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This hold down fixture improved the quality of my work quite a bit. I easily planed the back and top to thickness using this. I also cut the rosette channels using a waster board under the top plate on it. Next guitar I’m going to use it with two accessory boards to join the plates. Easy to make and inexpensive. 2 ea 3/4 Mdf glued together for a 1-1/2 thick base, some scrap oak from an old pallet used for the clamps, toilet flange bolts and t knobs.

Nice. I use something similar, but like your clamping arrangement better than mine.
Might have to nick that part.

That looks great. Thanks for sharing the idea and the design.

I like it!!! I either have to make a board like this so I can hand thickness my plates, or build a drum sander. Thanks for sharing.


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I like that, simple idea, well executed.

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The name catgut is confusing. There are two explanations for the mix up.

Catgut is an abbreviation of the word cattle gut. Gut strings are made from sheep or goat intestines, in the past even from horse, mule or donkey intestines.

Otherwise it could be from the word kitgut or kitstring. Kit meant fiddle, not kitten.

I like it! I might build one with just a number of holes in strategic spots, rather than slots. Slots take effort with a router, whereas holes just need a Forstner bit (for the head of the bolt) and regular twist bits (for the shaft of the bolt). Great idea, though.

I'm thinking along the same lines. Mine is MDF too, and I don't like machining that material more than I have to.

Well done !!! Great design, and I really like that top. Looks like a good one.

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Joe Beaver
Maker of Sawdust

Nice jig.

I will say that using a "waster board" that does not extend beyond the perimeter of the top would make me nervous. It doesn't take much pressure to snap a plate that is not fully supported.

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George :-)

The waster board is not shown in the pics, I did have one that was a bit larger than the top plate. The pic shown was taken after the waster board and centering pin were removed.

"I like it! I might build one with just a number of holes in strategic spots, rather than slots. Slots take effort with a router, whereas holes just need a Forstner bit (for the head of the bolt) and regular twist bits (for the shaft of the bolt). Great idea, though."

You can cut slots easily enough with a table saw, and even dado out the sides to recess the bolt heads if you want to. It might be less dusty than using a router.

I suppose that depends on your dust collection set up but you're still pulverizing the same volume of "waswood".

Cool. That's how I'd go about it as well. I thought it was your waster board that is elevating the plate off the work surface in the fist pic.

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George :-)

No that’s actually the back plate. Just have them both clamped down while waiting to cut some bracing.

Clay S. wrote:
"It might be less dusty than using a router."

Steven Wheeler:
"I suppose that depends on your dust collection set up but you're still pulverizing the same volume of "waswood"."


Hi Steven,
That's why I used the weasel word "might" To me the slots look like they would be more useful than drill holes, and with a cabinet saw most of the sawdust goes inside the cabinet, with a contractor saw that might not be the case. Weasel words can be very handy at times. They lend a bit of imprecision to one's statements to make them definitely indefinite.

From the web:
"Weasel words and phrases include “may,” “might,” “could,” “can,” “can be,” “virtually,” “up to,” “as much as,” “help,” “like,” “believe,” “possibly,” and similar qualifiers that create enough wiggle room for a rhino. Some of the weasel words are qualifiers."

So does that mean that your not going to build one anyway. In your first post you said “ I might build one “.