I've officially started my DC Les Paul Special. Instead of buying the templates I thought I'd build my own to give me a little practice with some of the tools prior to tearing into my good wood. I'm using White Limba for both the body and the neck (Korina).
Some progress from a couple months ago:
I first plotted out 3 copies of the blueprints so I could glue them onto some MDF.
Then I rough cut them. Most of them anyways. Only had a little bit of time and I ran out.
That's all the progress I made until today after buying an Oscillating Spindle/Belt Sander (fantastic tool!). I shaped the body and neck templates so they're ready to go. First I got the body templates close:
Then I drilled holes in the center of the neck tone pot and the LH bridge post and bolted the templates together to finish shaping them into consistent shapes. Any areas I had to do some more serious sanding I used the spindle sander but everything was finished with a sanding block and #220 grit sandpaper.
Prior to sanding:
Post sanding:
Not 100% perfect to the lines on the blueprint but then again I'm no CNC router. I'd bet the old 50's Lesters are wildly inconsistent since they were largely hand made back then. They look good and it will work.
I then finished rough cutting and sanding the neck templates. I still have some work to do around the neck tenon and at the very top of the headstock where it comes to a point dead center of the crown. I need to take a file to them to finish the neck templates. I'm not going to use them for routing templates though, save the headstock template. They'll be good for tracing the dimensions out but when time comes to route it to shape I'm going to use a straightedge to make sure the sides are 100% straight. These are pretty straight but I want to be positive I have dead straight sides and the only way to do that is by straightedge.
I glued the template on kinda crooked. I traced the fretboard mating surface outline with a straightedge and sanded it flat with the belt sander attachment on my OSS.
The template family thus far:
Next on the list is to take them to my buddy's garage so I can use his drill press to hog out the material for the pickup cavity routes, control cavity routes, and the neck tenon. Then some final shaping and I'll be finished with my templates and ready to start on the guitar! I'll be taking all of my wood to a local mill within the next couple weeks to get them planed down to the required dimension.
I'm now into the build!! Can't wait to get these templates finished!