Bowed Neck Blank.

[dave293]

I have a maple neck blank with a slight bow in it. It is very close to final thickness so i can't plane too much off.

Now for the question, Is there any way i cant straighten this blank so i can use it?

I have had weights on the blank for almost a week to try and straighten it, but it is not working.

Thanks for any repiles.

[Mattia]

Honestly for a neck, if it ain't got enough on it to plane flat, I'd be very hesitant to do anything with heat or moisture to get it flatter.

[mammoth guitars]

Clamp it to a table with two blocks on either end with the clamp in the middle and the bow out facing up. Adjust the clamp until the wood is straight, then tighten it slightly every couple of hours until its bowed in the opposite direction. Keep it in the clamp for a couple of days, then remove. If its not straight place it back in the clamp setup and tighten more. Be very careful not to overtighten or it will crack. If the clamp becomes loose then tighten some more (it will become loose as the wood bends into shape). The adjustment must be done slowly. We have used this method to straighten necks from low-end kits to a Warmoth neck.

[dave293]

Thanks for the replies, mammoth i am trying that method now , thanks.

[verhoevenc]

I'd go for the clamp it flat with water on the concave side. That way that side'll expand to make it straight. However, If it's only SLIGHTLY off, and it'll able to be pushed flat when working with, you could really go ahead and build with it just keeping pressure so it's flat while doing the cuts/truss route, etc., then clamp it flat when you glue it. And after that glueing of the fretboard if it's still warped... well youve always got the truss rod to fix things JSUT liket hat. (If you do this, use it so the bend is in the opposite direction that strings will eventually be putting pressure on it.) This worked FINE for me once. But like I said, it was only a small bend.

Chris

[Guitarfrenzy]

Honestly for a neck, if it ain't got enough on it to plane flat, I'd be very hesitant to do anything with heat or moisture to get it flatter.

Ditto, the neck is very critical and the wood needs to be straight as can be. Wood that has a tendancy to bow or warp real bad, in my opinion, isn't a wood you want to use for a neck. If you do, use CF rods to stabilize it better. I'd just put it aside and get a better piece of wood that's straight if it was me. Why chance all your hard work, only to find that the neck wood later bowed and warped again a couple of years later.

[dave293]

Ok, i may just buy a new blank for this guitar.

But would it be safe to use this board as neck laminations instead of wasting the board? Or would it still be to risky?

[verhoevenc]

put up a pic that shows how bowed it is...?

Chris

[dave293]

^The gap in the middle is 2.5mm.

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y117/dave293/bow.jpg

[Mattia]

That's pretty significant bow, in my book. You can try clamping/heating it flat, seeing if it'll take, and then leaving it for a few months (like, 3-6) and seeing if it moves when released from its tensioned prison, or plane it flat and again, watch it a while to see how it reacts. Don't plan on using it right now, either way.

[Phil Mailloux]

In my personal opinion, it's a bad idea to try to straighten a neck blank. Buy one thats fine in the first place, don't try to fix a lower quality piece, it'll end up being a lower quality neck if you do.

Use that wood for laminates or jigs or whatever.

[verhoevenc]

Here's more of my take on the situation.

1) Maple is not a very pretty wood unless you've got some figuring in it... so I doubt you'll wanna use it for laminates, unless you've got something else pretty to put around it to liven things up.

2) Maple isn't a very expensive wood either. So by not losing this you're not losing out on much $$$.

3) HOWEVER, with all that said, I still think you could use that piece IF when you put it concave down on a table you can easily press it flat (if not, then don't use it). If you can press if flat this means you can personally keep it flat for all machining steps, ie: routing shape, truss rod cavity, etc. Then, when it comes time to glue it to the fretboard, just clamp it fretboard down to something flat while glueing. Then once it's dried, use the truss rod to alleviate the bow. And like I said, if you back it so it's bowed the opposite direction of string tension I don't see any issue, hell, in the end when it's strung up it may make it so you have to adjust less with the rod in the end. HOWEVER I will say PUT A DOULE ACTION ROD IN IT!

Chris

[Jalien21]

i don't have anything meaningful to say, but dave, man. that is a sweet avatar.

[Phil Mailloux]

Here's more of my take on that too

99% of the maple necks out there aren't figured, obviously you don't need figured maple for your neck. You can use this wood in laminates if you plane it flat first. Whether you want to add contrasting layers of veneer or figured woods to it is fine but you can also only use the maple by itself. By gluing several laminates of that wood (planed flat first) together you'll end up with a much stiffer neck than if you used it on it's flat side.

[dave293]

Thanks for the advice.

I will put this neck aside for another project where i will laminate it with other woods. I will buy a new blank for this project.