
thanks, that's an interesting offer. Where are you based? I'd much rather have something in real wood.
peterleroux
we based in Wadeville.. JHB
Tuckstir Awesome! I'm on the East Rand too. Let me see what I can source in terms of timber and then we can chat further. I've got a 'dumb' 2d set of drawings, presumably it will take a bit of work to turn that into gcode for milling. Let me think the design through and I'll be in touch.
Fortunately we have software for the G-code, ?
Dxfs are good..
Tuckstir cool, I think I might be on track with timber- how big is the working bed for your CNC?
Would like to take this discussion offline but unless I'm missing something we can't do PMs here. My email address is my user name @gmail.com
peterleroux how big is the working bed for your CNC?
I think Big enough.. 3m x 2m bed
sent you a Message
Just an update- I have sent drawings to @Tuckstir, who has already routed the raw lumber straight on both edges, and I will be gluing up the body blank this weekend to get it milled out- with a bit of luck I'll be playing fretless by the end of the month!
here are some action shots of stage 1 the side milling,
We took of 1mm per side
Making some progress today.
peterleroux glued it up, we've skimmed it flat, we did a test run with a marker to make sure our positioning was correct
...and I'll be picking up the completed body from @Tuckstir tomorrow - a bit of shaping (belly cut, forearm contour and roundovers) and some Danish Oil and it will be ready to assemble ?
Tuckstir Like the way the grain runs - can't wait to see the body finished up @peterleroux!
V8 Like the way the grain runs - can't wait to see the body finished up
you and me both..and I've seen the finish cut.. Its going to be a flippen awesome build, that grain is just drool worthy.. but I'll let peterleroux post the completed cut Pic's,
I'll have to get me some wood..
So I picked this up from @Tuckstir this morning...
Really happy with how it came out, and very excited to get this finished. Thanks to @Tuckstir and the company for getting this made- I still get a kick out of drawing something and having it turned into reality like this. Going down the road later on to hire a router for the weekend- after practicing on the scraps, I’ll cut the front and back round over this weekend
That crack down the front is a pitch pocket in the wood- It doesn't appear to be causing any structural problems so I'll fill it with superglue, and probably leave it exposed.
peterleroux
only a pleasure hope it finishes up and plays great..
for those that are interested here are some action shots
First we machined it flat, we ended up taking about 3,5mm off.
we first did the neck pocket and pickup cavity, before taking off 5mm on the outside of the guitar, and then we cut the outer profile. leaving behind 5mm material
next we recessed the sacrificial bed material so we could accurately position the blank
back pockets done
all hands on deck
and done
Yesterday I hired a router from a local tool hire place, and this morning i spent some time reading up and watching YouTube tutorials. After getting an idea of how to work (feeding the woods in from the router’s Left at all times) and putting on my goggles and earplugs, I practiced on the scrap pieces first:
I went around the whole bass in a few passes, getting deeper each time, and ended up going out to buy a bigger roundover big- the ones I had were all too small and might look ok on a Tele but were not smooth enough for a Jazz bass.
After a few hours I had this:
-pretty happy with most of it, except a few spots on the horns where I didn’t keep the router level:
I used a belt sander, surform rasps and 80grit sandpaper to shape out the arm and tummy contours, and sanded out the gouges on the horn and generally blended the shape.
Tomorrow I’ll drill all the cavity links, drill the neckplate and position the bridge, before spending the next week or so working on the finish- sanding to 220 or 300 grit, then doing Danish Oil over the course of a couple of days before I can out everything together. I also need to cut control cavity covers and drill for the pot and jack positions
damnn, looking good - waiting in anticipation for the danish oil coats!
Body has been sanded, oiled, and the pot, pickup and jack holes drilled- hanging up for the night- neck, neck plate and bridge to be done in the morning- with a bit of luck I might be able to play it tomorrow! 
