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jwells393 · June 1st, 2009, 12:50 PM

I'm not sure what help is needed for building the curved channel jig. I'll go into a little more detail on how I built mine. First, I'll show the Strat neck blueprint once again.

As you can see the curve is made up of two radii..... 115 inches on the headstock end and 255 in. on the heel end. I used a 25 ft. tape measure to draw these curves on a piece of poster board. I put a screw in a board and put a weight on it then attaced the end of the tape measure to the screw. I then went to the 255 in. mark ......... aligned my pencil and swung the tape measure to draw a curve that intersected a straight line aligned with the centerline of the tape measure. I then did the same at the 115 in. mark positioning the poster board so the 115 in. mark on the tape aligned with the previous curve.

With the complete curve drawn on the poster board. I then cut it out and trace it to a piece of wood. I cut close to the line with a bandsaw then sand to the line. I then rip the piece in two giving me the two curved rails the router base rides on.

From the drawing, you can see that the centerline of the radii is 8.745 in. from the nut slot. From this centerline, the channel should go 6.745 in. toward the headstock and 9.060 toward the heel (for a headstock adjust neck....... on a heel adjust neck this dimension would be ~ 7.25 in.). Where you put the stops on your jig to determine the ends of the channel will depend on your router and the dimension of the base plate.

Since routing the channel is the first step, my jig is attached to the neck blank with screws in locations that will be cut away when the neck shape is cut.

I start the routing at the radii centerline point with the bit just touching the wood. Consider that the zero depth reference point. I then set the depth on my plunge router to make shallow passes until I have it set 0.495 in. below the zero reference point.

Here's a better picture of my channel jig. I've marked the following reference points: Nut line, End of channel, High point (radii centerline) Vintage end of channel and Modern end of channel.

I hope this helps. I'll try to answer any other questions.

June 1st, 2009, 12:50 PM	#107 (permalink)
jwells393 Doctor of Teleocity Join Date: Oct 2003 Location: Albuquerque, USA Age: 65 Posts: 14,283 101 Photos	I'm not sure what help is needed for building the curved channel jig. I'll go into a little more detail on how I built mine. First, I'll show the Strat neck blueprint once again. As you can see the curve is made up of two radii..... 115 inches on the headstock end and 255 in. on the heel end. I used a 25 ft. tape measure to draw these curves on a piece of poster board. I put a screw in a board and put a weight on it then attaced the end of the tape measure to the screw. I then went to the 255 in. mark ......... aligned my pencil and swung the tape measure to draw a curve that intersected a straight line aligned with the centerline of the tape measure. I then did the same at the 115 in. mark positioning the poster board so the 115 in. mark on the tape aligned with the previous curve. With the complete curve drawn on the poster board. I then cut it out and trace it to a piece of wood. I cut close to the line with a bandsaw then sand to the line. I then rip the piece in two giving me the two curved rails the router base rides on. From the drawing, you can see that the centerline of the radii is 8.745 in. from the nut slot. From this centerline, the channel should go 6.745 in. toward the headstock and 9.060 toward the heel (for a headstock adjust neck....... on a heel adjust neck this dimension would be ~ 7.25 in.). Where you put the stops on your jig to determine the ends of the channel will depend on your router and the dimension of the base plate. Since routing the channel is the first step, my jig is attached to the neck blank with screws in locations that will be cut away when the neck shape is cut. I start the routing at the radii centerline point with the bit just touching the wood. Consider that the zero depth reference point. I then set the depth on my plunge router to make shallow passes until I have it set 0.495 in. below the zero reference point. Here's a better picture of my channel jig. I've marked the following reference points: Nut line, End of channel, High point (radii centerline) Vintage end of channel and Modern end of channel. I hope this helps. I'll try to answer any other questions. __________________ Jack's Disclaimer: When I say something.... always ask yourself ..... "What the hell does he know?" I'm just not cool enough to be a Mac person. Last edited by jwells393; June 1st, 2009 at 01:38 PM.