[quote name='OldGit' post='146594' date='Feb 25 2008, 02:15 PM']That looks great ..
I've just got an Artec SE2A for my Project SX P bass.
No room for the battery so I need to fit a rear battery box.
Is it hard to do with a basic hand router?[/quote]
Virtually foolproof if you make a template first. It's all in the template. Get a piece of MDF most of the size of the body. The trick is to make sure that you've got template material over the neck pocket and the control cavity for easy clamping points that won't mar the finish in any way. Measure your battery box.
Now comes the maths. Decide what router bit you're using. Needs to be deep (I used a 50mm deep cutter) and you're unlikely to get one thinner than 12mm at that length. Most routers come with a guide bush that screws into the router base. It's usually 30mm wide. Assuming you use these figures (12mm cutter, 30mm guide bush), then you'll need to make your template 9mm bigger all round (from the centre of the cutter, the bush is 15mm away and half the cutter's diameter is 6mm, so 15-6 = 9mm difference).
Cut out your template. I use the router to do this too. Measure from the extremity of the cutter you're using to the flat edge of the base plate. Clamp a straight edge the required distance away from your template hole and use this to guide the router along the edge of the hole, one side at a time.
Do a test first! Fit the guide bush to the router. Clamp the template to some scrap wood block and do a test rout. Let the guide bush ride along the edge of the template. Check that your battery box will fit. Also, don't strain the router or the bit by trying to be a hero and doing the hole all in one. I do it in 10mm steps using the depth gauge on the router. For a battery box like the one above, you have to go down about 33mm if memory serves, the side on boxes are shallower, but require a bigger template.
Your other option is to make the template the exact size you need and use a router bit with a roller guide at the top of the cutter. The roller will follow the edge of the guide. As you plunge further down the roller will follow the hole itself.
Practice makes perfect. I remember the first rout I did took hours, I was so nervous.