Andyjr1515

Next task is levelling and re-crowning/polishing the frets. Basically, the neck is adjusted to as straight as possible and then a sanding beam is used to take any unevenness out. You stop once the emery is just skimming all frets in all places and then move onto using a rocker to check for any high spots. That done, I use emery and progressively finer micro-web wrapped round my crowning file to re-crown, get rid of the scratches and polish: 10 done, 12 to go. I'll finish those later this afternoon to give the pain from my f*****g (****** = lippin) arthritis a chance to ease off. And then...I think it's the last job, the staining

Normal (although, admittedly, Andyjr1515 and normal in the same paragraph is clearly an oxymoron ) On a particularly wide bridge/narrow nut neck, I would tend to taper the runs but you then have to consider whether a passing string is going to foul one of the other set of windings. It sort of depends.

Drilling the tuner holes - more detail than most normal folks need or want but for anyone setting out on this crazy pastime... @fleabag had given me the basic layout of the 2-a-side tuner arrangement he was after, needing 14mm holes drilling in the four positions. It's always useful to have actual tuners to hand rather than just rely on drawings and, while I don't have the actual tuners that he will be using, I have a fairly representative set in my bits box. This method below assumes that the builder is working within a given shape. Note though that, generally, a builder would sort where the tuners need to be and then design the shape of the headstock to fit within that layout. In this case @fleabag has given me the shape he would like, but actually that's fine because it is relatively generic and therefore will still 'work'. And so - the plan is to have straight string runs. So the first thing is to take a template of the headstock and draw a centre line along the centre of the fretboard to the end of the headstock. Then, with the nut or spacer, it is to draw where the inside of each string will meet its respective tuner peg: So in this pic, for the two bass strings, the line is from the left hand side of each slot and for the treble strings it is the right hand side of the slot. If you draw from the middle of the nut slot, then the tuner peg will end up with half a strings-width offset. For electric guitars and also a bass G string, that would be unnoticeable, but for the thicker strings of a bass, it matters. Next is to decide where the tuners are going to be positioned along the length. Here, what matters is: - are the tuners going to be close enough to the edge of the headstock to allow the tuners to turn? - are they going to be too close to the edge of the headstock and leave the body of the tuner hanging in mid air? - are they far enough from each other to avoid clashing with the one next to them, both at the tuner knob wings or at the back, body to body? This is an arrangement that would fit @fleabag's general concept and still meets the above criteria: So now, with a pair of compasses set to the radius of the tuner peg size of @fleabag's tuners, I can draw where the centre point of the tuners will need to be: This might make it easier to envisage what I meant at the beginning. Note that the inside edge of each string is now going to be contact with the correct side of its tuner peg so, however thick the string is, the nut to tuner run will still be straight. Next is to lay the template over the headstock and use a sharp punch to mark the centre point on the headstock plate: Then to the drill press. It is blocked up and checked with a spirit level to ensure that the headstock is level across both axes. Generally, there still needs to be some judicious light filing with a round file for the final fitting (especially a 14mm tuner spigot fitting a 14mm hole) but that task is a lot more difficult if the hole isn't perpendicular And that's it, done:

After a few days catching up with family and domestic stuff, I'm back in the cellar. Which, after a few days catching up with family and getting involved in the domestic stuff, MrsAndyjr1515 says is the best place for me. All being well, I'll be able to get this to staining and ready for return stage by the end of tomorrow. Knocked off a couple more 'to-do' items this morning: Added a third magnet to the trussrod cover to make sure the apex doesn't lift and get caught on something and drop off when @fleabag gets overtaken by the beat and starts flinging the bass around the stage: And the sanding is approaching staining level:

I think the only issue - and this is almost only related to maple - is that the grain lines are SO unabsorbent, that they are almost impossible to hide with a stain, however good, and even with multiple applications. My test piece illustrates: This has had 4 applications, fully dried in between. In real life, the black is blacker than black! However, fear not! In the event this happens on the actual neck, @fleabag and I have a very cunning plan

Haven't done a lot on the neck over the last few days but most of the coming week will be devoted to finishing @fleabag's neck and making decent progress with this one. The one thing I did do, though, while the equipment was still out on the bench, was run the neck blank through the thicknesser - just to ensure both surfaces were completely flat and to check that there weren't any duff glue joints. This looks OK And trimming the end shows the grain enough to perhaps better explain why there was the conversation earlier about the number of maple splices and how they are arranged: When solid, all of the grain will have been at the same angle, like the grain direction that you see on the left hand section above going like this ///////// . And the grain direction is a key factor to which direction the timber would move as temperature/humidity/aging variations occur. So the principle is: - if the timber with the grain like this //////// ,when subjected to temperature change, humidity change or just natural drying over time, has a tendency to bend, say, <- this way, then if you flipped it to \\\\\\\\\, then it will, instead, have a tendency to bend -> this way - so if you have one piece going \\\\\\\\\\ and join it to a piece going ///////// then you end up with grain that goes \\\\\\\\\///////// And now the bending tendency goes like this <--> ....which cancels each other out - and so - even in extremes of temperature or humidity change - it will stay straight. And that is probably why Wal go to the bother of splitting and joining that centre section. And I presume that a Wal is also as above, so you have the same effect between every one of the four pieces, ie //////\\\\////\\\\\\ And what about the mahogany? Well, it is straighter grained, softer, thinner and weaker and any tendency for that to bend would be fully counteracted by the maple.

All seems to be gap free and straight Over the weekend, I'll pop it through the thicknesser to get the surface flat and even for the next steps.

I couldn't have put it clearer myself And the result is: All of the squaring up, saw cut losses, etc have lost me a net 3mm of headstock width but that will not affect either the functionality or the overall look (lightly pencilled here) The flowery glass is less about me reaching into my domestic side as much as finding out that toughened glass chopping boards from Dunelm are ideal as dead flat surfaces for initial glue levelling/chisel sharpening/etc. The sandpaper and leather for the latter can be seen stuck to the other side

Hang on! Something a bit odd here??? It's alright - don't panic...there's madness in my method in my madness. It's all about keeping everything straight. The glue dampens the timber, that expands and, given the length and narrowness of the 4-piece centre section, this drying can easily allow the section to bend. The narrower the section, the more susceptible it is to bend. So if I cut the relatively thin top section of the neck and then glue it, the same can happen and when that dries, there can be a small bend left...and now that is wider, that can be a divil to sort. But there is no chance that the centre section is going to bend the above maple blank. So it's now dry, it's straight and when I do now cut it to width, it is that much wider...and that should tame any residual tendency to bend. Leastways, that's the theory So this afternoon, I will make the final cut, plane the cut edge, flip it to get the grain mirrored and glue it to the bare mahogany face and that should mean that the basic blank is fully glued up.

Next, the spacer. Because it has a zero fret, this is needed simply to ensure the strings are positioned and spaced properly at the nut. @fleabag had supplied me with a Graphtec blank which was cut, radiused, grooved and a drop-away filed to maintain the break angle : The grooves actually line up with my original pencil markings, which is a total surprise pleasing Another one off the to-do list

Probably time to change the subject Trussrod cover magnets in/on : Check is complete for full allen key movement and withdrawal: So that's another item off the To Do list

And so there goes my last stick of Luminlay: Farewell, sweet Luminlay - I hope he treats you gently Very sad... ...but, heck, it's another one crossed off the To Do list!

Ready to be squared up and then have the final two outers added:

While the epoxy on @fleabag's neck is curing and the wood cutting equipment is still out, a great opportunity to make a proper start on this neck. There's a lot of careful measuring and re-measuring involved in this kind of thing. This is the headstock shape that @funkle has asked for on the maple blank: Because of the angle the headstock needs to sit at to give straight string runs to the tuners, even a relatively slim shape like this takes up a fair bit of real-estate. Given that there will be 8mm of mahogany splices added in, though, it looks fine at first glance. But there are lots of buts: - the 'straight edge' of the blank actually is cut on an angle which will need squaring up - each splice that is cut needs to be squared and planed to the correct size and for a dead flat glue surface - each stage of the the splices being glued together needs a check for squareness to avoid cumulative tolerance 'drift' - each cut loses around 1mm from the saw blade kerf width And each of those stages involves taking wood shavings off. It's very easy to lose more than 8mm! So check, recheck and check again is the name of the game To square up the top edge of the blank, I used the router table. The far side of the fence has a spacer bar fitted so that it is a mm proud of the nearside. The router bit is set to take a mm off and so the timber is supported by the fence before and after the cut. Result is a dead square and dead straight length Now I have a square straight edge, the centre section can be cut from the blank: The blank is a beautiful piece of flawless quarter-sawn and very straight maple. But as soon as that 22mm wide strip was cut, it already took on a teeny bow. So that's why Wal make the centre a two-piece! Yes - the rest of the laminations will more than hold it all straight...but if you don't have to have that extra modicum of stress in the wood, then why have it. So after a lot more measuring - because this would mean one more cut with more width lost - I sliced it down the middle, flipped on side over, squared it all up and glued it together, bow against bow. So yes - we are going for a 6 part neck, following Wal's method and, probably, for the same reason And here we have the centre 4 of the 6 splices (the two centre maple and a mahogany either side) gluing under the pressure of G clamps, two hefty bench clamps and as many sturdy clamping cauls as I could fit in the space:

Yup - happy with that: So left to do: - Tuner holes - Side Luminlays - Fret level and recrown - Final sand - Fiebings stain **post post - trussrod cover magnets - nut/spacer cut and groove

Yes - I know. This is like watching paint dry - or more accurately, like watching epoxy set.... So, for those who aren't comatose from boredom, the heel is slotted, the overhang has been epoxied to the ebony back plate, and the whole assembly, including fret 22, is now being epoxied to the neck, with the cling film in the pocket to prevent the whole thing being epoxied to the test body: If this all works, it will be a minor miracle - I'll know in the next hour But if it does work, we're almost there...which, trust me, will be a blessed relief to all of us

How about combining the two - veneer AND distasteful colour scheme:

If it wasn't for the bridge, that would be quite a viable alternative, running at a 6/10 difficulty level. The bridge puts it up to around a 18/10 difficulty Know any any artists, @Maude ? With a coloured trans finish, well applied inked grain put on before the colour could be made to look like any other grain...

Looks splendid!

And so this is broadly what I have in mind (this is a mockup - as the neck is going to be black, the shelf will probably be ebony rather than the maple shown here): I will be cutting a short saw slot into the neck heel for the base plate to slide into and be glued. The overhang will be, in turn, glued to that and then the fret popped back into its slot. When the neck is fitted, the plate will remain dry fitted to the body but should fully fill the gap under the overhang. When the neck is removed, the plate should add some strength and support to the overhang which would otherwise only be held on by a mm of richlite.

Excellent - no gaps

Perfect - thanks

It's a quick check of the depth of the A or D saddle from the bottom of the roller groove to the back when the saddle is fully lowered Thanks

There's nothing more frustrating than a truss rod slot not long enough for a standard allen key - so best to measure it first. The spacer is a graphtec piece that will be cut to make the string spacer later on: Then out comes the jewellers saw - one shot to get it right so that it will be a gap-free fit when the magnets are fitted: And even for a headstock plate, you can never have too many clamps!

The fine-tuning takes a little longer, but the basic rough carve can be surprisingly quick. That's why moving to lighter cut methods sooner rather than later is quite important...it is very easy to cut too deep with, say, a spokeshave