Building A One Piece Neck.........

[jwells393]

When you get to the end of your router travel, do you leave the slight angle that you get from the 90 degrees off the curve,

Yep that's what I did. I suppose you could square up the end with a drill press but I really don't see much benefit.

All you need to be concerned about is getting the walnut skunk strip snug at the headstock end of the channel. The other end will be in the neck pocket. Many of Fender necks I've seen have a gap in the channel at the heel end.

Thanks for the compliments guys. I hope to finish this up soon but my chosen career path is interferring at this time.

[Bill Scheltema]

Thanks Jack,

I will be building my curved jig tomorrow night.
I have 2 necks in waiting, I just need to pick up a 1/4" bit.

Bill

[uberaxe]

Hi Jack, new to these forums. Just wanted to know what those lever-type clamps were that you were using to hold down the neck while you drilled out the keyhole for the trussrod at the headstock? Looked like you have built a permanent jig for that.

Thanks
Darren

[jwells393]

Those clamps are called 'quick release toggle clamps'. The should be available from most woodworking stores. I got mine from Woodworkers Supply.

Quick Release Toggle Clamps @ Woodworkers Supply

The neck drilling jig is not my idea. I saw something similar in Make Your Own Electric Guitar by Melvyn Hiscock.

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[Bill Scheltema]

Hey welcome Uberaxe.
You'll find this an exciting and informative forum.

Bill

[Bill Scheltema]

Jack,

Do you have closeup shots of your truss rod hole jigs?
(see my poplar build post)

Bill

Originally Posted by jwells393

Next I thin down the headstock. I want the final thickness to be a little less than 0.6 in. so I cut it a little thicker.



I use the Wagner Safety Planner mounted in the drill press to get the final thickness.



I've built a jig patterned after the one in the Hiscock book for drilling the acces hole to the truss rod channel. Here are a couple of pictures of it.



The long 3/8 bit goes through a guide block made of hard maple and drilled at a 3 degree angle per the Strat book. Depth of 3/8 hole is 1.2 in. beyond the nut line.

[Bill Scheltema]

Jack,

How did you fix the holes that were slightly offcentre?

Here a picture showing the holes I drilled from the headstock into the truss rod channel. The top one is a 1/4 in hole drilled using a guide block in the jig. The second one was done more or less free hand. Both are a little off to the treble side. Looks fixable to me.

http://www.tdpri.com/forum/telecaste...tml#post865250

My headstock hole is dead on but my heel is slightly off. I drilled using a 3/16" bit, so maybe going to a 1/4" bit will solve the issue if there really is one.

Bill

[Bill Scheltema]

Some silly investigating.
The strat neck drawing calls up a .203 hole through.
3/16 is 0.1875
1/4 is 0.25
13/64 is 0.203125

Don't know of a long drill bit with this dia. so it will need to be a 1/4 for ease of installation.

Bill

[DanofTucson]

This thread inspired me to join Telecaster Guitar Forum.
I have been contemplating the one piece neck build. These posts are exactly what I needed to gain the confidence to get started.
Thanks for all your hard work Jack!

[Robert112157]

MAKE ME ONE PLEASE!,,,,,, that is great stuff...........

[Vizcaster]

Fantastic thread, Jack. Because of you're praise of the Ridgid oscillating edge-belt, SWMBO got me one for Christmas. I noticed from a video tour of the Gibson custom shop that they have a similar ege belt sander with a belt long enough to roll the entire neck at once.

The 4x24 belt is not quite as long as the neck profile, so how did you do it? - did you slide the neck back and forth sideways as you rolled it (two motions at once), or did you roll one area and then move the whole thing along and roll again?

By the way, the specs aren't available online or in the manual, but the sanding sleeves are 4-1/2" long which is a standard size in the Klingspoor sandpaper catalog, in case you don't want to buy the full assortment sets from the Depot.

[Bill Scheltema]

JWells,

I have a small question regarding your Ridgid sander.
What is the distance from table top to spindles height at its lowest travel?

Bill

[jwells393]

These measurement are approximate.

With a 2 in. drum the top of the sandpaper sleeve moved between 3 in. and 3 3/4 in. from the table top.

With the belt sander attachment tracking true the top of the sanding belt varied from 3 1/2 to 4 1/4 in. above the table top.

[JohnPurdy]

jwells, Are you still liking that spindle sander? I thought I might pick one up.

John

[jwells393]

The Ridgid Oscillating Spindle/Belt Sander is on of my favorite woodworking tools. It's great if you use the sand and try method of fitting parts together.

[scubadoo]

Hi Jack,

Any more progress on these necks? I've really enjoyed the thread so far.

I'm just about to have a go at a tele neck and was wondering if you could answer a couple of questions for me.

This may be a stupid question, but what do you use as a guide when you route for the truss rod channel, are you using some kind of bushing on the router base that lines up against your jig?

The truss rod i have is one that fits in a U-shaped aluminium housing so would i need to route a flat channel rather than a curved one?

How does the Stewmac fret mitre box take account of the fact that the neck does not have parallel sides. Do you have to line it up and clamp it, how do you make sure the fret slots are all parallel?

Sorry for all the questions

Best wishes
Dave

[Bill Scheltema]

You could check out my neck build thread under new member poplar tele build,
if you haven't already.

Bill

[jwells393]

Double post ............. again !!

[jwells393]

No progress Dave. I do need to get back to neck building because I've built several bodies that need necks.

You should definitely check out Bill's thread. Very interesting neck shaping jig he's developing.

I think the StewMac fret slotting miter box is actually intended to cut slots in fingerboards before they are glued to the neck. If you want to use it on a one piece Telecaster neck you need to get a long strip of 1/4 in. MDF that will fit inside the miter box. Draw a centerline down the length of the MDF. Align you neck centerline to this centerline and stick your neck to this with double sided tape. This is what you would do if you were not using the Fret Scale Template.

If you're using the Fret Scale Template with the miter box, You would align your neck centerline with a line on the template parallel to the edge of the template. The following post shows how I mounted the miter box to make a jig and shows the neck stuck to the Fret Scale Template. It also show that a Telecaster neck will fit into the miter box to saw the lower frets slots and nut slot but a Strat neck wouldn't allow that. Someone in the forum cut away the back side of their miter box to allow for a Strat headstock.

StewMac Miter Box and Fret Scale Template

what do you use as a guide when you route for the truss rod channel,

It didn't actually show up clearly in the pictures but I used a router edge guide that runs along the back side of the curved channel jig. I don't necessarily think that's the best way to do it. However at the time, it gave me an excuse to buy the Porter Cable micro-adjustable edge guide. Here's a better picture.

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[krauser2]

you guys are super talented

Everytime I get on here someone is doing some really cool things.

one day I really want to make my own guitar.

[scubadoo]

Thanks Jack! That is really helpful.

I will definitely check out Bill's thread (thanks Bill).

I'm still trying to get my head round building a neck and what do you know, enough timber to build a quilted maple capped thinline and a Les Paul has just arrived! I'm planning on reading and re-reading as much stuff as I can and just taking it slowly.

Not sure I'm up to it but we'll see.

Best wishes

Dave

[woodturner]

I have been following your neck building thread with interest. I have my blank cut and built my own truss rod. I am having a difficult time making the jig to cut the truss rod slot. I have drawn out a quite a few templates and seem to get it wrong each time.

Would it be possible to post some basic dimensions of your jig?

Regards,

[scubadoo]

Originally Posted by woodturner

I have been following your neck building thread with interest. I have my blank cut and built my own truss rod. I am having a difficult time making the jig to cut the truss rod slot. I have drawn out a quite a few templates and seem to get it wrong each time.

Would it be possible to post some basic dimensions of your jig?

Regards,

Are you particularly hung up on the vintage style rod? If it was me, and bear in mind that I'm only on my first neck, I would get one of the single- or double-action rods that sit in a flat bottomed slot like in this post http://www.tdpri.com/forum/1846206-post2.html. You don't need a curved channel and you don't have to worry about anchoring at the headstock end and filling the hole. The only 'jig' you need is to clamp the neck down and clamp a straight edge parallel to your centreline that either your router base or 1/4" router bit can run against.

I'm sure Jack will come in, but you can make a jig for the curved truss rod channel by using the strat neck cross-section that he has posted a few times. Have a look in Bill Scheltema's thread as well.

Cheers
Dave

[woodturner]

Hi Dave,

Thanks for the quick reply. I made up the truss rod from the info in the strat neck blueprint. I also used that to make the side templates for routing the curved recess. I'm having difficulty getting the templates orientated to the blank so that the proper curve and depth will be cut.

This has been a reality check for me. I can carve a wooden propeller but can't seem to build a jig.

I might have to try the straight slot style truss rods. I can always use the truss rod I built in the next one.

Thanks Again,

Bill

[ChicknPickn]

Another bookmarked thread from Jwells . . . .

Man, this is good stuff.

[ratter]

Originally Posted by woodturner

Hi Dave,

Thanks for the quick reply. I made up the truss rod from the info in the strat neck blueprint. I also used that to make the side templates for routing the curved recess. I'm having difficulty getting the templates orientated to the blank so that the proper curve and depth will be cut.

This has been a reality check for me. I can carve a wooden propeller but can't seem to build a jig.

I might have to try the straight slot style truss rods. I can always use the truss rod I built in the next one.

Thanks Again,

Bill

Don't feel bad, you're not alone. I think I'm on my 5th truss jig and am just starting to get to where I want to be. For whatever reason, I'm finding it particularly difficult too. I've cut a few slots that I could have salvaged, but I'm trying to get a quality result along the lines of what jwells, and preeb, and Scatter Lee and these guys get, so practice practice practice has been my mantra. Thank goodness wood is cheap...

My current jig looks a lot like the one posted here except instead of an edge guide, I put a 'wall' on one side and keep the router base pressed against that wall as I ride the rails. I have a toggle clamp like the one shown to hold the headstock down, but I need a clamping solution for the heel. The rails and the stop for the end of the heel end of the truss channel are preventing me from fitting a clamp in there. So I need to solve that somehow. I tried just sticking the heel down with double-sided tape last time, and it wandered and ended up screwing up the slot...

I have a couple Stewmac Hot Rods here and could just put in a straight channel for them, but now I'm kinda bull-headedly determined to tackle the vintage truss first.

[jwells393]

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.

[Bill Scheltema]

It all depends on what type of side rail you are using.

I used a 1-1/2" piece of wood which I used to rout the arc into. I made a matching mirrored rail for the other side they are 6" apart because my router sits in between the rails keeping it steady as I run along the rout path.

What you could do is make the arc pieces first then add outside pieces to get the same effect.
Or...
Forget the outside pieces and do what Jwell does with his guide. Both will work.

Bill

[woodturner]

Thank you very much ... Drawing the arc was causing me grief. Your explanation cleared that up. Looks like tomorrow I'll be cutting wood.

Thanks Again.

[ratter]

I took ehawley's drawing from his cnc thread of the neck profile, printed it out, stole my 4-year-old's glue stick, and glued it to 1/4" mdf. Then I cut that on the bandsaw and made a template that I used to route thicker stock to make the actual rails.

[Bill Scheltema]

Hi JWells,

I just glued in my fret position markers and am ready to drill in the side dot markers, what distance did you go from centre of dot to edge of fingerboard, about 1/8"?

Bill

[edd677]

I just bought a rigid spindle/belt sander tonight. Have you had any problems finding replacement spindles? I hear HD does not sell them, even though they sell the sander.

[PennyCentury]

JWells,

I'm late to this thread. I had an idea with respect to the mini-Tele and proportions.
The stock Tele control plate seems to me to be out of scale to match the dimensions of the otherwise smaller guitar. I would think one of the folks here might be able to supply a shorter control plate. I don't know if someone could make a pair of smaller diameter knurled knobs; mini pots are a possibility. Maybe remove some metal around the perimeter of the stock Tele bridge.

Just a small suggestion...

Regards,
Penny

[jwells393]

Bill ......... It's been so long since I drilled the side dot holes, I don't remember how far they were from the fretboard surface. I probably just measured on a Fender neck and went with that.

Edd677 .......... When I bought my Ridgid sander Home Depot didn't have the spindle sanding sleeves. However, I think I saw a package of them on a recent visit. I ordered sleeves from Grizzly. They're also available from Woodworkers Supply.

Penny ........... you're right about the control plate being out of scale for a small guitar body. I have another thread started on building a Mini-Telecaster.

Designing and Building a Mini-Telecaster

I've cut down a regular control plate by cutting at the tone control hole and drilling a new hole. Here are pictures of the smaller control plate. I think the bridge must be left as is.

......
......

[PennyCentury]

Oh, that mini Tele mockup is -- you should excuse the expression -- so cute!
And the bridge doesn't look out of scale at all.
You've got another winner!

[Jazzmeister]

Originally Posted by jwells393

I made a neck template from 3/4 in. MDF. This thick template allows me to start the shape routing with a shallow pass on the router table. I do the neck shape routing on the router table using a pattern following bit (the bearing is below the cutter when mounted in the table) making several shallow passes .......... 1/4 in. or less.

Jack, thanks for the great tutorial. When you route with shallow passes as you mention, does it eliminate the tendency to grab the neck around the headstock curves and tearout? Any other tips on this? I've been having a heck of a time getting this done without some mishap. I had bascially given up on using the router on the headstock and was just going to take it down with the spindle sander.

[jwells393]

Shallow passes are especially important on hard maple. Another important thing is "downhill routing". Problems can occur on the end of the headstock if you go the wrong way. I've posted a picture showing downhill routing on a body. Guess I should make one up for a headstock.

Edit: Here's that downhill routing guide for the headstock. After you've done a few bodies, the downhill routing becomes second nature. In the sections marked with an "X", you're not pushing against the rotating cutter, therefore you need to hold on really tight so the router doesn't grab the workpiece........ another reason for shallow passes.

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[ratter]

I wanted to say thanks to you Jack for the great thread. Largely because of this thread and preeb's threads, I'm nearing completion of my one-piece neck. I figured some things out the hard way, but (surprise, surprise) when I closely followed the proven methods of the builders here, it really started to come together.

Case in point - these headstock curves...Using the spindle sander like preeb details to get very close to the pencil line (I actually take half the line), leaving just a whisper of wood for the router to take, and then routing in the directions that Jack shows, taking small depth bites each time, and I got a headstock with no tearout, no chipping, and only the faintest burn spot that ended up being on the waste part of the headstock anyway.

So - thanks!

[Gregmw]

Hi Jack,
Thanks for the great post.Your work is very inspirational!
I am about to make up the neck drilling jig out of Melvin Hiscock's book,but I was wondering how you made the drill guides up to stop the drill wandering amd chewing out the holes.

His description in the book is a bit vague (good book though!!!!)He mentions using an insert of some kind ?.

Any info would be greatly appreciated.

Regards

Greg