Pattern templates
The fastest and most reliable way to transfer the body, neck and head shapes onto the wood of a future guitar is to use a range of routing templates from professional manufacturers. However, they are expensive if we only want to build a single guitar after them. They are mostly laser cut from 10 - 12 mm thick MDF or from high quality plywood.
On the other hand, when the blueprint of our future guitar is finished in the original size 1: 1, it is not difficult to transfer the shapes onto an MDF board only 5 or 6 mm thick and finish them by hand. Such a thin template can withstand the onslaught of milling a sample. Especially when we reinforce the contours, for example with superglue.
When we create a template of our own, or want to change the shape of a particular part in a particular drawing, we use the raster method (grid drawing). According to the book "Guitar Shapes Navigator", we prefer to work in a coordinate system with numbered t i l e s.
In this way, we can easily and precisely copy on paper as well as digitally, for example in CAD, or enlarge to a 1:1 original.
As a model, I chose the Telecaster type, the simple, most commonly imitated, solid body guitar. First we will create templates for the body and pickguard. Then later the templates for the neck with fingerboard and the headstock.
Comments (3)
Keith Jorgensen
at 17.08.2021Is your book available in English?
Thank you,
Keith Jorgensen
Jan Jirasko
at 18.08.2021I'm just finishing corrections to the text and drawings in the manuscript, I already have a trial copy in front of me. It will be available in 2 to 3 weeks at Tredition Publishing, Hamburg (Germany) and a week later at Amazon. Title: "Guitar Shapes Navigator"
Bye for now
Jan
Jan Jirasko
at 09.09.2021