View Full Version : truss rod slot cut
Martian
May-15-2019, 7:50pm
I want to try my table saw, how many blades do you guys put on the saw ? I have heard up to 3 . i have been using a router, and a bit , with a kind of a "rise" shim on the neck to route from deep in the neck to closer to the peghead. hope you all understand this. So, I guess the question in here is how do you cut your truss rod slots? I am using a straight stew-mac rod
buckhorn
May-15-2019, 8:41pm
Before carving anything, I take a 3/8 in piece of scrap and tack glue it to about where the nut will be located.. the slot is cut 1/4 in wide and should be 5/8 at the heel and 3/8 at the nut.. this makes a nice tapered straight line cut.. I just use my normal saw blade and just move it out a little after the first cut.. it can be a little tricky to maintain the 1/4 in channel.. usually about two passes of the blade is enough....
sunburst
May-15-2019, 10:24pm
I bought a slotting cutter for the table saw. The slot is cut in one pass. I use a temporary shim tack-glued at the nut position for a 'tapered' slot depth.
(For a few pics, go to the bottom of the page:https://www.mandolincafe.com/forum/threads/103561-Mandocello-build-thread/page6?highlight=hamlett)
I bought a slotting cutter for the table saw. The slot is cut in one pass. I use a temporary shim tack-glued at the nut position for a 'tapered' slot depth.
(For a few pics, go to the bottom of the page:https://www.mandolincafe.com/forum/threads/103561-Mandocello-build-thread/page6?highlight=hamlett)
I don't own any power tools except handdrill and a crappy old Dremel-like tool so for this job I visit my friend and use his router table and set a fence. On early builds I used to do it with chisel and a scraping tool to finish the bottom (pre-cut the edge lines with knife before bulk wood removal).
Marty Jacobson
May-19-2019, 10:16pm
Make a drawing and figure out where it's going to go. If you don't know where you're going, no road will get you there. If you have plans, you have options. A router table can be built for under $100, and it insanely useful for all kinds of things. I don't own a table saw, but I've had them in the past. Unisaws mostly, one SawStop. I wouldn't use them for truss rod slots, even if I handn't built a few computer-controlled routers.