Thread: New Design - Single Cutaway

Here is the neck. It's a 1 piece quarter sawn wenge. I spotted a length at trend timbers which was 60x50x1400, and said I gotta make some necks out of that. I have routed the truss rod channel for a hotrod dual action, glued on the extra bits for the headstock. I machined the headstock angle with router and jig and back of the headstock again with a router and jig.

Cheers,

Peter

I like the design, Peter.
The only thing which would concern me as far as playability would be the extreme curl on the lower cutaway and having enough access without your hand scraping on it. Other than that, it really works for me.

Other than that , I like it.
The offset body shape I really like and I've got a few build templates with a similar shape
around the body.
For some reason they really appeal to me !!!!!!
Looking forward to seeing this one on the bench.

Tell us more about the inlay specs.

looks cool

bloody nice bit of wood your using for the neck

Hey Stu,

Very well picked up there with the access. I checked it on the template I made up, and it wasn't bad, however did encroach more than I am used to, and enough to rejig the design. I moved to point down and out a little and it's a slight improvement in looks, but a significant improvement in the accessibility. I am grateful to discover this now and not after I string it up for the first time....

Inlay is gold mother of pearl tribal fireball and 4mm offset dots. Pics of the inlay below.

The slotted fretboard:



To cut the pearl out, I print off the design from cad, and glue the paper on with sprayon contact adhesive. The pearl blanks below.


And the cut out pearl ready for inlay.


More of the inlay to come. In the mean time I guess I've got to redo my templates. No big deal.

Thanks again Stu and Andrew for your input.

Cheers,

Peter

The revised CAD...

Cheers,

Peter

did you cut the pearl with a coping saw? scroll saw?

im yet to do any inlay... im a bit rough lol

i think the headstock is a little bland... and a bit ovation looking...

needs some spice

but thats just my opinion

Yep, all opinions are valid, Andrew.

I can see some well thought out Gold pearl purflings on that headstock.

The headstock seems really conducive to that look. The offset tuners do give it a modern feel too.

Hi Peter,

I really like your design and I look forward to seeing the progress. Just a thought on the cutaway - the little kink near the point might provide some sanding challenges - I only say this because I have been there .

I really like the 12th fret inlay - I am doing something very similiar for my current build. I will post pictures when I get to that point. I also like the "string through" design to the machine heads too.

Originally Posted by peterbrown

Here is the neck. It's a 1 piece quarter sawn wenge.

Looking good Peter. I really like wenge, expensive though. I have two large pieces that I use for neck lams, recently fingerboards and a few other things. I'd like to make a complete neck out it as you're doing.

The only thing that strikes me about it is that there seems to be a lot of waste under the neck since there is no scarf joint, though lots of luthiers make them this way for various reasons. I've been curious as to how builders reuse that waste. Actually, it's quite good with your neck as it looks like you'll get a few quarter sawn guitar fingerboards out it.

Thanks for the input again,

Andrew, the headstock design is not set in concrete yet, and I will definitely have some inlay happening there, I just haven't decided yet. But your opinions are welcomed, especially constructive opinions like yours.

Oz, Thanks. Purflings... making work for me now... Good Idea though.

jb, I deninately agree with the challenge of sanding around the point. the carve will be equally challenging. Will be worth it I think. I am not using binding on this one, however binding at the point would be a challenge also. I would love to see some of your inlay work and look forward to your post.

MKat, I have a thing for wenge myself. The look and feel of an oiled finish on wenge does it for me. I am planning to slice a bit of the back of the neck blank once I am sure of the final heel depth.

Thanks again for the input,

Cheers,

Peter

Hi,

Got some more progress on the inlay,

The inlay pieces are tidied up a little with a needle file to remove any rough bits from cutting the pearl out. I glued the inlay on the fretboard using more spray contact adhesive which makes scribing the inlay much easier (pic below). The inlay is scribed and the inlay pieces picked off. I then sand the scribed area across the grain a bit to remove the glue and it also makes the scribed line easier to see. rubbing chalk apparently is better, but I haven't tried it.


The recess is routed and the pieces are cleaned up with turps to remove the spray adhesive glue, ready to be epoxied in.


I use an epoxy that is almost a paste consistency and mix in some filings of the fretboard piece itself, which I find to be the best match. I fill the recess with excess epoxy so that it squeezes out, and i rub the excess around the perimeter of the piece to remove any bubbles that may have formed. the pic below is of the pieced glued.


Once the epoxy has set, I rough sand the inlay level (not too much).



Cheers,

Peter

thats looking great!

keep the pics comming

Nice work, Peter.

thats looking great. inlay looks great too.

i love wenge, and it should make a great neck. my only concern is that it is quite weak along the grain, and the lack of the scarf joint worries me. will you be glueing some timber to the top/bottom of the headstock for strength?