Build Update #7

Now onto the part of the build i knew i'd both hate and enjoy. Carving a guitar neck out of a giant slab of wood is quite enjoyable. Reminds me of the beginning of Jurassic Park when they were unearthing the remains of a velociraptor, only instead of a carnivorous reptile in dirt, i have a small piece of wood inside a bigger piece of wood. Aside from imagining the possibilities of a giant mechanical wooden dinosaur, I've underwent countless measuring and re-measuring before making any cuts. The minuscule room for error forces me to monitor my already finely looked-over steps.


Let's begin.


Unfortunately, i don't have the best bandsaw around. In fact, i would like to classify the 1/3 hp Crapsman 9" bandsaw as a boring kids toy. A brand new blade snapped while trimming the 1/4" top laminate to size. Trimming the excess mahogany from the neck blank took a few extra steps, including drilling pilot holes as shown in the above picture. I cut as far as shown until the individual teeth of the blade started folding sideways (most likely caused by the slow blade speed).



I used a sawzall to finish the cut. Also, near the bottom of the picture, you can see an extra block that i glued to fit the headstock completely within the blank.


My god that looks terrible.




I began to clean up the 'rough' cut by planing flat the headstock. I marked my lines, clamped the neck between some MDF, and.....




......planed it flat. I always try to use hand tools over a machine (better control, more fun).




I then cleaned up the back-of-the-neck-cut by using my trusty router planing sled (which i have used extensively throughout this build). I got the back down to within 3/32" of its final thickness.



It is important the neck tenon be as square as possible. I didn't expect to get this part done today, but the process proved to be quick and relatively easy. Two scrap pieces of wood acted as a guide to cut the first cut at 4 degrees from the vertical (corresponding to the 4 degree neck angle).



With a table saw and handsaw, the excess was trimmed away, as shown.



I then cut the tenon down to size using the same process. Final thicknessing will be done with the router sled. The tenon will fit snugly into the mortise, which will later be routed on the body.



Nice wood figure. Notice the ~4 degree angle where the tenon meets the remainder of the neck.



Next is to finally order the fretting supplies and get the fretboard laid out, along with the truss rod. The neck tenon will soon find it's home, all warm and snug, in the body mortise. Once the fretboard is ready, the neck can get its final shape.

I did receive 2 gold Classic '57 pickups that i purchased for $159 from eBay. A good deal considering the fact that 2 new pickups from Gibson would cost ~$260.

-Aloha