I don't see an archtop room so I hope it is ok to post this here.
I am carving my first top. When I drilled the contour holes for the top, I was unable to drill holes in the center due to the depth of my little drill press. This was not a problem since the center is the apex. After a lot of gouging, scraping, flap sanding and sanding, the top is pretty much done. But now I need to contour the back, and drill holes, mostly in the center, which my drill press will not do.
So I am wondering how to contour the back. Some ideas are:
-freehand the carving with the gouge or angle grinder, frequently checking the thickness with a gauge
-make a thickness gauge that my hand drill mounts to, limiting the drilling to an adjustable depth
-make a holder for my router similar to a pin router
Any thoughts are welcome.
Thanks,
mark