hey all,

so i am getting bored of just drilling  1 inch holes for my soundholes and want to try some f holes.  it seems using a coping saw is a pain in hte ass unless i want to take the box lid off,  i tried using an exacto knife, and it worked, but it also took me for ever to cut the holes out.  anyone got any advice?

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Scroll saw. eBay. $50 max...

I second the scroll saw. I use a fine blade and cover area with masking tape to reduce tear out.

They're AWESOME fOr slotting fretboards too ;)

I use to my coping saw. But to make life little easyer i use freeway blades. So i dont hawe to rotate my soundboards to follow the contures. Something like that http://www.mehr-als-werkzeug.de/product/712530/Super-Glardon-Saw-Bl...

Dremel or Rotozip.

yep dremel for me too - with a down cut cutter works a treat :)

Drill holes for the rounded ends. Then use a Dremel with a router base and spiral bit for the rest. Get it close to your lines, then clean up with flat and round files as necessary.

I also drill the round ends firsat, but I use a saber saw with a fine tooth blade to cut the inbetween, put some weak masking tape on the face draw a shape and cut, the tape will help it cut clean with no tear out or splintering. good luck, many ways to cut an F hole.

Jim, they have a new Dremmel out that I plan on buying soon...... it looks like a palm sander but looks like it cuts really nice like a scroll saw. Might work really well, but it sells for $99-. I am a bit limited as I am renting a townhouse until I can sell my house in Knoxville, so something like this new dremmel would work well since I do everything on my porch!

Drill holes then Jig saw with fine cut blade made for cutting curves. I usually tape some thin cardboard to the foot of the saw to keep it from beating up the box. Masking tape on the box will help with tear out but may cause other problems like messing up labels etc. I find that a good blade and some patience will eliminate most tear out problems. Depending on the size of the Fs, you may still have to use a coping saw of files to get into the tightest spots.

Just what seems to work for me.

awesome, THANKS ALL FOR THE ADVICE!

There's a small pin in the table under an f-holed template. Fasten the top on the template and then place the template over the pin in the table. Lower the trimmer router into the top and move the bottom around and the template underneath follows the pin and cuts a perfect f-hole.

Here's a link to see it in action:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fQ3ME1Oqmi8

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