how to make a tool for recessing control knobs like PRS guitars tutorial 

3/8” hole for the pot. W a 1/2” radius cove router bit mounted in a drill press, simply lower the spinning bit into the pot hole cutting a perfect counter bore. No need to grind old paddle bits.

Haha! I came up in my mind with the exact same idea. Haven't yet done it. This is my first guitar I'm building.

The reason it runs off centre is simply because of non symmetrical geometry of the drill as you mentioned. If one side is larger (more cutting area) than the other side it will naturally try to pull the whole thing off centre, it all depends on how accurate you make your cutter, a similar problem occurs when manually grinding drill bits, unless everything is uniform the hole will never be perfectly cylindrical. Hope this helps.

I would drill a pilot hole and a plunge router with chosen profile love the channel you guys are doing great

Bullseye, well done! Probably other uses for this type of idea as well. Thanks for sharing!

That works, although you kill a bit designed for something else. Or, you could get a bit designed for that purpose, such as a cove router bit, which is a lot faster, less chance of error, and eliminates much of the sanding and cleanup work. The nice thing about your method is that you can often find those bits very cheap, and even used in pawn shops and such. The bad part is that it takes a lot more time, increases risk of botching the job, and requires killing a bit.

a simple suggestion. Why not using a router? On my router bit sets there are two for these concave shapes. One of them even has a small bearing at the top that I bet would fit perfectly inside the pot shaft hole, helping to center it all. But even with the other, with a little bit of work, it would be easy to center it and do the job. Just a suggestion. No need to destroy any tools XD

Are the folks in the tool "department" still busy from the Podcast56 coupon? Can't wait to receive my tools. :D by the way, that knob at the end looked fantastic.

Sweet, simple and effective.

hey ben, you gonna do a update on what the cause is for the off center hole when ya get it figured out? wonder if it would be better to have only 1 "wing" on that bit? might not cut as fast but no worries to get the wings rounded evenly for a better cut.

Nice concept Ben, in reality you would use a pillar drill and not a hand drill - so that would explain you going off centre. Could you test it again with an angled bit of wood (ie like a les paul top) and use a pillar drill to see how it would look on a proper top. Obviously not asking you to knacker a proper guitar - just worth trying it on an off cut. I am sure you will be able to sell these !

That would look awesome with drilled ball bearings as knobs :)

Well, I got here 3 years too late. I've been using a coving router bit in my drill press for 5 years. Half of my guitars have recessed control knobs.

hi Ben thank you for all u do question could u get n use a round nose ( bull nose ) end mill ? ( sorry did 10 yrs as a machinist )

But surely you want a flat bottom to the hole if a pot is coming through and a nut to secure it. If the base of the hole is concave, you'll have real issues tightening the pot down. I'd say use a standard spade bit for the hole, route the edge of the concave with a small round over bit and then shape the top.

Nice trick

Clever bastard ;) I like that.

Why not just chuck a round-nose router bit into the drill press? Like this one: www.amazon.com/Freud-18-113-1-Inch-Diameter-Router/dp/B00004T7DI I mean obviously you don't have the center guide with that, but if you took your time to line it up, and then clamped the piece down, I think it'd be pretty easy.

Here is a better solution Ben. I've seen these carving burrs used in a drill press to do the same thing, after you've drilled your hole for the pot shaft. Item "D" or even "Q" would work. www.leevalley.com/en/Wood/page.aspx?p=69808&cat=1,130,43409

If you were to make one of these properly and offer them in your shop I would likely buy one.

Has anyone ever heard of countersink? Your acting like this is something unheard of...🤔🤔🤔🤔🤔

I made it myself thanks to woodprix website.