Questions about Holes?? in body for Control Knobs

[Gordon Bellerose]

I am making a carved top for the first time, and have questions about putting the holes?. for lack of a better word, in the top for the control knobs. I guess recess may be a better word.

My carve will have a 1/4 - 5/16 inch difference in height, from the middle of the guitar to the edge. Not huge.
I expect two of the knobs will need recesses.

1. How much larger in diameter than the knob, should the recess be?
2. How do you or how have you drilled / routed them?
3. Do you drill / rout them before carving or after?
4. Am I correct in assuming that the goal of the recess is to have all the knobs at the same level?
5. How deep is too deep? Again, I'm thinking the height of the knob may dictate this.
6. I noticed that on some recesses, the edges are not square, but have a contour. Is that done by sanding, or with a special router bit, or other method?

Any help will be gratefully accepted.

[Dan Smith]

Gordon,
I made some recess cuts using a cove bit with a bearing on the end.
The bearing just happened to be the same size as the shaft hole I drilled, and it kept the cove bit steady.
I used the bit in a drill.
Dan

[Randolph Rhett]

The schatten thumb wheel controls mounted to the finger rest is a slick alternative that eliminates the need to mount heavy controls directly to the sound board.

[Gordon Bellerose]

The schatten thumb wheel controls mounted to the finger rest is a slick alternative that eliminates the need to mount heavy controls directly to the sound board.

Thanks Randolph, but I am building a solid, carve top electric.
I'm struggling a bit with the math considering the carve top.
And how to.

[Eric Baack]

I've used round box core router bits with progressively bigger template holes to get a rough shape for the knob reliefs before and that worked well. I used a curved scraper to smooth out the edges and then sanded some.

[Gordon Bellerose]

Thanks Eric.
After doing some more drawings, I'm thinking only one of the knobs will require some relief, and the other may not.
I am also thinking that I may cut a circle template using a hole saw, and then use a round cove router bit with a guide.
The reason I was concerned to begin with was how to rout the control cavity from the rear, so that the pots would be able to reach through the top.
On the lower part of the carve, it's no problem. But on the higher part, I either need to recess the knob, or use a long shaft pot.

[Eric Baack]

I have had stepped control cavities in the past where I route a bit deeper around the actual knob holes to get the right thickness.

[David King]

I'd think a 1-1/8" forstner bit from the back would give clearance for just about any pot.