Show Off Your Jig....

[superc_1]

I for one would love to see the same thing. Also, if anybody post some pics I hope they show how they handle indexing the parts to the jigs so the parts come out the same each time?

[Darryl Wolfe]

Good idea. I'll take some pics tonight of a few things I have

[otterly2k]

Couldn't resist....

[otterly2k]

SOMEONE had to do it...I figured we'd get it over with quick and get back to the intention of the thread...:p

[Darren Kern]

Here's my new bandsaw jig used to hold the headstock at the proper angle. I got the idea from Jamie Wiens' website. This jig works great, although it made me realize that I need a bandsaw table extension.

[carleshicks]

I don't know if this is considered a jig but here is my inside rib form. It is bushed and pinned for easy disassembley after the top is glued on. ( I have added threaded inserts and cantelever clamps around the perimeter since I have taken that picture)

[Steve Hinde]

Can't dance worth a &^%$^%^&. I played in the band.
But show us the fixtures. I can always use some good ideas.I spend more time on those than building the instruments it seems.

Steve

[sunburst]

Fear not!
This one may take a while. It's summer, there's yard work, fishing, etc.

I'm waiting for some jig/fixture pics to start showing up too. I don't use as many as some people, and most of mine are pretty ordinary, and they're usually stashed away until it's time to use them. It's probably the same for other people. They're not dragging those jigs out for pictures 'til it's time to use them.

[Jim Hilburn]

Here's one I'm getting my money's worth from now. It's my binding laminator. I sent a photo of this to Stew-Mac back in about '97 and it ended up in the catalog in the 'Trade Secrets" section they used to do and then also in the Trade Secrets book vol.2.
Back then I had shoter risers on it just to do the black/whites on the bottom of the binding, but Dan Erliwine thought I should have tall ones so you could make multiple laminated bindings.
However, I've found as others probably have that if you try to pre-laminate, the inside thin strips will wrinkle as you try to do tight bends and it's better just to install them separately or all at once like Bob Bennedetto does, so I only use it to put the bottom lines on.
Instead of just acetone, I add enough Duco to make the solvent cling to the binding, soak it and wipe away the excess and clamp it. Then bottom everything with a screwdriver. Give it a day, then cut away the excess and scrape to shape.

[Jim Hilburn]

This is the compound fingerboard radiuser I made a couple of years ago. You need an edge sander for this to work. It sets on the table with the sander in the horizontal position.
LMI used to sell this as a kit, but discontinued it, but there was still a photo online and that was my basic guide.

[Jim Hilburn]

The rest of my stuff is very low tech. I see lots of really nice jigs here, but I just never get around to making them.

[Gibson A5]

Thanks Jim, great pictures. Next time your doing a finger board could you post a picture of the compound fingerboard radiuser in action? Just by that picture, I haven't got a clue how it would be set up to work. I'm sure it's simple once I see it in action.
Thanks,
Bill P.

[Jim Hilburn]

That should be in the archives somewhere from when I first made it.

[Antlurz]

Wow, Jim! Hardwood floors in the workshop?

I'm impressed!

http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif

Ron

[Gibson A5]

Thanks, Jim. I found your jig here:
http://www.mandolincafe.net/cgi-bin....adiuser (http://www.mandolincafe.net/cgi-bin/ikonboard.cgi?act=ST;f=7;t=21037;hl=compound+finge rboard+radiuser)

Bill P.

[Darryl Wolfe]

Here is some really really simple stuff. #I like simple

A piece of wood with all of my dimensions noted on it for bridge bottom blanks. #It also has a notch and an index mark for drilling the first hole the correct distance from the end. #Manually adjust it to center the hole. #Drill 75 or 100

[Darryl Wolfe]

More simple stuff. #Removable post(s) that secure to the bench press table. #I have one turned to 0.098 for bridge bottoms and one at 0.129 for bridge tops. #Swing the table and measure the distance with calipers to achieve the correct center to center spacing. #Drill 75 or 100 all the same spacing. #You can eyeball centering the hole on the stock from side to side. #Store the entire cheap drill press until next time and use your better one for regular stuff.

[Darryl Wolfe]

Believe it or not, routing the little curved cove cut on bridge bottoms is not easy. #I've tried running the entire long stick of dimensioned ebony thru and they are always wavy and inaccurate due to the need for consistent pressure and feed speed. #This ugly and simple jig has a cutout for the blank and a small patch of leather at the tip ends. #Snap the blank in and run it thru. #It keeps your fingertips away, fully hides the cutter, gives you the feel needed to determine the right speed, and eliminates parts flying thru the nearby drywall.

[Darryl Wolfe]

This is a reversible pattern jig for profiling the bridge bottom. #It has an index pin that goes into one of the bridge bottom post holes. #It is reversible so that you can start both router cut in the center area and finish it at the bridge tip. #This eliminates chip outs and snags. #The two halves are spaced exactly the dimension of the blank apart and the up and down position of the blank can be adjusted by the two socket head screws. #Ugly, simple, but this one took a while to figure out. #It is about time to build a new one. #This one is 15 years old

[Darryl Wolfe]

Another view with the blank in place

[Darryl Wolfe]

One of my trade secrets (well not anymore) revealed. It needs no explanation, but it took a long time to perfect the blade, motor speed, pully size and angled rest for the tops. Adjustable for mandolin, mandola and guitar. (note second set of holes)

[bluegrassplayer]

Cool stuff Darryl. Maybe someday I will get around to building everything. (Instead of ordering everything)

The bridge cutter is basically a key machine? What a concept. That's great.

[Darryl Wolfe]

The bridge cutter is basically a key machine? What a concept. That's great.
Yes. #a modified key machine. #You have to find a style that will accomodate what you intend to do. #Not all will

[amowry]

Wow, that's very cool, Darryl. I always wondered one cuts those ramps with a machine.

[thistle3585]

I don't know that this would interest anyone, but here is a scan of my jig for drilling emando bridges. The jigs were cut on a CNC, and are routed out to the thickness of the bridge blank. I have several for four and five string bridges using either barrel or rectangular saddles. After drilling them, they are bent then either polished and clear coated or nickel chrome plated.

[Dave Wendler]

http://www.electrocoustic.com/newimage/backrout1.jpg

This is how I route the backside of my instruments. The blank in the fixture is a guitar blank. For a mandolin, I just clamp above the middle pivot joint on the pendulum.

The white template lets the router swing up and out of the body so the correct "shape" of the convcave is followed. Takes about six or seven minutes for a guitar, and three or four minutes for a mando to rough them in. Then it's heavy paper on an orbital sander to smooth things out.

[Jim Hilburn]

This isn't really a jig, just a fence, but it's one way to go about scalloping a fingerboard extension.
The bound fingerboard is carpet taped to a board in a straight line which rides the fence. The fence has a stop board clamped to it. I just loosen the front clamp and move the fence in toward the drum several times until the correct depth is achieved.

[Jim Hilburn]

It comes off the sander looking like this. (I did scrape the binding to get all the black off of it.)The sanding cut isn't straight because of the radius of the board. This requires some creative scraping.
I'm breaking the rules and using laminated binding on the face. I was going to miter in the traditional point, but after several trys at making the tight bend nessesary and having the sideline binding wrinkle and otherwise not co-operate, I took the board to the bandsaw and lopped off the point. That point was actually meant to line up to the oval hole on F-4's but got held over when they made the F-5's and of course most builders always do it. Well I say screw it. This then brings up the question "Why have the extension at all?" Well I started making them without early in my career, but most folks wanted them.
I just happened to get a pearl blank ready for cutting in the shot.

[ellisppi]

here is a jig used to cut the miters on the binding

[Chris Baird]

Rim-Glue-Upper.

[good_ol_al_61]

Chris:

That is an impressive fixture you created there. As a mechanical engineer and a designer of machine tools for several machine shops (earlier in my career) I can see the hours of planning and choosing materials that you have invested in this tool and probably many others. Choosing the points in which to position the clamps and braces also took some serious decision making and probably some trial and error to get it just right (hair-pulling is assumed). Looks like "mission accomplished".

Is the material used to hold the material polypropelene or some kind of polymer? It looks like the base material is Aluminum. Lastly it looks like you used Destaco clamps (or a close competitor).

All of these material are really expensive, but I can see by your choices you are in it for the long haul.

Makes my upcoming creation even more yummy!

[Tom C]

These are A-5 Jigs from the Gibson plant in MI. Maybe they were used for Jethros....Ignore the dirt on these super large pics http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif

http://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f231/tomando/GibsonJigs.jpg