What's the best way to cut out Forbon for pickup bobbins?

[Jim Bonnell]

That pretty much asks my question. I'm making two pickups for a tenor guitar and cut my templates out of 1/2" MDF and am wondering what the best way is to proceed. My pin router or a router table seem a bit dicey for such a small item. I thought about a Robo Sander, but thought that wouldn't leave a very clean edge. Any suggestions? There must be a way to safely hold it for routing, but I haven't figured it out yet. Thanks.

[Mark Swanson]

Barry once showed me a photo of a small jig or fixture that he made to hold small parts for routing. I made my own version, and it did the job fine for me.
You will have to make your own that would be adapted to the router and your own situation. I use a stick about 18" long to which I can attach a pickup bobbin and template in the center with double stick tape. There are spacers at each end of the stick that allow the template to be held at the right height above the router table at the middle of the stick. This way my hands are well out of the way and I can route the forbon just fine.

[Jim Bonnell]

Thanks Mark.

[Jim Bonnell]

Thanks again Mark. That worked out well and felt much safer. A little sanding and scraping the edges with a razor blade and they where ready to assemble.

[Mark Swanson]

Right on, Jim! They look great.

[Steve Senseney]

Glad to see your are getting to use your new tool.

Seems a little over the top for this job?



edit--OK so I am jealous.

[Jim Bonnell]

You're right Steve, it does seem a bit like over kill.

[Mark Swanson]

Who says? What you need here is a nice smooth router with power to spare. Ease of visibility and comfortable to use. just because it made this job easy, that doesn't mean it's overkill!

[Jim Bonnell]

I do like the fact that it was so easy to see what I was doing. Once I figure out what I want and get some templates set up I think this pin router will be very handy.