Making Sawdust at Last

The excuses have all run out. I'm finally underway. Tonight started "1.01 Drilling Holes for Strap Locks". By the end of the night, I had them fitted up.

Finding the place to drill was straightforward at the rear of the body, but a little trickier on the horn.

The rear strap lock is positioned at the centre of the body. The centre line of the body is the bookmark join line of the Swamp Ash core.

The hole was drilled as close to mid-thickness as I could establish. I had a caliper to measure across the body, then set a carpenter's square to half the measurement.





















For the hole on the horn, it was a bit of line-up-by-eye to follow the basic line/angle of the body, and then judge the middle point.

Drilling the actual holes proved more challenging than expected, as I had to put my tool box on top of the body to stop it pushing away. I have a soft blanket on the work bench to protect the wood, and I certainly had plenty of padding between body and toolbox.

One of the recommendations I came across was to apply soap to the screw threads to prevent lock-up and screw breakage. This is probably sound advice for harder woods, such as walnut or maple, but the Swamp Ash is comparatively soft. The screws went in slow, but steady, and tightened up nicely on the lock button. Certainly careful not to over-tighten, and strip out the wood.






















First job done! I don't think too many more tasks will be done and dusted in one session.