Skunk Stripe Shaping

I'm wondering how everyone else is shaping the ends of their skunk stripes?

I've tried to just free hand it with some sand paper and did not get the best results.

I've thought of doing something like drilling a 9/64ths or 5/32nd hole in a board and then cutting that right down the center of the hole so that 1/2 of the hole becomes a channel that I can use as a sanding block for the end of the skunk stripe,

Any other ideas?

I just mount it vertically in a vice and with a strip of sandpaper I sand it by by pulling the paper back and forth holding it close to the wood. Same motion as shoe shining. You can change the roundness by changing the distance between your hands. Wide for flatter curve and narrow gets you a sharper curve.

I use the method Shepherd described. It should give the end a perfect half circle shape.

hey i have a question for ya. does the inside of the skunk stripe have to be shaped to the curve of the truss rod or is it okay to have it flat as long as theres clearance of the rod? im building my first neck and i am getting to that point pretty quick.

Is your question directed to the diameter of the rod, or the length curve of the rod? The diameter can be flat but the length of the strip should conform to the curve along the neck to eliminate truss rod rattle.
Cheers
ED

Is your question directed to the diameter of the rod, or the length curve of the rod? The diameter can be flat but the length of the strip should conform to the curve along the neck to eliminate truss rod rattle.
Cheers
ED

Assuming you meant the length: If the strip is .25", a lot of times on my test neck builds I have gotten away with cutting the stripe straight and carefully flexing the stripe by clamping the ends so that they curve down a deflection of about .5" on the nut side and about .35" on the heel side. I'm sure it depends on the wood you are using too, but I had been using what ever wood I had laying around - I'm going to experiment with that a bit more with walnut. Perhaps once you do the back contour it would take a little of the inherent back tension out of the joint.

I also have one cut just right that I was going to attach to another and use as a template to roto-sand in the curve.

I just mount it vertically in a vice and with a strip of sandpaper I sand it by by pulling the paper back and forth holding it close to the wood. Same motion as shoe shining. You can change the roundness by changing the distance between your hands. Wide for flatter curve and narrow gets you a sharper curve.

OK - I tried all of these ideas this weekend and this one was right on the money - works like a charm and the results are perfect keeping the paper really close to the wood.

Thanks for info!!:grin: