Making the holes

I worked too fast, sorry! I was laying out the locations for the holes and got so captivated that I forgot to take pics for you. So today I'll show it using a paper instead of a top. I think I mentioned last time I did this all the steps that are necessary before I glue the tops on, and doing six of them at the same time sort of expands all of those steps. That's why I made a couple of new templates for the laying out, you'll see that in a bit. 

First pic, the paper dummy signifies a wooden top. I lay the skeleton on the top, aligning it with the grain and choosing the best area. Any knots or blemishes I place in the well circle. 

I trace around the body, and in the three holes on the inside. But what I really need is the center, not the circumference. 

I can find the centre of the circle easily enough, but constructing with pencil and compass on wooden surfaces is a lot harder than it seems when reading about it. 

So I cut a couple of perspex templates out, with centre holes which guides the 5 mm drill bit. Also, at last I've decided the size of the soundholes and put a mark on the smaller template. 

I can even use the larger template to set the exact size on my rosette cutter, a great piece of kit from Micheal Connor in Australia. 

Setting the diameter to the exact size of the well will save me the horrible task of trimming an internal overhang later. 

Then I cut all the holes. 

And this is what it looks like now. I remembered to sand the edges of the soundholes with my little funnel, so next task is glueing in the mesh screens and then glueing the small scrap blocks around the perimeter to hold the tops from slipping. It'll make sense soon. 

Also, note the two that have special hole shapes, for Kris and Brian they are.