Archtop’s sound holes

I’ve just been working on the Archtop’s sound holes (can’t really call them F holes, can I?). The top plate is fixed to a template which has the holes cut-out, full-size and in the exact position.

My Dremel is then set-up as a pin-router- all the clamps are to ensure rigidity in an attempt to eliminate any chatter from the cutter. In the photo below, you can just see how the pin, which the template is held against, is aligned with the cutter.

And then we route! I do a number of passes, incrementing the depth of cut 1mm at a time.

Once cut out, the next stage is to bind the holes (something that I feel strongly about) with black veneer. On the first few Archtops that I made, I used a soldering iron as a small diameter bending iron, in order to form the veneer to shape, but after some experimentation, I now soak the veneer, then put it in a zip lock plastic bag, pop it the microwave for 30 seconds and it bends with ease around these simple formers.

The veneer is glued in place and after a good clean-up and ready for the next stage: tone bars.