Taking Care of your Templates

Care and Use Instructions for Acrylic Templates

At Guitar Templates we cut our templates from acrylic rather than MDF. Depending on the use it will be either clear (routing and layout) or solid black (tools and gauges). We prefer clear acrylic to MDF because it allows us to provide much more accurate layout lines and information that can be read through the template while in use. In some cases, we can make a single template that would otherwise require two if made from MDF.

SAFETY FIRST: This is not an instruction sheet for use of routers. Routers are one of the most dangerous tools we use in guitar making and they require skill and experience to be used safely. If you are not experienced, we strongly recommend getting advice from someone who is before threatening your expensive wood and yourself with a router!

Please take note of the following important care and use guidelines.

1. Acrylic is more fragile than MDF and can be broken if dropped on a hard floor. Keep your templates safe.

2. All templates are subject to wear and tear and routing templates are also at risk of being damaged inadvertently by router bits if not used carefully. Depending on the application you may choose to make a copy from MDF and keep your acrylic GT Template as a master.

3. We generally use 6mm or 8mm thick acrylic for routing templates. This provides adequate thickness for running a flush trim bearing or guides bush. Depending on how deep you need to route, we recommend that you start with a short bit for a shallow cut keeping the bearing fully on the template. Then switch to a longer bit to deepen the cut. Also, consider removing the template once the shape and sufficient depth of the cavity have been established and use the cavity itself as the template for the remainder of the cut.

4. Be aware of protruding screws or other sharp edges on the base of your router that may scratch your template.

5. Many of our templates are not made for routing. This includes many layout templates and jigs – especially for acoustic guitars. For these, we use 3mm clear acrylic which is easier to use for layouts and markups.

6. In the event that your template cracks or breaks, it can usually be repaired using Cyanoacrylate (CA, or Super) glue (available from our store). Hold the crack or pieces together with masking tape on one side and apply the CA glue to the other side and allow to wick in and cure.

If you have any questions, please call or email:

Phone: +61 (0)418 285 745

Email: [email protected]

The Guitar Templates Team