I usually complete the necks of my guitars first as the shape and size of the neck mortise dictates the shape and size of the tenon in the body, and the heel shape.
The ebony fingerboard blank was pre-slotted by David Dyke, but required thicknessing. The blank was fixed onto a piece of MDF using double sided tape, and supported in a vice. Initial passes with the sharpest plane possible only ripped the wood around the fret slots, so I decided to play safe and sand the board. Ebony produces a very fine dust and is very hard, so this was not the most fun of jobs. Thickness and flatness were constantly checked with a 600mm steel rule.
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Having thicknessed the board it was covered in masking tape, and the overall shape was marked (sizes taken from the original drawings), together with the positions of the fret markers. The board was cut down with a bandsaw and the edges planed to size, planing ‘downhill’ so as not to chip the ebony again. Straightness was checked with the 600mm rule. The position markers were then centre punched and drilled out using a 5mm drill. After removal of the tape the abalone markers were glued in with Araldite epoxy. |
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The fingerboard camber was then sanded using a radiussed block supplied by David Dyke, running through progressively finer grades of paper from 120 to 600. Constant reference was made to each side to check that the thicknesses were consistent. The finished board was polished with 00000 grade steel wool. |
A jig was then made up to enable
drilling of the side markers. A block of softwood was g-cramped onto the table of the pillar
drill, which allowed the blank to slide in a perfect line in relation to the
drill bit. The drill depth was marked by wrapping a small piece of masking tape
around the drill bit to act as a depth stop. The 2mm abalone markers were again
Araldited in place.
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A centreline was marked onto the maple blank, and the extremes of the box-section truss rod marked. A template was made from MDF to allow the use of a router to cut the channel. After a practice on a piece of scrap softwood the template was fixed with double sided tape and the channel routed progressively deeper until the truss rod fitted just below the surface of the maple. After removal of the template the ends of the channel were squared off using a small, sharp chisel. |
A full size photocopy of the headstock was then fixed with spray adhesive onto the appropriate position and the headstock shape was cut with the bandsaw. The edges were planed straight and the curved end and waist shaped with different files.
The machine head holes were drilled before thicknessing as the photocopy was still in place. The positions were centre punched, the holes pilot drilled on the pillar drill, then drilled out undersize, to be widened out later.
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The headstock was then thicknessed against the bandsaw fence having checked the fence, blade and edge of the maple for squareness. The newly cut top surface was sanded flat, and blended in to the nut area with a file and glasspaper. |
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Having tidied up the headstock the truss rod was Araldited in place, using an MDF scrap on the back of the neck for protection, and an MDF strip along the length of the rod. I used as many g-cramps as would fit onto the length of the rod, setting the cramps before the application of the quick drying glue. I left the assembly, as I always do, to dry overnight. |
Having scraped any excess Araldite off the neck with a chisel I next glued on the fingerboard. The position was accurately marked, then panel pins were partly inserted into diagonally opposite corners, and the shanks removed just above the surface. The fingerboard was then pressed into place, the pins creating depressions in the bottom of the ebony. This enables easy positioning of the parts, and prevents them slipping as the cramps are tightened.
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The MDF blank was again used on the back of the neck, together with a softwood one over the fingerboard, with a strip of leather underneath to prevent it marking the finish sanded ebony. Again, a maximum number of g-cramps were used. Franklin Titebond adhesive was used as it is extremely strong (and grabs very quickly demanding speedy cramping) and can be steamed off in the event of any fretting disasters. Any glue oozing out was quickly cleaned off with a damp cloth. |
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When dry the maple was cut down as close as possible to the sides of the ebony, and the sides then cleaned up with a plane or a flat file. Particular care was taken with the area of the neck joint which had to be perfectly square. |
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Having had a bad experience with the Explorer I passed on the fretting! This was done by Julian Clarke at the Sevenoaks Guitar Centre, a skilled luthier himself, and my ‘mentor’ for the project. The fret job is superb, and the ends of the fret tangs have been cut slightly short then the ends of the slots filled with black epoxy, hiding them neatly. |
Upon return from fretting the end of the neck was flattened on a bench sander, then cleaned with glasspaper. The area of the joint was accurately marked on the back of the neck, ready for shaping.
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The profile of the neck was taken from cross section photos from a guitar magazine, photocopied to the appropriate size for the two ends of the neck. A rasp was used to shape the ends of the curved back, holding either the headstock or tenon end in clamped to a bench, with scrap wood or foamboard as protection. The shaped ends were then joined with a spokeshave, one of the most satisfying parts of the whole project! This was done progressively, until the desired neck shape was reached. The contour is fairly ‘chunky’ to provide stability and tone, but is comfortable allowing for easy bar chords. Finish sanding again involved progressive grades of glasspaper. The finished neck was then bubble wrapped and left to mature! |
