Doing Things Wrong

Radiatabacker Part IIa

A lot of work for not much to show

I made some small adjustments to the outline, and finished the neck mounting. And a lot of sanding. The drywall sander is a godsend, it works much better than a block, and really saves your hands. But my arms feel like lead.

I also did the roundovers on the back, a mix of 1/4" and 3/4". You can see the small fillets I left at the base of the neck mount. I could have squared those corners with a file, but this will be less prone to crack the finish. The neck will cover them.

And a lot more sanding on the back, I found a spot where the belt sander had dug too deep. It's as flat as a mirror now.

Detail of the neck mount and horns. I'll use a standard Fender mounting plate for the added strength, since this body is rather thin. The front body edge will get binding. Now I think it's time to start roughing-out a neck. Fortunately, I have a model right at hand that I can simply copy - the Superfreak. Speaking of which, that one is ready for final assembly.


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Laying out for the angled double lipstick bracket. The straight one is at the left, in the center I have cut out my drawing and Scotch-taped it to the aluminum blank. Then I punched the centers through the paper. That's what the black tool is - a spring-loaded punch. It is used to make dimples in material to accurately start a hole. If you don't have one of these in your toolbox, get one - under ten bucks. It works great on woods and soft metals, and even mild steel. The accuracy of your drilling will improve tremendously.