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Adding a truss rod groove without power tools

FWIW, I am not planning on adding a truss rod to the guitar I plan on making once payday hits (gotta buy the tools and supplies), but I may someday want to add one to a future guitar, so I figured I would ask the question.

Since I live in an apartment with a small patio and even smaller storage, the likelihood of me owning any large power tools is slim to none. The best I could probably hope for is a rotary tool and MAYBE a small scroll saw (no scroll saw in the near future, though).

So, without access to a table saw or a router, how would one go about creating a good truss rod grove?

Thank you.

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Permalink Reply by ChickenboneJohn on June 19, 2013 at 7:10pm

To make a groove with hand tools all you need is the proper tool and that is a router..a good old fashioned hand router or router plane, colloquially known as an "old woman's tooth" (so the "one toothed beaver" gag was right on the money), Essentially it's a small plane with a narrow blade that's bent at right angles. You just take shallow passes and hey-presto - a properly formed, even depth channel.

This picture is one of the larger fancier ones, but Stanley used to do a smaller, simpler one..you can pick them up on eBay..or if you are fortunate, in a car boot sale or junk shop..with luck nobody will know what it is and you'll get one for 50 cents!

Just as an aside..this is where traditional woodworking skills and knowledge come in...you don't need power tools or try to invent complicated ways of doing things, just do it the old-fashioned way..somebody had thought about this problem hundreds of years ago and worked out how to do it by hand, so benefit from the experience passed down. I used one of these to build my very first electric guitar at school...most people with a passing interest in woodworking would know about this tool, eh? Ah well, that's the consequence of a modern culture of believing only a power tool can do the job properly....

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Permalink Reply by Ron "Oily" Sprague on June 19, 2013 at 8:02pm

Like this:

http://www.stanleytools.com/default.asp?CATEGORY=PLANES&TYPE=PR...

http://www.inthewoodshop.com/toolreviews/the%20veritas%20router%20p...

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Permalink Reply by Michael Fred Johnson on June 20, 2013 at 10:45pm

Following on what Chickenbone John said keep a lookout for an old plough plane in boot sales etc. it will be easier to use than a router as it should come with a fence to guide the plane parallel to an edge

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Permalink Reply by ChickenboneJohn on June 20, 2013 at 11:09pm

The larger fancier Stanley router plane has a fence as well.

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Permalink Reply by Wade on June 21, 2013 at 3:41am

I would like to add that there is an advantage to these hand tools.
With the addition of not having to plug them in they also make much less dust in your shop area.
I spent a few hours learning how to sharpen them watching YouTube. Well worth the time and effort.