Improve the templates

Overall I'm happy with this jig. I'm glad to be making my own necks now, which is a satisfying task. However, I'm not happy at all with the mortise and tenon templates that you have created for this jig. With the CNC technology that you use to create the product, you could make it so that the user turns out a perfectly fitting mortise and tenon neck joint. But instead, you make the tenon template oversized, so that there is extra fitting required. When I called to see if you made any snug-fitting version of the templates - instead of the oversized ones - I was told that your idea was to allow the user to do some extra hand-fitting of the joint. Believe me, there is plenty of hand fitting to do in order to get a neck blank carved, and to get all of the exact fitment and neck angles worked out! The whole reason I bought this set-up is so that I could turn out a near-perfect fitting mortise and tenon, directly from the jig. And yet with your idea, we still have more work to do in order to get that step complete. Every time I use the jig I get frustrated with this aspect of the product. I've even bought an extra set of templates, thinking that I could adjust them by hand, but that has not worked out well either.
I've been on the wrong side of discussions before, but in this case you guys could have done better. I don't buy your explanation about us needing to do extra 'hand fitting' when we've bought a jig that should take care of this step for us. Please make a template set that takes care of this step with no need for extra adjustment!
Ken in NC

OK, but not perfect

I've used this jig on 5 guitars now, and there are a few design issues with it.
1.) The straight arm gets in the way of the router. Plan for that. I always have to rotate myself and the router on that side when doing the neck.
2.) The straight arm is made of aluminum. It bends. Take it out EVERY TIME and check it for straightness. This should be a part that LMI sells as a replacement part, and should check the straightness before shipment. Mine wasn't straight, and even after straigtening it, it bent easily. I may find somebody who will machine me one out of steel to be absolutely straight.
3.) When routing the neck, you WILL get into the hinge! Spend some time looking at how far back the bit needs to go, and mark a line that represents the edge of the router base when you are routing and don't go any further back than that.
4.) The neck angle section has flex to it! You need to carefully set the guitar body on top when adjusting for the neck angle and DON'T push it into the bar. Slowly creep up on the bar. If you push it, the entire mechanism will flex to accomodate and you will get wrong results. Every time you adjust the angle, bring the body away from the bar and creep up on the bar again. That is the only way to keep from having the flex ruin your day.

• 1 out of 1 people found this review useful.

Not Recommended

I've done 6 guitars with this jig and the results are marginal. Often the mortice slot ends up not perpendicular to the top even though it's clamped properly. This means the tenon must be adjusted to keep things square.
When making the tenon on the neck I have to screw the tongue end of the template to the neck so it does not move side to side while routing.
Everything is just to flimsy. I'll be looking for a better solution.

• 1 out of 1 people found this review useful.

Works well!

Worked perfectly the first time I used it on a guitar! Like the instructions say, test test test! Chucking up a 2x4 and going through the mortise cutting routine helped me tremendously. When I put a real guitar body in the jig, it went absolutely perfectly.

I suggest using a bungee to keep the body tight to the underside and to give it a little more stability.

Finishing Options

I have a question rather than a review, so far. How have buyers finished the jig? I have considered Boiled Linseed oil or a brush-on urethane.

Operator Error Doesn't Curb My Enthusiam

I received the routing jig for Christmas, put it together, and promptly worked on non-guitar projects. I finally used it this week and I must say, it works as advertised. I modified it to add dust collection (see Eric Schaefer's video on YouTube) and created a spot to store the acrylic centerline indicator. The indicator was dead square to the bottom of the table, - very accurate. I used blue tape with a dark centerline mark on the top of my guitar to make it easier to align with the indicator; I didn't want to make a dark pencil line on the top of the guitar. So my error? I should have done what Robert O'Brien recommended in his video - take a very shallow first pass to make sure everything is lined up properly. I didn't do that and my mortise was off-center by 1/16" - totally my fault; I'll compensate when I cut the tenon but that's not ideal. Everything about this build was a test so I'm learning as I go. I highly recommend this jig because when you use it properly, it will produce clean, repeatable cuts. Last thing - if you're not going to purchase the dovetail bit from LMI, make sure you use one that has the same overall length as the LMI bit. Enjoy!

Robbie O’Brien’s neck angle jig

When I purchased this jig there was only one review on it and it was less than inspiring. I’m on my fourth build and cut all my joint by hand previously. I took my time and assembled this apparatus properly. It was intimidating taking a 3 hp router to a 400 dollar guitar body so I took extra time setting up my work. The results I got were absolutely unbelievable. If you take the time to assemble this properly, and you measure everything, properly you will get the best results money can buy. Thanks, great product

Good jig

Went together easily! Would like to see a little better direction on fasteners (Robbie uses a Brad nailer in the vids, but I don’t own one)

I do have some issue on the body side with the knobs coming off the screws for the clamp. I am guessing I am supposed to epoxy these in place so that loosening the clamp doesn’t loosen the knob, but haven’t gotten there yet.

Also, I wonder if a ukulele sized template could be fabbed up? I’ve used this on guitars, but recently started a ukulele build and am working through how I’m going to get the m&t done.

• 1 out of 1 people found this review useful.

You MUST buy LMI's special bit!

What is not shown anywhere here is that since the top is 1" MDF, and you need to get 7/8" into your body/neck, you need a daggone long bit. The only place you can find a bit long enough is at LMI. I've spent two weeks trying to get other bits to work, but since you need to be able to plunge to 1 7/8" MINIMUM, I cannot get standard bits to work without having only about 5/16" of the bit in the collet, which is dangerous. LMI really needs to add a disclaimer to this that you need an extra long bit for this thing to even work.

• 7 out of 7 people found this review useful.

Awesome!!

The jig went together very easy and the instructions were very clear to follow. I watched the videos on using the jig and felt confident enough to try it first time without a test first. The results were flawless. With just a little sanding I was able to make a very clean dovetail joint with amazing results. The package and contents were delivered with no damage and I live in GA which is a long ways from LMI.

• 1 out of 1 people found this review useful.

ot all that

I bought this jig expecting it to be as described on the online video and as shown on the O'Brian online lessons that I purchased. It was not even close to what I expected! It is made out of MDF 3/4 materials that swell, and warp quite easily. I have adjusted, and adjusted, had to take it apart, and back together again, adjusted and had very, very poor results. I cannot get the neck to center on the neck side, the hinge was loose and wobbling, so I had to rework that. Never had it work to where I didn't have to spend time fine tuning either the centering of the cuts and the angle of the neck to get the correct measurement at the bridge. DO NOT BUY THIS UNLESS YOU WANT A LOT OF FRUSTRATION. F - grade

• 2 out of 6 people found this review useful.