How Do I Make Square Corners?

[Mickguard]

I'm practicing routing neck pockets these days. One neck is strat style with rounded corners, that's not a problem.

The other neck is squared at the end-- so it there a trick for routing square corners for that?

So far I've been using a square file at the end to make the corners square, but I'm wondering if there's something I should be doing with the router to get that.

I'm using a fairly narrow straight bit, if that helps, I find it easier to control.

[stageleft]

There are corner chisels available. I don't have a link right now, but any good hardware store should have them in several sizes.

George

[jer7440]

Just use a good sharp chisel.

[Mickguard]

Okay, that sounds better than a file, thanks!

[bassman]

use a chisel that is pretty wide, about an inch. The extra width allows you to use the existing straight/but tapered edge of the neck pocket as a guide. Push the extra width flat up against the inside of the neck pocket at an angle, then push against the rounded part. Is this making sense? If my description lacks enough clarity just let me know.

[ToneMonkey]

Don't listen to them, you need a square router bit

[erikbojerik]

I just avoid 90-degree corners whenever possible.

[bassman]

Someone mentioned using a corner chisel- I would not use one- its bad advice. Your corner should not be 90 deg.- unless you have an odd way of making youur necks. The angle is actually a little less than 90 degrees to accomodate for the neck taper. You want a clean pocket right!?

[jer7440]

You could also sand a radius on the end of the neck to fit the radius your router bit leaves.

[Maiden69]

Can you post a pic of the neck, most of the square end necks are because there is no wood between them and the neck pup rout like the Ibanez are. Make sure that it is not this type of neck, if it is and you are making a new body for it, and don't want to make the open space between the neck pocket and the pup rout, I recomend you round up the neck heel instead of squaring the heel corners, it will prevent finish cracks in the corners and give you a better fit.

[Mickguard]

Can you post a pic of the neck,

←

Okay, here:

The neck comes off an old Morris Melody Maker copy--the corners on that are squared off, and there's wood (well, plywood) between the pocket and the pickup rout.

The fit's really tight...I'm working on a piece of scrap wood, but this pockets coming along so well, I think I'll just build a whole guitar around it!

I'm not trying to make the corners 90 degrees, just squared off --there's about 0.5 mm, maybe less (that's very small in inches!) between the neck and the wood.

I'll definitely consider tapering the neck a bit to match though. I'll have to sand the sides a bit anyway, as Myka suggests in his neck pocket jig tutorial. In the meantime, I've got a set of chisels here, I just need to sharpen them first...

Edited February 28, 2005 by idch

[tirapop]

I found a pic of a corner mortising chisel and another. I'd stick with regular chisels.

Since the fingerboard appears to overhang the body, you could also round the corners of the neck (beneath the fingerboard) that will be hidden once the neck is installed.

Edited March 1, 2005 by tirapop

[Mickguard]

Since the fingerboard appears to overhang the body, you could also round the corners of the neck (beneath the fingerboard) that will be hidden once the neck is installed.

←

No, it just looks that way--the fingerboard is flush with the neck. I'm tempted to do that though--remove a bit of the neck so that the fingerboard will end on top of the body. Any advantages to that? Seems like if you want to transfer string vibration, that's a good way to do it, no?

Anyway, I used a plain ol' flat chisel on it last night and managed to eliminate pretty much all of the gap. The fit is so tight now that I'll have to be very careful not to get any finish in there at all.

[CudBucket]

Normally, though, you want to avoid square corners on bolt on necks because of the inclination of the neck to move in the pocket. Could cause problems for square corners. That's why most bolt on necks are rounded.

[CudBucket]

I found a pic of a corner mortising chisel and another.  I'd stick with regular chisels. 

Since the fingerboard appears to overhang the body, you could also round the corners of the neck (beneath the fingerboard) that will be hidden once the neck is installed.

←

Corner mortising chisels are not designed to work in a route as deep as a neck pocket. Mortises are typically very shallow (1/8"). Plus neck pockets are a pretty precise affair and I'd worry about using any cutting tool on a neck pocket that you're supposed to hit with a hammer!

However, the second link looks interesting.

[Doc]

I'd worry about a crack starting and going through the whole body. You've got a sharp lookin' piece of maple there. Hard brittle (for wood) maple. A 90 degree corner with a tight fit and a resistant neck in it is a disaster waiting to happen. When the central heat comes on next winter and your body shrinks a couple of 16's or so you could hear something like a gunshot. Built a piece of furniture about 15 years ago and let a architect talk me into doing something like what you have there. The second one that I got to build for free looked better.

[Houdini]

Another option if you plan on building several guitars this way is to use a mortise machine. These are designed to give deep square corners (unlike the mortise/hammer tool seen above) for a mortise and tenon joint, but should work equally well for what you are doing.

Go to this website

http://www.rockler.com/search_results.cfm?...mortise+machine

or any woodworking tool store to see what one looks like.

You can get a cheap one from Harbor Freight tools at:

http://order.harborfreight.com/EasyAsk/har...ght/results.jsp

I'm not certain, but they may even sell mortising attachments for a drill press.

[Mickguard]

I'd worry about a crack starting and going through the whole body. You've got a sharp lookin' piece of maple there. Hard brittle (for wood) maple. A 90 degree corner with a tight fit and a resistant neck in it is a disaster waiting to happen. When the central heat comes on next winter and your body shrinks a couple of 16's or so you could hear something like a gunshot. Built a piece of furniture about 15 years ago and let a architect talk me into doing something like what you have there. The second one that I got to build for free looked better.

←

Hi,

You mean in the photo? I was told it was ash (frene in French). And I'm not even certain it's been properly dried...comes from scraps I was given by a friend building a bookshelf...

Well, this one's meant to be a learner project, so if things fail, it won't be such a big deal. ...