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Much like a shaper but with abrasives instead of blades...

I also plane (don't feel right about calling it "Safety") my neck taper and thickness the head stock. I've rough planed sides and back with it, but much better using a lunchbox. I've also tried the Microplane pattern cutter without much success.

I use a fly cutter for my sound holes which is ALWAYS very scary. (I'm like 19 for 20 without hurting myself) I plan on making a vacuum clamp to help with that. Just got an lmi rosette cutter from a fine olf'r that I'm exited to try.

I have a vintage Atlas press which is much better than the current models that I have tried. I use the planer in a 12" delta in the garage though.

I made this jig a few years ago to shape the taper on brace ends. It's pretty cool, has a custom radius, fine tuning, superb dust extractionn and is anchored in a bearing.

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Pat

I just have an old Delta bench top and would not consider doing anything other then drilling holes with it. But it sure does come in real handy when it's time to drill holes.

I use an old cast iron Shopsmith 10er in drill press mode to do almost all of the things that have been talked about. It's built like a tank and made for side loads.


The Shopsmith is best as a drill press and a disk sander, pretty good as a lathe, and extra bad as a table saw. The attachment band saw, jig saw, and belt sander are only mediocre.

Good tips here!

Nobody's mentioning this, so I will. Any kind of tool that puts side loads on a drill press spindle bearing is inviting trouble. They were not engineered for this. Though, many seem to handle it. So, when you are trying these ideas, such as the robo sander, keep this in mind. I do have a sanding drum that I use, but I'm wary of taxing that bearing.

If you could afford it, get a milling machine. It can handle side loads and it's also much more precise, meaning if you want to lower the spindle by exactly .001" you can (you can't get that kind of precision in a drill press, even a very good one). Even a cheap milling machine is better than a good drill press in that regards. The only problem is besides cost, they weight a lot more, and has limited swing and Z axis range.... also milling machine tooling can cost more than the mill itself.

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Typhoon Guitars
http://www.typhoon-guitars.com

Ed - I used your Safety Planer method today to taper a neck blank. Worked like a charm. Thanks for suggesting it.

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Once in a while you get shown the light in the strangest of places if you look at it right - Robert Hunter

No worries, JD.

One of my most brilliant ideas, if I may be so brash. I was able to follow the Stewmac instructions to the letter.

I have to agree with Tai. If you can afford a milling machine get one. A small milling machine can be as handy as a pocket on a shirt! Having both versatility and precision you are only limited by your imagination when you have a mill. They are great for doing one of kind projects.

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A man who carries a cat by the tail learns something he can learn in no other way.
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I do miss my milling machine but I don't miss the 4' x 4' footprint it took up in my shop. If you have the room and the budget they're nice to have. If I had a larger shop it would still be there but I didn't use it for anything that I couldn't do with regular wood working tools so I traded it to a friend.

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Steve Smith
"Music is what feelings sound like"

With a Forstner bit they are very useful for hogging out a lot of waste material before finishing off with a router.

I just skimmed through the thread and noticed a remark about fly cutters being scary. That is quite true. However, in case it wasn't mentioned I'll offer a tip about them: For some operations you can safely use the fly cutter by rotating the drill press shaft by hand.
You still use the press and you use the cutting tool. You do NOT use the motor. In fact, you do this only with the tool unplugged. And I also slip off or loosen the drive belt whenever I do this. This works fine for shallow cuts, such as a sound hole, but would obviously be too tedious for deeper operations.

Well, I never thought I would get so many great ideas from a "drill press" thread. After seeing the post about thicknessing with the disc sander, I looked for one to purchase. Then, I realized that I had one and did not even know it. My nephew had machined a 4 step aluminum drum sander for me, and I use it for shaping the radius on my pick guards. Turns out the top and bottom of the drum are dead flat, and work great as a disc sander, with adhesive-backed sandpaper attached. I can use the top of the drum for free hand sanding. I built a carrier out of a piece of plywood, for sliding under the drum, and it worked like a charm on the first bone saddle blank I tried. Only .001" variation from one end of the nut blank to the other. My elbow is smiling.

I modified the carrier so that I can do a tapered shim for a neck set, and it worked perfectly. My elbow is smiling again. I also modified the "depth stop" on the drill press, so that it is a "depth holder". I just removed the 2 nuts, and moved them below the stop block. I can make very small adjustments to the thickness by turning the "depth holder" nut. The spring loaded return on the drill press keeps the drum in place. It only takes 5 minutes to switch the 2 nuts back to the normal "depth stop" position. But, I will visit Fastener Service Monday, to see if I can find 2 more nuts that will work, so that I don't have to switch back and forth. I'll just put one set above, and one set below the stop block.

I can hardly wait until I need a tapered shim, to go under a fretboard extension.

Easy peasy.