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Tight Neckjoints?


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just make your neck first, trace the heel on your template material. then use a bandsaw to remove most of it. then use fine files to get to the inside of the line. this works for me, but if you dont want to do it like that, you can do it like perry does here in this video

what you do is clamp your neck to the body, then put the mdf or any kind of straight edges on the sides of the heel perfeclty flat up against it, then another small one in the midde that fits the shape of your heel. this makes it perfectly tight.

Edited by killemall8
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Huh, I always consider neck-throughs to be more difficult. Certainly a bigger risk of potential disaster-- I mean, once the neck's set, you're screwed if it isn't right, right?

I tend to use the rail method to make a template, then use that for the actual pocket. I add a layer of tape just to get things a little bit extra snug. From there, a little light sanding (and then what ever finish I use on the sides of the neck) are enough.

It's just like anything else--with a little care, you'll get there.

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I have a related question:

Just finished my first bolt-on neck, it will be finished with Tru-Oil. I've made the neck pocket already, and the join is so tight that I can pick up the body from lying horizontally just by lifting the neck up. I've been led to believe this is the ideal scenario of join to achieve. So, my question is this:

as I will be painting the body, will I still be able to fit the neck in the pocket, or will I have to slightly "slacken" the joint to allow for paint thickness? How do you guys do this? Thanks!

DJ

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I have a related question:

Just finished my first bolt-on neck, it will be finished with Tru-Oil. I've made the neck pocket already, and the join is so tight that I can pick up the body from lying horizontally just by lifting the neck up. I've been led to believe this is the ideal scenario of join to achieve. So, my question is this:

as I will be painting the body, will I still be able to fit the neck in the pocket, or will I have to slightly "slacken" the joint to allow for paint thickness? How do you guys do this? Thanks!

DJ

tape off the inside of the pocket;

when i do clear colour and it builds up along the edge ,i grab a block with some 150 and gently glide the inside of the pocket, not coarse enough to dramatically change the size but more than enogh to scrape additional lacquer.

but yes get rid of it, when you go to put in an alrady snug neck you'll encourage ugly chipiin.

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Your finish will always have a thickness, so slacken it for sure. If it's too tight on assembly you can crack the finish, either that or seasonal changes and use might just do that for you anyway :-D

Up till now i've not made necks with any finish so I can get away with loosening the joint by reducing the neck part to suit rather than the body. A bolt-on however, has no immediate need to be dead tight in the joint (you're not looking for a tight glueing quality joint) so you can reduce it by 1mm-2mm quite happily and with some patience and practice you can get it snug anyway. If you're finishing your neck, you can always mask the part of the neck that goes into the pocket so you're not building it up. Plenty of options - depends on what suits you and your builds.

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the Ormsby Method (Heh heh) of using two boards alongside the actual neck is how I did my test fits. First and second practice runs, I did with pine scraps.

First attempt proved doing it right the first time is worth the prep and care. I just drew the pocket onto the body wood, and routed to the lines, then fine sanded. Didn't fit at all. Sanding made the pocket crooked. So I chiseled a bit, worsened it. Then I got a small block plane, and squared the pocket's sides to the body. It was horrible, because my horizontal reference lines were off by about 1/2" inch once I tucked the neck into the pocket. The neck sat far too forward on the body, increasing the scale length. I needed three strips of masking tape to make it snug. That moved the tapered neck back into the body the right amount, but was still quite a failure.

Second attempt, I just lined up the neck's centerline with the body centerline and quickly clamped it. Then tapped it a few times to align it exactly. Then I clamped two boards on each side of the neck, and really tightened those clamps. My neck will run into my neck pickup's pocket, so no need for the middle block. Then I wiggled the neck out, routed, and my pencil lines were dead-on.

Just make sure you use two identically thick blocks, that are about 1/4" taller on your body than your fretboard and frets (if the frets are already inserted) so you can easily clamp some quick setup boards over your two guide boards. Then once you pull the neck out, your router's baseplate will float squarely over the pocket. Drop your router bit as deep as you need, double and triple check your depth, and go for it.

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