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Thread: Building a few necks...........
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19th March 2018, 07:42 PM #1Member
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Building a few necks...........
Hi folks,
Planning on making a few T style guitar necks over the next month or so, i thought I'd do a thread with a few pics and bang on a bit about the way I do it.
Comments or questions on any of what I post are more than welcome.
Mark out.jpg
So what we have here is a length of both Messmate and Myrtle Beech.
The first thing I do is trace an outline from a template and draw a centreline up the guts.
I then mark out where the truss rod will finish and hook up the router.With the router running at 1/2 speed( and a 6 mm bit) I use a standard edge guide to take 3 or four passes to the required depth.Then I switch over to an 8 mm bit to rout the area where the adjustment nut sits.Lastly I drill a hole in the body end of the blank where the truss rod nut is accessed.These measurements used are taken directly from the truss rod, they are all slightly different IME. Lots of people rout the channel after they have cut out the shape of the neck, i find it a lot easier to work with the neck blank square.
truss rod test fit.jpg
Stay tuned for the next exciting instalment !
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19th March 2018, 10:11 PM #2GOLD MEMBER
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That is exactly how I would do it, I have always wondered why people make life hard by cutting the neck shape first and then setting up an angled jig to route the slot, crazy. Some do the same with the fret board, cut to shape then figure out how to get square cuts with a bevel guage. Why??
Can’t wait for the next instalment [emoji16]
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20th March 2018, 07:42 PM #3Member
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cut out.jpg
Ok, so now we cut them out on the bandsaw and make them look more like a guitar neck than a lump of timber with a slot in it. I use 1/4 " blade and cut to the line as close as I possibly can, then i set up my el cheapo spindle sander and sand the perimeter so there is just the tiniest little bit left over the edges of the template.This is important, if its not done d i s a s t e r awaits. Why ? you may ask. Well I use a router table to complete the shape and there are all kinds of opportunity to send chunks flying across the room as you inevitably have to rout against the grain. Apparently its common for builders to rout the straight bits and just sand the curves, which is sensible and your less likely to bugger it up, but when it works using the router table its a whole lot less work,( I hate sanding),and more faithful to the design.
I could never get a straight bit to do this without tearout, so I got hold of a bit with a shear angle on the blade that does the job.20180312_125957.jpg20180312_134048.jpg
You can see in the pic the finish is good enough to go straight to 220 when your ready to sand.You can also see in the pic that my template is starting to look a bit dodgy in places
@ Cal.I hear ya.I think we just get convinced that there is a "Right Way" to do things, you can drive yourself crazy wading through all the robust opinions on this stuff.God knows I have lol.
Cheers Adlav and Orraloon.
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20th March 2018, 07:52 PM #4
Thanks for sharing mate, subbed in for the ride.
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20th March 2018, 08:25 PM #5GOLD MEMBER
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Mase, how thick is your neck stock?
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20th March 2018, 08:36 PM #6Member
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About 19 mm. I will use anything between 18 mm and 20 mm, and adjust the fretboard thickness to suit. As long as i am within a mm of 25 mm final thickness, I'm not too fussed.
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20th March 2018, 08:55 PM #7Member
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hey Bueller and Cal, just ignore my inappropriate thanks/likes,unco operator error.
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21st March 2018, 07:10 PM #8Member
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Righto, At this point I put the neck aside and start on the fretboard.
As well as the traditional timbers I also machine my own out of recycled gear from salvage yards.This can be a frustrating experience as you can't see whats under the weathering in the yard,and you usually start with a few metres of 100 x 50, and end up with 1/2 dozen fretboard blanks that are up to scratch. DIY does help you understand why the blanks cost so much though.
20171024_190819.jpg
First thing I do is machine the blank to nominally 6 mm x 60 mm x 520 mm, so that its oversize for the neck I am planning , and it fits in my mitre box.
While the blank is still rectangular I cut the fret slots.Last year I bought a set up similar to Stew Macs to do this part, its greatly simplified the process as it uses a template to guarantee the
slots are where they should be.
20180321_162828.jpg20180321_163051.jpg
Some of the eagle eyed amongst you will have noticed that the timber I am using to build this neck is constantly changing in colour and grain, that's because I am building a few of them and just taking random pics when I remember lol.
Cheers,
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22nd March 2018, 07:07 PM #9Member
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The next step is to put a radius on the fretboard. I find that the 12 " radius is a good compromise of comfort and playability, so most of the gear I have is to create this radius.
In the past I have followed the path most guys take and just used a radius sanding beam, ( a length of timber or aly with a radius on the bottom you stick sandpaper to), and gone through the grits
until the radius is sanded into the board.Given my loathing of hand sanding I have tried to speed up the process by using a router bit that roughs out the radius before moving to the sanding beam to finish up.
I must admit I have had various results with this, mostly due to a sloppy set up on my part.
20180322_175109.jpg
I use a 60 x 40 piece of aluminium to hold the board,and my boards are exactly 60 mm wide so that I am taking the same amount off both sides. If you are going to try this method this is pretty important.20180322_175535.jpg
I do 3 passes on each side slowly raising the router bit each time.I haven't experienced any chipout as yet even though the fret slots are already cut.You can see in the pic below that I stop just shy of the centreline of the board, then finish off with the beam.
20180322_175507.jpg20180322_175923.jpg
One thing I haven't mentioned throughout the thread so far is my use of double sided tape, for many of these steps its difficult if not impossible to use clamps so a good supply of tape is as indispensable a good measuring equipment.
Cheers,
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22nd March 2018, 07:37 PM #10GOLD MEMBER
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That looks like one of the router bits that sje sells. The jig you use to guide the cutting of the fret slots is an interesting bit of kit, looks home made. Just goes to show what can be achieved in a slightly better than basic backyard shed. Have you ever thought about using a downcut router bit for the fret slots?
Enjoying your thread, thanks for the pic's.
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22nd March 2018, 08:49 PM #11Member
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Hi Adlav,
Yep its one of sje bits, I've also bought a bit for shaping the back of the neck from him but i haven't tried it out yet.
The jig for cutting the fret slots is a copy, ( I think), of one made by an American luthier supply company that they sell for $ 250 , mine was about half that price.
With instrument building tools, work out what would be the cost of a standard woodworking tool, and double the price.
I take your point about it looking homemade, if you had the tools/skills to work accurately with aluminium i'm sure you could knock one up.
As for using a router, the slots are a little over .5 mm wide, can you buy bits that small ?
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22nd March 2018, 09:29 PM #12GOLD MEMBER
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Yes I've certainly noticed the pricing of any specialist instrument making tools. Stew Mac might have a brilliant range of tools, but wow, don't forget to bring your wallet! Sometimes it seems that doubling the price wouldn't get you to what they want. You have to admire anyone who can knock up something in the shed to do the same job as some of these tools without sacrificing the accuracy. When it's all said and done it's the tools ability to do the job, not what it looks like that counts.
.5mm eh! Well bits down to .8mm aren't that much of a challenge, providing you don't push them too hard, but .5 is probably a step too far. Best stick to your saw then!
Have you ever considered a solid carbide template or pattern bit? Any of the quality ones (ie. not Yonico) are a bit exxy, but you sure get a nice finish and cutting against the grain tends to be a bit less of a problem.
Thanks for the thread.
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24th March 2018, 07:19 PM #13Member
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Now for a brief intermission...... took a break from the necks to finish this one.Attachment 432285
The body is Californian Redwood from an old mantle piece, badly painted by me.I wish getting a guitar painted wasn't so insanely expensive in this town.
The neck is ye olde figured maple on maple.The pickguard was a design exercise inspired by a similar one seen on another site that I have always thought looked great.
I must admit I went through a lot of MDF trying to get the template right, but I am pretty happy with the result.The bridge was made by Callaham in the US, I also
got upgrades for the Bigsby from them. Callaham fabricates high end hardware with a high price but as I was using a Bigsby I wanted to give this guitar every chance to work as it should.Last edited by mase; 24th March 2018 at 07:24 PM. Reason: unwanted pics
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24th March 2018, 07:28 PM #14Member
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@ Adlav
Yea mate, they are probably the next step up from the CMT bit I use. From what I have seen you still risk chip out if you don't sand very close before routing around the headstock.Last edited by mase; 24th March 2018 at 07:28 PM. Reason: add who I am speaking to.
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25th March 2018, 07:02 PM #15Member
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We return to your normal program
So now I have a slotted and radiused fretboard,a neck blank shaped and routed for the truss rod,and the truss rod itself.
To assemble them I do the following:
1.Each end of the truss rod has a flat block that sits flush with the bottom of the truss rod slot.put a small dab of silicon in the bottom of the slot where the block will sit, and insert the truss rod into the blank making sure it is flush with the top of the neck.
2. locate the fretboard on the neck where you want it to be when glued, I then put two small nails through the board into the neck so that I can locate it when I am ready to glue.Remove fretboard,leaving the nails just protruding through the bottom of the board.
3.Put tape over the top of the slot so no glue will end up in the slot and interfere with the operation of the rod, spread the glue, and then remove the tape.
4.Locate the fretboard and clamp it down.I use rubber bands made out of strips of inner tubes for this. Leave overnight.
20180325_175623.jpg20180325_175654.jpg20180321_173154.jpg20180325_182215.jpg
Next up is carving the back of the neck.I usually do this by hand but I have recently acquired a router bit designed for the purpose.I need to build some kind of jig so that I can use it overhead rather than in the table, so it might be a while before I post that part.In the meantime if I find anything guitar related of interest I will probably post it in this thread.Thanks for reading.
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