Instead Of Scarf Joint

[ibreakemineedtobuildem]

I have never done a scarf joint.

I have a 1inch surfaced board and I wanted to stack 1 or 2, 6 inch blocks at the headstock end to cut the headstock out of a solid piece.

Is this done by others?

[GregP]

Scarf joint is way easier, stronger, and will look better. There's no good reason to do it the way you suggest. No offence meant-- I'm simply saying that if you're doing it because a scarf joint is intimidating you, then don't sweat it so much. A scarf joint isn't all that tricky. Certainly it's less tricky than cutting out and planing a headstock the way you're suggesting.

Greg

[ibreakemineedtobuildem]

A scarf joint would be stronger than sandwich laminated?

[GregP]

Actually, I may have overstated the case-- if it's all done right, the lamination idea will be strong enough. Let's say rather that there's more potential for a weak headstock if done the lamination way simply because there are more gluing surfaces that need to be prepped and glued.

Mostly, though, it's not about strength but about ease and aesthetics. When you've cut your headstock from the suggested lamination method, you'll have a lot more ways you can mess it up, and a lot more work to do to get it right, in terms of planing it flat and so forth.

As far as aesthetics, if it's painted on one side and has a headplate on the other it won't really matter I suppose, but in a natural finish, you'll get these weird lines going through it, where one laminated layer is glued into the next.

I'm not meaning to say it's an idea that "won't work". If you do it right, it should "work" fine. It just seems to me that you're thinking about it as a way of getting around having to do a scarf joint; however, there's no mystery to a scarf joint, it's not hard to do, the results are already field-tested and proven, and anyone can do it even if it's your first one. I can say this because I've only scarfed up one neck, and while I made a very minor flub, it was easily fixed and I could have taken about 2 minutes worth of steps to avoid that one flub.

Doing a scarf joint isn't anything to fret about.

Greg

[ibreakemineedtobuildem]

Thanks Greg.Yeah.I'm gonna want the headstock to be clear so a nice scarf joint will be what I need to do.Time to stop avoiding it and try I guess.

I'll try on a scrap first before my birdseye blank.

[Guitarfrenzy]

Scarf joints aren't that hard like Greg said, but they do have a learning curve. You will need a way of cutting the angle you want correctly first and foremost. If it's a tablesaw jig, bandsaw, router jig, or even simply a handsaw, you'll still need to accurately cut it so that it's close to level to begin with. The next thing you'll need is a way to clean up the wood for a tight fitting joint when you glue. You can use a belt sander to level them nicely or hand plan either one works best for you. Then learning to glue them back together is usually the biggest problem, and it's all in how you do it and clamp it. Some use small nails, others bolts, and some use jigs to hold it in place, whatever works for you, that's what you'll have to discover. A scarf joint isn't bad if you know what to do before you start.. lol I didn't have that luxury on my first one and it almost made me pull my hair out. It's one thing to do a scarf joint, and another to do a professional scarf joint that is a tight joint.

Matt Vinson

[Setch]

Stick with the scarf. The way you're suggesting has all the structural dissadvantages of a one piece neck (ie: shortgrain in the headstock) without the cosmetic advantages. It's also no easier than doing a scarf joint, so I can't see any advantages to using it.