Cutting flatwork to fit a rail

[davos]

Hey guys,

Im planning to make some rail pups using sheet flatwork and wrapping the coil directly around the blade (not having the blade surrounded by a plastic bobbin). Ive been brainstorming a few ways to accurately and easily cut that slot a bunch of times. Best way I can think of is using a dremel with a router base attachment with a router cutter the same thickness as the blade and a simple straight line jig to do it. Im just wondering if anyone has an alternative idea to do this or has any experience.

Thanks,

Dave

[David Schwab]

I tried this a bunch of different ways, including with a Dremel with the router base (used it upside down like a router table), and was never happy with the results. I just started making a pickup built like this so I went and had the flatwork laser cut by Mojo Music. It's actually pretty cheap. Of course if you are only doing a few pickups it's expensive.

[davos]

Thanks for the reply David. I thought about getting them lasered but the thing is that I want to do this on a few different shape pickups plus on plastic covers too which would mean Id need a load of parts lasered. I figured If I could do it myself then I have more freedom to try it on a whole load of applications.

There is actually a router table attatchment for Dremels that I like the idea of but lots of reviews mention that it isn't very stable..

What were you not happy with when you did it yourself?

[David Schwab]

What were you not happy with when you did it yourself?

Dremels have a bit of play in the shaft, so I was not able to get a clean straight slot. My Dremel is also about 20 years old! Maybe it would work better with a larger router, but I really didn't have time to mess with it. I make so many parts as it is, I was happy to have some of them made for me. When I was making less pickups it didn't matter, but now it's becoming a real time saver. And it's pretty cheap.

But give it a try and see what you get.

[Marko Ursin]

I use a drill press and cross feed table. Dremel router bits work fine. I drill holes side by side on the slot and just clean the slot with the router bit.
Marko