I bought a bunch of boxes the other day and it was only when I was using a spade bit to cut a sound hole in the top of one that I realized it was pressboard and not the plywood I expected.  The hole came out a little wonky but no matter, the guitar plays just fine.

I went to inspect a few of the other boxes and discovered many of them have pressboard tops too.  I was planning to make a few acoustics with fancy cut f-holes using a hand coping saw and my Dremel router bit.  That an be challenging even when working with a nice material.  Is it even possible to cut pressboard cleanly with these tools?  Should I consider different tools?  Or just not even bother?

I can always flip them upside down so the wood bottom becomes the sound board.

Thanks,

Scott

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Great idea Taff.

Plywood tops can splinter too so the methods described by others are a good habit to get into using. I use painters tape and templates sized to fit each lid on both sides and score each design before cutting, leaving  virtually no tear out regardless of top material.

Yes, good work habits make all outcomes better.  

So I traced my pickup on the box top and went to work with my Dremel rotary saw bit. I cut the paper with a utility knife to help keep it clean. On low speed it cut nicely and was pretty easy to keep control once I got the feel for it.  I undercut a bit and then used a file and sandpaper to finish up.  Aside from a small error on one edge, a very clean result. 

Looks good from my house. Nice job.

Those rotary bits are the tools to have for this. If the booboo doesn't show up too much fine(It has Character) or you can get one of those pickup surrounds that Gitty sells.

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