CrazyManAndy Posted April 14, 2008 Author Report Share Posted April 14, 2008 (edited) jmrentis, Thanks for the tip on cutting height. I don't recall reading that in the manual, but it sounds like a good idea. The piece does have some pretty nice figure, hopefully the finish will bring it out more. Xanthus, I'll be sure to address the truss rod slot issue just before I install it. That's a great webpage, bookmarked it! I'm not sure what you mean by running the "router bearing up against" the fretboard though. Why would I need to do that? CMA Edited April 14, 2008 by CrazyManAndy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xanthus Posted April 14, 2008 Report Share Posted April 14, 2008 Well, I meant that if you get the fretboard to the right taper, you can slap it on an untapered neck blank and use the router to get the neck blank to proper shape. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CrazyManAndy Posted April 14, 2008 Author Report Share Posted April 14, 2008 Ahh yes, I see what you're saying. My brain was going to sleep on me last night, as you can see in some of my other posts... CMA Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CrazyManAndy Posted May 18, 2008 Author Report Share Posted May 18, 2008 (edited) Welp. I'm officially PO'd at myself. The fretboard moved during glue-up, so I attempted to remove it using the tutorial on the project guitar page; however, I could not get it to come off! I spent a good while just sitting there trying to get the glue to give, but it didn't. I then decided to skip all of that nonsense and do it the easy way. I was simply going to cut the fretboard off, salvaging it, and just make a new neck for it. I wasn't completely happy with the neck in the first place. Already a bit ticked off after all of that, I should have taken a break and gathered my thoughts. Well, you know what they say about hindsight. Anyway, I ended up damaging the fretboard enough to make it unusable for this project! Every time I think about it I want to slap myself.... I learned my lesson after that disaster and decided to take a break. I took some time to finish up my pipe and then finally began work on a new neck two days ago. I've managed to bring it almost to the point where I destroyed the last one. I didn't bother documenting it, since I used mostly the same methods as before. I got a new fretboard from Erik and it's very nice, so I'm pretty stoked about that. Expect some updates in the next few days! CMA Edited May 18, 2008 by CrazyManAndy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CrazyManAndy Posted July 14, 2008 Author Report Share Posted July 14, 2008 (edited) I need to stop promising updates. Every time I do that, it never happens! But that's ok, it's all good now. I need to get this bastard finished! Finally tackled the glue-up again, and it went really well this time. Just a note: most of the glue-up pics, except for the third one, are from my first attempt. I followed almost the same process, save for the trick with the nails. The Neck 28 - Applying silicon to the location where the brass blocks will sit. The Neck 29 - Truss rod in. The Neck 30 - Getting ready to apply the glue. I got the smallest nails I could find at Wal-mart, 17 gauge I believe they are. The fret will cover up the indentations left by the nails. The Neck 31 - Glue applied. The Neck 32 - Removed the tape. The Neck 33 - Fretboard has been attached and the clamps applied. It's very hard to nail the fretboard down because the glue causes it to slide around. If you've got a partner, like I had, it's much easier. I left it with the clamps on for twenty-four hours and waited another twenty-four to begin work on it. The Neck 34 1 2 - The glue has had sufficient time to dry. The Neck 35 - Using the band saw, I will remove most of the excess. Patience is the key here. The band saw has no problem going right into the neck wood, if you let it! The Neck 36 - Excess removed. The Neck 37 - Time to bring the fretboard closer to flush using the robo-sander. The guide bearing is slightly larger than the sanding drum, so there will be a very small amount of excess left. The Neck 38 1 2 3 - Done with the robo-sander. I'm currently debating whether to sand the rest or use the router. I'm leaning toward the router, as their is very little edge left, thus tear out shouldn't be a problem (I hope). What do YOU think? CMA Edited July 14, 2008 by CrazyManAndy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xanthus Posted July 14, 2008 Report Share Posted July 14, 2008 I think it looks pretty sweet! I also have learned to trust my robosander more than the router. And as another plus, it's great for shaping volutes on angled headstocks, and conversely must be great for Fender curves on straight headstocks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CrazyManAndy Posted July 14, 2008 Author Report Share Posted July 14, 2008 (edited) Quick update: I cleaned up the edges with the router. Looks pretty good. The glue line is a little more obvious than I would like. I also futz'd up the heel a bit with the router. You can see it in the fourth pic. I'll have sand that out. Pic 3 Pic 4 Pic 5 CMA Edited July 14, 2008 by CrazyManAndy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prostheta Posted August 9, 2008 Report Share Posted August 9, 2008 Progress? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CrazyManAndy Posted August 25, 2008 Author Report Share Posted August 25, 2008 Yes sir! I was out of town for a bit, I meant to mention that... I used the Robo-sander to shape the transition between the fretboard and the face of the headstock. There isn't much fretboard left past the nut. In retrospect, I should have gotten the smaller radius Robo-sander for the job. Because of the large radius, I had to go farther into the fretboard than I wanted just to complete the transition. We live and learn. I forgot to photograph the process, but if you really want to see how I did it, go to GuitarFrenzy's Stratocaster tutorial. I used the same process. After I used the Robo-sander, I smoothed the neck (everything but the fretboard) with 180 grit. Here it is: The Neck 39 1 The next step is to put in the side dots. I'll have to order the black plastic rod online as I cannot seem to find it locally. I've decided against any sort of fretboard inlay. I like the look of a clean fretboard, and side dots are sufficient place markers. Once that is finished, I'll probably radius the fretboard. Does anyone know where I can get the black plastic rod for the side dots (either locally or online)? CMA Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
killemall8 Posted August 25, 2008 Report Share Posted August 25, 2008 black side dots Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CrazyManAndy Posted August 25, 2008 Author Report Share Posted August 25, 2008 black side dots Thank you, sir! CMA Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jmrentis Posted August 25, 2008 Report Share Posted August 25, 2008 Looks very nice Andy. The difference in fretboard behind the nut doesn't even look that noticeable, I think if your board was rosewood it might have been worse. Although I actually like that steep looking lip on it, I'm curious to see how it looks once your closer to being finished. Keep those pics coming. J Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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