For those that have made wenge necks…

[Maricopa]

Flat nitro.

 

[RogerC]

Got it all buffed out and got the fretwork perfect. Looks really good, right?

I have a couple of ideas of what may have happened.

When the fretboard popped free, there didn't seem to be much epoxy on it, so I think a few things could've happened:
- Truss rod was just slightly proud of the neck surface, not allowing the fretboard to make sufficient contact.
- The wenge was very porous, and I didn't use enough epoxy.
- Gluing surfaces were contaminated.

So:
- I deepened the truss rod slot to be sure it was slightly below the glue surface down the entire length.
- Used more epoxy.
- Did a final wipe of both surfaces with denatured alcohol before glue-up

I also sanded both surfaces with 100 grit as well. I did ample reading up on epoxy bonds and found out that it works in 2 ways. You can glue on top of uncured epoxy, and things will still bond chemically. Or if the epoxy is already cured, you can sand to create a tooth for the new epoxy to bond mechanically.

I used 30 minute epoxy, and everything's been glued up for about 90 minutes. I unclamped to clean up the squeeze out, and early indications are good. I'll leave it clamped up overnight and will stress test with truss rod tweaks tomorrow. Luckily I used registration pins on the initial glue-up, so keeping everything where it should be on the re-glue wasn't an issue.

 

[Muzikp]

Roger, that was looking amazing! I've done CA filled Wenge necks twice. Hard to get the pores filled with CA and keep it thin enough that it doesn't crack. I've been experimenting with CA for years and still haven't perfected it.