FREEHAND ROUTE like a PRO with NO TEMPLATES! (best routing tips and tricks)

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This is a video you guys have been requesting for a long time! This is my method for freehand routing with no templates.
Here is the router bit that I use: amzn.to/3rXocGb
I got my plunge router used, but if I wanted to buy one on amazon, this is the best deal: amzn.to/32KE3zy
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Опубликовано:

27 янв 2022

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Комментарии : 202

@bryantwalley 2 года назад

When I used to build wood signs many years ago, I would keep the sawdust from the wood as I sanded so when there were little bloopers like the kick out with the knot, I could mix the dust with the glue and make a paste the same color as the wood. Worked really well.

@ATthemusician 2 года назад

The previous owner of my 8 string guitar had screwed the pickup down so far that the adjustment screw went through the back, after I routed a neck pickup(it only had a bridge pickup routed) I took the dust and some glue and filled the hole, and its virtually invisible now.

@BuChan89 7 месяцев назад

What kind of glue do you recommend for doing this?

@mholly1973 6 месяцев назад

@@BuChan89 we did this same trick when doing cabinets when we happen to not have any putty that matched the wood we were working with but we used reg old wood glue that drys clear and when mixed with the shavings it can be pretty thick so then when dried all ya seen as the wood color

@mvyper 2 месяца назад

Vynil. CA will do, but it will be much darker.

@bryantwalley 2 месяца назад

@@BuChan89 Titebond Original Red Label

@geomann1009 2 года назад

Looks great!! A possible solution when a pattern is layed out on a knot is to drill as much of the knot out prior to routering that area! At least the outer boarder of the pattern. That should prevent router blade from catching the knot and causing a problem!!

@gmjsimmons 2 года назад

My past experience with freehanding a router had never resulted in a clean appearance. I have to say that your ability to do this had totally mystified me. Revealling your techniques helps a lot. I may even give it a shot at some time in the future. I never even considered that a shallow rout could become a template for the full depth rout. Great tips. In this age of the CNC, craftsman techniques are being lost, and strangely enough, your freehand pickup rout has a more satisfying crafted feel than the template one. Not sure what it is, maybe it conveys human care and skill better.

@beanseff 2 года назад

When you were talking about the line on the route for the neckill tell you a trick i learned building cabinets... route from the inside out. When you get close to the line. Use a dremel with the router attachment. I also attach a magnifying glass so i get it so precise you sill have the inside of the line. Check your fit and it should be perfect.

@Sylencer1982 2 года назад

If you're routing on the outside of something it *really* helps to have another piece of material the same thickness as what you're working with to help support the far side of the router.

@GunsandGuitars 2 года назад

Great tip! That would’ve helped with the neck pocket for sure!

@TheBassTroll 2 года назад

Dan, I think your freehand looks and fits better than the template. That was pretty much what I did when I made my first bass. I made some mistakes, but overall, after thirty-something years, I'm amazed at how well that first project turned out. Pickup placement: after I attached the twenty-fret neck to the body, I measured out where the saddles of the bridge should be, and then strung the bass and tuned it (EADG). After plucking the twelfth fret harmonic, I found the harmonics higher up the neck to choose where my split P pickup and J bridge pickup would go. Thank you for all you do for so many of us. GB!

@davedupuis2069 2 года назад

That's pretty darn impressive I must say. Another trick is to cut your line with an razor knife. As you creep your router bit towards the line it will often "peel away" that last tiny bit meaning you're not actually routing up to the line. If that makes sense lol. Kinda hard to describe in words but it definitely works

@GunsandGuitars 2 года назад

Cool tip, thanks!

@jamesdeananderson1411 2 года назад

100% this does work.

@jerryschlather2438 2 года назад

I always start my rout in the middle, well away from the edges/lines. Then sneak up to the line as it is much easier to control the cut when you are only cutting a small amount of wood (same point you made for depth of cut). I would also consider drilling out the corners with a bit the same diameter as my router bit.

@JasperKloek 2 года назад

Those are both good ideas. Thanks!

@GunsandGuitars 2 года назад

Great tips! Thanks for sharing!

@kevinking2468 Год назад

Great tips Jerry!

@tjm64 2 года назад

This is a really good video for one of kind type builds. Doesn't say alot towards production building.... but if you build one offs, or are trying to get into proflduction like this youtuber does, this really great advice, and really great content. I rarely take the time to comment, but thanks so much for posting this. Pocket placement is so important

@Xpyburnt_ndz 2 года назад

Gr8 vid and tips Dan! I did some of these while building stocks for my shotguns 25 yrs ago...even got a GORGEOUS piece of Walnut that had a huge crack in it...after shaping it for my Model 12/20, I took sanding dust and mixed it with epoxy and filled the crack...to this day, no one can tell me where the crack was/is in it! Love these type vids! Thank you my friend!

@MrDaveKC 2 года назад

That looks great Dan. So far, I've always struggled to freehand, but that's a good reminder to take it easy. Mayhave to look into a plunge router, too. And that slab of wood looks great!

@terrelbackes1684 2 года назад

I freehand about 85% of the time - hands down, no tool has made guitar building easier for me than the plunge router accessory. I can't imagine you'll have any regrets picking one up if you route more than 1-2 times per year.

@randyhaney5767 2 года назад

Wow, It's like you know what I'm up to. (BTW. I prefer the freehand pickup route just a tighter fit) This video is exactly what I am needing to see at this exact time. Again! (Ways to Freehand route a Neck Pocket to be exact) I'm Building a P Bass Knockoff. I have everything done; except the neck pocket. Been kind of apprehensive; about this particular operation. never done this one so far. But Look Dan'O, has saved the day... Again! Thanks Dan, I truly needed this one.

@K7classicrockfan Месяц назад

You sir are a brave man, I will never attemp this myself. I have a love hate relationship with routers. I love the clean work they can acheive, but within a hald second you can easily do a ton of damage.

@micah_noel 2 месяца назад

That’s pretty impressive! I don’t know that I ever would have thought to try this on my own but you’ve given me a bit of encouragement for sure.

@crandallwoodworking2988 5 месяцев назад

A tip I learned the hard way is to only plunge in 1/4" increments. Stay close to the line. When your bearing is deep enough, then get right up to the line. This will decrease, not eliminate, the change of gouging your work piece. Thanks for the video!

@jeffyoung8726 2 года назад

Pretty impressive there Dan! But you always do awesome stuff. Thanks for this instructive video. Again, I've learned something new, that will help with my building! God bless you & the fam bro...

@jamesdeananderson1411 2 года назад

As someone who recently started carving electric guitar bodies out of Black Walnut, I am SUPER into this video. i knew I'd get to the CNC at some point, but I wanted to know what it was like to actually do things the old school way. First, I started hand-carving them. Then, I started learning how to use a router. It's been a blast. One note that you might want to add to this video: "Make sure to truly learn how to measure where the bridge has to be, or you can't intonate the guitar. Rule is simple, fret scale is from the nut to the 12th fret, and then exactly that length doubled." Otherwise, they can accidentally put the bridge pickup too far back. "They". As in, I totally did that. Stay free. Stay awesome.

@thebigdcross 10 месяцев назад

I actually like to cut my neck route 1st and cut the guitar around it. And route in 3 stages. I am building one so close to this, i like your style

@yikelu 4 месяца назад

Those are very impressive freehand routes tbh. Best tip I can offer is you can go "semi-templated" by just using pre-cut blocks of wood as straight edges. Stick them onto your surface and use a bearing bit to follow them. Obviously only going to get certain shapes that way, but it's surprisingly effective within those limitations.

@wickedsiesta2860 Год назад

Very cool infos, thank you!

@geoffreynevo6199 2 года назад

Awesome work! Thanks for the content man

@kevinking2468 Год назад

Excellent video, thank you so much!

@paulmartin8100 5 месяцев назад

Amazing work @GunsandGuitars and some great tips there, thanks

@DavidHBurkart 2 года назад

Amazing skills brother... truly. That freehand route is outstanding.

@franciscotovar9424 5 месяцев назад

Great video really helped me out routing my first set of pickups.

@ilovejapanesemusic3858 2 года назад

Great video this is just where I'm at I really appreciate you showing me this!

@KharmaBodiesGuitars 2 года назад

Thanks for sharing your free hand technique. I’ve always made jigs and templates when routing my guitar bodies and necks. Even when using templates there’s plenty of opportunities to screw things up. I don’t get why I would want to increase the likelihood of that happening by doing it freehand. During my years of making limited production runs of guitar bodies and necks, my biggest takeaway was that as I became more efficient the quality of my product improved and my time spent building went down. I learned it was always better to take the time to prepare and setup before cutting even if it was for only 1 cut. The other aspect of the business was not to find yourself in a position to have to do only 1 cut but if you do you need to include the cost of setup in your pricing structure. That’s the main reason a custom guitar is so much more expensive than a production model.

@ringokidd387 2 года назад

Awesome! Great job and great Advice! Also Always keep Sharp set of Chisels on hand too!

@AndyMinchew 10 месяцев назад

I make cigar box guitars and I agree with your method. I don't like to use templates. You need to know how to fix your mistakes. Craftsmanship is all about experience. Turning mistakes into a great job. I really like this video.

@clappedham 5 месяцев назад

9:55 Love the ramones reference! Super helpful video man, many thanks!

@timhallas4275 2 года назад

I have never owned a single template for guitar routing,and I have made over 40 guitars and basses without making any "firewood" out of my blanks. Here's a tip: line up your neck on the body blank BEFORE you cut out the shape. Clamp it in place, then, using the tape and superglue trick, glue pieces of 3/4 inch boards on each side of the neck so they extend a few inches past the end of the neck and past the upper edge of the body blank. Now glue in a small piece between those boards at the bottom of the neck. Remove the neck and route to whatever depth you want. I do the same with pickup routes. It's cheap, quick, and foolproof. Freehand routing is foolish. No wood craftsman freehand routes anything.

@GunsandGuitars 2 года назад

Thanks for the tip!

@bruthatool6616 2 года назад

may have been mentioned by someone else, but to save on your router bit and router life I usually only route down at most 3/16" each pass. Keep up the good work!

@richedwards9646 9 месяцев назад

Very very good video - I learned a lot and really appreciate your teaching 😁😁😁

@Furtheronmusic 2 года назад

You nailed it. Good video Dan. I've always largely use templates but frankly not had as good a neck fit as you got with a template. So I may try this method on my next build.

@UltimateBreloom 2 года назад

It helps if you do some test routes on scrap and add a few layers of tape around the template to tighten it up if needed.

@jamieallan104 2 года назад

Hi Dan, in addition or instead of marking with a pencil you can also run a blade / scalpel to severe the fibres in the wood to avoid chip out, it's unlikely to stop knots but it can help with softer woods (or duller router bits in my case lol)

@whssy 2 года назад

Very useful video. Thanks.

@hextray 2 года назад

Always the handiest tips. Cheers man

@AlexArcady 2 года назад

Thank you for this great instruction. It actually solves my “no template” situation.

@pakalkin1 7 месяцев назад

i figured that using his drawing technique to cut freehand pickups cavity over the wood, we can do our own templates over MDF, or something like that.... being realistic, i never gonna be able to control that way the router over fine wood!

@keithsmith9889 2 года назад

Awesome tips. I got this big old oak bin i might repurpose now!😃 thanks Dan!

@FrugalFixerSpike 2 года назад

You have such a steady hand. Must be the bang, bang practice.

@Bassman1999 Год назад

Excellent video!

@NajRellim 5 месяцев назад

Wow! Great Tutorial!

@jakajarc 2 года назад

Great stuff!

@RJsCave 2 года назад

Great tutorial dan!

@ulfdanielsen6009 2 года назад

This is a really helpful video,- good point on taking care you don´t mess things up,- if you do - how to remedy it... Would be nice to see a video on how to freehand route a recessed Floyd Rose without messing it up,- either done in Ibanez finger style or just a soft gradual slope.... You run an awesome channel, my friend, - for all of us string benders out there. :)

@breezytango3472 2 года назад

Love the videos man

@mnewln1800 11 месяцев назад

Appreciate the "extra time" afforded by this technique. You get multiple chances. Patience is key!

@bassimprovjams3772 2 года назад

Awesome!! Your freehand cut out looks better for sure!!

@paullawson300 2 года назад

I've always built pre-routed guitars till now... I have my first "from scratch" body on the bench and was wondering how I go about routing the cavities... Great video, will defiantly try free hand now

@zanesweet7960 Год назад

Throughout the video i kept checking to make sure that i liked the video and subscribed.

@richardchapman8329 2 года назад

I'm glad you posted this video, I was JUST about to drop a bunch of money on some templates

@yakcustomguitars8827 2 года назад

No problem with your free hand routing. It’s always great quality. I however don’t have ad much control with a router and differences in timber grain often send me off the line 😂 I find it’s easiest to make my own templates which can be re used and don’t bother with buying them. Great video as always!

@GunsandGuitars 2 года назад

Yeah making your own out of mdf or plywood is a good option too! About “not having as much control” that’s why it’s important to just get close on the first pass, and do a second “finishing pass” you will be shocked at how much more control you have!

@mattdoliver1984 2 года назад

Freehand FTW good job man 👌🏼👍🏼

@saulgoodeguitars 2 года назад

Great video Dan, the freehand pickup route does visually look better for a direct mount pickup

@alexjuckett9987 2 года назад

Been debating the same: “I’m just gonna order one of all these templates” haha. Great info! Thanks sir!

@tonytallman5873 4 месяца назад

I can believe this worked. Thanks man!

@TheDVM1 2 года назад

Man, you are a master of your craft

@DavidDantePhoenix Год назад

“Second verse, same as the first” Ha! Great Ramones reference 👌

@stevesstrings5243 2 года назад

Great information!

@InGrindWeCrust2010 2 месяца назад

Also think the freehand looks better. Great tutorial.

@ericcrossley6961 Год назад

The freehand looks so much cleaner. I prefer the snug look better than letting it have some give doesn’t matter too much when you have the plate on top though so to each their own 😅

@OnfloorAudio 9 месяцев назад

No joke ... thats pretty impressive . Thats hard to do like that free hand . Nice !

@nwimpney 2 года назад

This was very cool. The one thing that I think could have used more emphasis was the direction of cutting, and not just that it "cuts smoother" but that climb cutting pulls the router into the wood, which is likely to cause mistakes. The tradeoff is that the cut itself is actually smoother, since it digs in at the start of the chip, and tapers to nothing at the end, as opposed to conventional cutting, which cuts in gradually and agressively rips the chip out. For particularly tear-out prone wood, and assuming you're using a template, you can cut most of it out conventionally leaving the tiniest amount before the line, and then do a finishing pass climb-cutting at full depth. This'll also avoid any potential for burn marks or lines made from cutting in multiple passes. The key is to leave so little that the pull from the cutting forces is insignificant. Never do deep cllmb cuts.

@rtroiani Год назад

To prevent chip outs when I do inlays freehand, I always score the line with an exacto or box cutter to pre-cut the grain.

@JLeppert 2 года назад

Lead thickness... Brilliant!

@djay6651 2 года назад

The cracks in that wood are really gonna pop once you put the finish on it. I also prefer the tighter freehand pickup pocket.

@dan8402 2 года назад

I don't know about anyone else, but I think the free hand route looks much nicer, more accurate, and well if you were doing free hand you would see the knot and know to be extra careful. A good set of hand chisels also seems to be a huge help.

@algunnickvalido 2 года назад

The freehand pocket looks way better. Great job!

@leoneddy1492 3 месяца назад

Great Video ,Disregarding the Knot (If it wasn't there ) I think your Freehand Cavity was closer fit than the Template ,It's your skill V the Tolerance of the Template, Any tips on Not chipping the finish when enlarging like single coil cavities to Humbucking cavities when finishing clear coat is brittle and a easily chips.

@rondelio8562 2 года назад

Great stuff, Dan! Knots are totally unpredictable. In your pickup cuts, I wouldn't bother with the freehand cut so long ad it fits. After all, no one's gonna see it due to the pickup ring.

@philippgrunert8776 2 года назад

Thank you! Great video. I would prefer the free routed cavities

@anthonysilva5312 Год назад

Bruh. You da boss! 🇨🇦

@Satchmoeddie 2 года назад

I routed most of my acrylic templates by hand. I started with old plywood from cheap furniture and made a plywood template to make an acrylic template from. For pick guards I use MDF or void free Baltic birch plywood. It has to be thick. I have, Gibson style humbucker route for bodies and pick guards, Fender Strat, single coils, Tele pickups, Fender Wide Range humbucker, Gibson minibucker, pre 1955 Epiphone mini bucker, old ES 300/Super 400 giant coils, Gibson Low Zs, P90s dig ear & soap bar, Gibson single coils, Kahler Flyer trem route, Washburn Wonderbar trem route, lipstick pickup trem route, Fender Elite pickup Strat, P Bass & J bass. Jazzmaster, Mustang, Musicmaster, XII, Duosonic, P bass, J bass, Ibanez soap bars, Gretsch filtertrons, and single coils, Rickenbacker pickups, over 400 different pick guard templates. Of course Floyd Rose & Fender tremolos, including Jazzmaster/Mustang. Fender Bronco & Musicmaster bass pups. Gibson EB0 pups, (Sidewinder & bucker). Kahler bass tremolo route. Foil tops, grill tops, toaster tops, staple tops, the whole gamut of Japanese stuff. PRS, Hagstrom, Framus, Burns, Vox, Ampeg, Kramer, Bean, Moserite & Hofner. 41 years!!!

@GunsandGuitars 2 года назад

Wow what a collection!

@BBGuitars 2 года назад

Its always a great idea to trace the actual pickup itself, especially if the pickup is a Seymour Duncan Trembucker sized HB as they are bigger than most routed cavities ever so slightly. Plus the ears in general can be different sizes and bent in different ways from brand to brand.

@GunsandGuitars 2 года назад

Great tip!

@seanflannery777 2 года назад

Free hand looks better, great job!

@fhhghggf6038 2 года назад

Hi dan i had the same problem a couple of times with the neck pocket route and the centre line... more of an issue with a book matched top which has a natural centre line, so now instead of using two straight edges on the sides of the neck heel i draw a centre line on the neck...on masking tape if needed...tape a ruler to the centre line of the neck then put a set square on the guitar body and pivot the neck until everything lines up on the centre...then mark and route the neck pocket...cheers...vreat videos by the way Brand..uk

@SevanGuitars Год назад

I really like that guitar shape.

@ATthemusician 2 года назад

I just added a neck pickup to my 8 string which only had a bridge routed, was very sketchy and it definitely wasn't the prettiest, but luckily I wanted to use pickup rings. Definitely gotta get better at routing though lol, probably didn't help that I was using a straight bit

@123Ir0nman 2 года назад

Great video! Is that a client's guitar or one of your own builds for another video?

@kevinfarrin4728 2 года назад

free hand work looks better then template more tight great job.

@uuser9909 2 года назад

Freehand looks better. I like the smaller ears. In the long run a template would probably be the way to go. Perhaps modify or make a template with the smaller ears.

@clemmcguinness1087 2 года назад

A revelation Sir. Thanks

@Gatherersmusic 2 года назад

Really helpful thanks, another vote for the dog ears looking better on your freehand route. 👍

@2bikemikesguitartopics145 2 года назад

Good show. The neck was nicer for me. A lot more work but tighter. Need experience with the tool though. That takes time and screw-ups as a teacher.

@mnewln1800 11 месяцев назад

Bondo will work to reolace material on a guitar with a solid color finish.

@SWFGaming 2 года назад

Very nice

@JonathanWhoever 2 года назад

I have a friend with several Bridgeports. One with a digital read out. Very precise, not good for some tapered neck pockets though. And ya have to make a jig to hold the body

@DE-GEN-ART 7 месяцев назад

you could also use the pickup ring as a literal routing template

@jamescopeland5358 6 месяцев назад

Good video

@nickbellinger1047 2 года назад

i rkn you would have taken it easier near the knot if you could have seen it, the music lilly one is clear i notice, but i think freehand is the go .......thanks for the vid man....ROCK ON

@scottmorris4914 2 года назад

This is a "practice make close to perfect". Its really good. So, whose templates did you buy. I have been looking at templates for pickups, etc.

@Hague9975 2 года назад

A top tip for using templates, get some MDF and make at least one copy of your template. That way if your router bit jumps and takes a chunk out of your template it hasn't ruined your nice, shinny new templates.

@GunsandGuitars 2 года назад

Great idea! I planned to make some mdf templates of the complete neck/pickups/tremolo setup for guitar bodies, but hadn’t thought to make some just for each template to save the originals.

@pakalkin1 7 месяцев назад

@@GunsandGuitars maybe a silly question... i was thinking too about actually make a "complete template" with 2 humbuckers and neckpocket already in place... reading comments i figured that maybe a template with exact shape and size of the body blank, to be used taped over the body blank, to rout cavities, and then rout body shape, can be the easiest way.... or im missing something important?

@rebeccac7293 4 месяца назад

Nice video. I've become quite good at freehand routing. I have yet to build a guitar. How do you know/figure out the full routing depth for the neck?

@dougcook7507 2 года назад

One more addition I can add. Use a trim/template bit with a shorter cutting depth You just have to make a few more passes, but it will reduce the material being taken, thus reducing the chance the router gets away. This is of course, after you do the initial first past to generate the "template" on the body.

@ironblast5 2 года назад

I'll add climb against the grain on shallow passes and if using tape clean the bits every couple of passes to keep the blade sharp I personally use painters tape and ca glue to hold templates in place too as it helps prevent slip or creep on the template.

@claudelamoreux8543 2 года назад

Would love to see the finished repair of the knot.

@shakyblues2099 2 года назад

Such a useful video. Thanks for the tips. I've made so many mistakes on my builds, but am treating them as lessons. Keep up the great content..

@thebigdcross 10 месяцев назад

I see a face in that guitar!!! Great Vid

@iceman1703 2 года назад

Great tips! Thanks! Such a beautiful wood you used for body. That is it?

@GunsandGuitars 2 года назад

Black walnut

@cheapskate8656 2 года назад

Important Tip: Dan you are awesome but .............. It takes the same amount of effort to make a template from plywood (very cheap) using the same method you used to free route. So, it makes sense to make the template and not risk spoiling the top.. It has nothing to do with cost and everything to do with being lazy :) I make all my own template because 1) cost and 2) as this video shows, most purchased templates don't suit every pick up etc.