fyb Posted September 5, 2007 Report Share Posted September 5, 2007 The neck I'm working on is made of maple and sapele laminates and a scarfed sapele headstock. My neck blank is nice and square, and I could have sworn my cut for the scarf was too, but after I glued the headstock on and jointed it smooth I found that the break right where the nut will meet is angled maybe 10 degrees! Here are the pics ... http://img266.imageshack.us/img266/3320/head2cb9.jpg The fretboard you see there is a StewMac Fender style one and I planned on hacking off the nut slot area and use a Gibson style nut with the angled headstock. What can I do in this situation?? The headstock is already 9/16" thick and the neck blank really can't get much thinner or it won't work in the body I built. I don't know how to square up this edge so it looks decent. Any advice would be greatly appreciated! Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon Posted September 5, 2007 Report Share Posted September 5, 2007 When scarf jointing, you need to make sure your pieces are jointed and squared off so you don't have two different angles when gluing them together. It will still produce a strong joint, it's just a bit crooked. I did this before when testing a neck jig and didn't square the headstock piece off. What method did you use to scarf the headstock and neck? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mammoth guitars Posted September 5, 2007 Report Share Posted September 5, 2007 From the second picture it looks like you might be ok. The nut shelf parts that are greater than the nut width will be cut off and it appears you are only short on the right. Its tough to tell with small cam phone pictures, perhaps others will see something different. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ToddW Posted September 5, 2007 Report Share Posted September 5, 2007 I don't know a safe and fast way to fix this because you'd risk making the blank too short if you use a jointer. Your headstock is tilted to the side a little. I'd use a very flat, longish sanding block to sand the far side in the picture, the high side, until it almost lines up with the near one, then flatten the entire surface by sanding diagonally and across the headstock. But maybe someone else has a simpler method. Todd Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fyb Posted September 5, 2007 Author Report Share Posted September 5, 2007 I don't know a safe and fast way to fix this because you'd risk making the blank too short if you use a jointer. Your headstock is tilted to the side a little. I'd use a very flat, longish sanding block to sand the far side in the picture, the high side, until it almost lines up with the near one, then flatten the entire surface by sanding diagonally and across the headstock. But maybe someone else has a simpler method. Todd The headstock did move a bit as I was clamping, but I didn't think it'd be that big of a deal since it's going to get trimmed up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon Posted September 5, 2007 Report Share Posted September 5, 2007 Last time there was a scarf joint discussion, I altered my scarf jointing technique a little. Since then I have been drilling two holes off to the side of the nut (the wood that gets cut off) and nail two brad nails in there then hammer them to the sides so the neck wont slide around when gluing. I don't think it's possible to get a better scarf joint now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fyb Posted September 5, 2007 Author Report Share Posted September 5, 2007 When scarf jointing, you need to make sure your pieces are jointed and squared off so you don't have two different angles when gluing them together. It will still produce a strong joint, it's just a bit crooked. I did this before when testing a neck jig and didn't square the headstock piece off. What method did you use to scarf the headstock and neck? I rough cut the angle on the laminated part with my bandsaw and then flattened it on my jointer. I glue the headstock on without cutting the angle first, and then cut off the excess from the headstock and jointed it until it was flush with the rest if the neck. The best thing in the future I think is to make a jig like I saw on your website Jon, but I'm stuck now Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ToddW Posted September 5, 2007 Report Share Posted September 5, 2007 I don't know a safe and fast way to fix this because you'd risk making the blank too short if you use a jointer. Your headstock is tilted to the side a little. I'd use a very flat, longish sanding block to sand the far side in the picture, the high side, until it almost lines up with the near one, then flatten the entire surface by sanding diagonally and across the headstock. But maybe someone else has a simpler method. Todd The headstock did move a bit as I was clamping, but I didn't think it'd be that big of a deal since it's going to get trimmed up. Not a big deal, but sanding is boring. I use a 2 x 18 sanding block of 1" thick walnut with 100grit on it to flatten small parts. I run it down a jointer every once in a while if it doesn't perfectly match my Leigh Valley straight edge. You could even out the thickness of the headstock if you wanted by sanding the back after you level the front, if you have enough depth. I'm guessing you'll need to take off less than a mm. Todd Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
akvguitars Posted September 5, 2007 Report Share Posted September 5, 2007 I've run into this problem before, as I use mostly hand tools (no jointer, just hand planes!). What I usually do is make the headstock piece a decent bit thicker than the finished dimensions. If the headstock doesn't square up right away, I'll plane the high side down, in all directions, until the top of the headstock is flat and square to the neck. Then I'll take on the backside of the headstock until it's flat, square and uniformly the dimension I want. Takes a decent amount of work, but it's as accurate as any machine job I've seen. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Setch Posted September 5, 2007 Report Share Posted September 5, 2007 What AKV said - plane the front face square, then thickness the headstock to make it an even thickness. I use a drum sander jig to thickness, but until very recently I used a router planing jig. If the thickness ends up a bit on the thin side, compensate with a veneer frotn and back. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Acousticraft Posted September 5, 2007 Report Share Posted September 5, 2007 (edited) I guess the glue lines on your laminates from neck to headstock dont line up? That is the reason I laminate my neck in two pieces with the grain opposite on each piece, then bandsaw the whole thing out. I know it takes more timber but you dont have the problem you described and is strong. Edited September 5, 2007 by Acousticraft Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ToddW Posted September 5, 2007 Report Share Posted September 5, 2007 I guess the glue lines on your laminates from neck to headstock dont line up? That is the reason I laminate my neck in two pieces with the grain opposite on each piece, then bandsaw the whole thing out. I know it takes more timber but you dont have the problem you described and is strong. Don't see how the glue lines wouldn't line up. Do you mean the grain lines in the wood? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daniel Sorbera Posted September 5, 2007 Report Share Posted September 5, 2007 You can also cut that sucker off and start again. Re-scarf if you will. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.