Trixie Cant Act Posted October 20, 2008 Report Share Posted October 20, 2008 (edited) Ok so Ive made plenty of flat headstock necks (fender style) now I want to go onto angled headstocks (Gibson style) The problem I have is that my bandsaw and my mitre box does allow for that extreme (15 degrees or so) of an angle without modifying. My precision mitre box goes to 45 degrees and my bandsaw goe to only 60 degrees. Any tips tricks or plans to set something up on them would be great! How are others cutting this angle? Thanks, Joe Edited October 20, 2008 by Trixie Cant Act Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Abbett Posted October 20, 2008 Report Share Posted October 20, 2008 I draw lines on the side, then cut with my bandsaw. I leave extra, then use my jointer to hit the line on the side you can joint, and my stationary sander with the board hanging off the end to do the underside. -J Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Abbett Posted October 20, 2008 Report Share Posted October 20, 2008 Oh, one more thing, my bandsaw leaves a good finish. I use a 1/2 inch blade, and it doesn't wander much. It doesn't take much cleanup, one pass with the jointer and a few seconds on the belt sander. -J Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
madawgony Posted October 20, 2008 Report Share Posted October 20, 2008 Oh, one more thing, my bandsaw leaves a good finish. I use a 1/2 inch blade, and it doesn't wander much. It doesn't take much cleanup, one pass with the jointer and a few seconds on the belt sander. -J +1 Band saw for the initial cut then clean it up with sandpaper or jointer or plane. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prostheta Posted October 20, 2008 Report Share Posted October 20, 2008 Factor in where your glueline will lay also. It's all too common that the difference in the thickness of the headstock and the thickness of the remaining neck blank causes confusion, and the scarf ends up where you didn't plan on having it, or the neck ends up shorter than you expect. I like the way Juha Ruokangas cuts the piece for the headstock scarf from the waste which is usually cut away at the bottom of the blank under the neck. You do need a deep blank for that however, but you do get a free heel :-D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ArieBombarie Posted October 28, 2008 Report Share Posted October 28, 2008 Hi There... For cutting the neckwood at an 15 degree angle so I could make a scarf-joint I build a special Jig. You clamp the neckwood on this Jig and use a table-saw for cutting the wood. It found it hard to cut exactly where I needed the cut, so I made the scarfjoint-cut first and worked from there (marking the nut, neck length etc.) I worked out fine! here are the plans I found... Here is the one I build and used... Good Luck, Grz Arjan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
j. pierce Posted October 29, 2008 Report Share Posted October 29, 2008 The last one I did I used a bandsaw and cleaned it up with a handplane, because I happened to be at my fathers house cutting out body blanks with the bandsaw. But the majority of them, I've marked my cuts with a scribe or a knife, and cut them out with a steady hand and a stiff pullsaw. Cleaned them up with a block plane. Not the quickest way if you're doing lots of production, but it works quickly enough and well enough for me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bluesy Posted October 29, 2008 Report Share Posted October 29, 2008 But the majority of them, I've marked my cuts with a scribe or a knife, and cut them out with a steady hand and a stiff pullsaw. Cleaned them up with a block plane. Not the quickest way if you're doing lots of production, but it works quickly enough and well enough for me. I know I've posted about this before, but that's what I do too. Works quite well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
komodo Posted October 29, 2008 Report Share Posted October 29, 2008 This is all so funny, because the other day I needed to cut a compound scarf for a fanned neck and couldn't think of anyway to do it other than a handsaw and block plane. So as I was doing it I thought "I wonder how all those other guys do this?". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RestorationAD Posted October 30, 2008 Report Share Posted October 30, 2008 I found this on talk bass. I think this is the trick. I have had real issues doing figured maple on the jointer (tear-out) and I don't have a reliable table saw. Talk Bass Scarf Joint Jig Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pestvic Posted November 7, 2008 Report Share Posted November 7, 2008 wouldnt just setting the angle of your jigsaw work? i have a jigsaw that you can adjust from 0-30 degrees. i dont know thats something i would do Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RestorationAD Posted November 7, 2008 Report Share Posted November 7, 2008 wouldnt just setting the angle of your jigsaw work? i have a jigsaw that you can adjust from 0-30 degrees. i dont know thats something i would do The jigsaw is probably not the best approach. I doubt it could do the 14-15 degree angle you needed plus the blade wobble would cause some issues. If you were going to do it by hand a nice Japanese pull saw would be the trick. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WAK Guitars Posted November 7, 2008 Report Share Posted November 7, 2008 I found this on talk bass. I think this is the trick. I have had real issues doing figured maple on the jointer (tear-out) and I don't have a reliable table saw. Talk Bass Scarf Joint Jig I was thinking of building one of those router jigs further down the page, probably makes a lot of waste though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
guitar_player Posted November 7, 2008 Report Share Posted November 7, 2008 My dad is a cabinetmaker and told me to just cut it freehand on the bandsaw and clean it up with a blockplane but I'm thinking another option might be if you have a radial arm saw, it probably would allow you to do a 15 degree angle. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
westhemann Posted November 9, 2008 Report Share Posted November 9, 2008 I just looked at compound miter saws...sears has a 10" for $140 or so that cuts at 15 degrees...they also have a 12" sliding compound miter saw for $290 or so...both are laser guided...sounds like the perfect tool at the perfect price if you do allot of scarf joints...I am thinking of picking one up... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RestorationAD Posted November 9, 2008 Report Share Posted November 9, 2008 I used my chop saw for one ... and radial arm saw for another... it is hard to get them perfect without a jig. If you build the router jig and cut the initial scarf with a pull saw, use the jig to clean up, waste is minimal Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaycee Posted November 9, 2008 Report Share Posted November 9, 2008 (edited) This is what I use, a piece of mdf with two channels routered out, the sides are cut at 15 degrees. I cut the headstoch with a saw then clean them and true up with a router sliding alond the wedges I secure the wedges with screws from underneath, and I also use it to "plane" pieces with the router by replacing the wedges with two equal hieght rails, not my idea but it works well. Edited November 9, 2008 by jaycee Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pestvic Posted November 9, 2008 Report Share Posted November 9, 2008 wouldnt just setting the angle of your jigsaw work? i have a jigsaw that you can adjust from 0-30 degrees. i dont know thats something i would do The jigsaw is probably not the best approach. I doubt it could do the 14-15 degree angle you needed plus the blade wobble would cause some issues. If you were going to do it by hand a nice Japanese pull saw would be the trick. well yeah the jigsaw isnt very stable. but you know what i meant couldnt you just find a tool like a pull saw or whatever and just set it to 15 degrees? most tools are adjustable arent they? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
guitar_player Posted November 9, 2008 Report Share Posted November 9, 2008 wouldnt just setting the angle of your jigsaw work? i have a jigsaw that you can adjust from 0-30 degrees. i dont know thats something i would do I would think that would be too easy to mess up. I would draw the line you want to cut and freehand it on the bandsaw or a japanese pull saw (which seems like the cleanest way to do it just a little more work) and then doublestick tape the headstock piece and the neck piece together and clean it up with a blockplane. I have a radial arm saw so I might go that way but I don't really like using it for anything other than crosscutting. The craftsman miter saw mentioned earlier would be pretty much perfect I wouldn't buy one just for this though although having a sliding one would be nice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
westhemann Posted November 9, 2008 Report Share Posted November 9, 2008 The craftsman miter saw mentioned earlier would be pretty much perfect I wouldn't buy one just for this though although having a sliding one would be nice $130 it would pay for itself in wood saved over none scarf jointed headstocks...or just in time saved...those things cut clean. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
guitar_player Posted November 10, 2008 Report Share Posted November 10, 2008 The craftsman miter saw mentioned earlier would be pretty much perfect I wouldn't buy one just for this though although having a sliding one would be nice $130 it would pay for itself in wood saved over none scarf jointed headstocks...or just in time saved...those things cut clean. I wouldn't go with no scarf joint there are tons of ways to do it. $130 is alot to save a half hour or 45 minutes every couple of months even if I had to do it by hand if I didn't have a chop saw I'd buy one though. I just remembered that I have access to 1 maybe even 2 chop saws that would cut 15 degree angles or I'll just use my radial arm saw the blades pretty dull though. I kind of want to cut it by hand though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prostheta Posted November 11, 2008 Report Share Posted November 11, 2008 This is what I use, a piece of mdf with two channels routered out, the sides are cut at 15 degrees. I cut the headstoch with a saw then clean them and true up with a router sliding alond the wedges I have sets of two Perspex angles which I clamp either side of the neck blank after rough-cutting the scarf by hand or bandsaw. I'm doing a multiscale neck scarf this week for which I am using these same angled guides. Just offset the treble side guide back and bring it into the same angle as the nut point relative to the other guide and you're cutting a compound scarf which flips and glues up the same as a "normal" scarf. Trust me. :-D I'll mock this up for you in a sec. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prostheta Posted November 11, 2008 Report Share Posted November 11, 2008 There y'all go. Instant simple compound angled scarf joint router jig. Two bits of wood or Perspex :-D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Woodenspoke Posted November 11, 2008 Report Share Posted November 11, 2008 I just looked at compound miter saws...sears has a 10" for $140 or so that cuts at 15 degrees...they also have a 12" sliding compound miter saw for $290 or so...both are laser guided...sounds like the perfect tool at the perfect price if you do allot of scarf joints...I am thinking of picking one up... If you use a radial arm saw or miter box you will still need a jig to hold the neck tight against the fence. Otherwise its not gooing to work. A table saw is your best bet if you are going to machine the joint. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
guitar_player Posted November 11, 2008 Report Share Posted November 11, 2008 I just looked at compound miter saws...sears has a 10" for $140 or so that cuts at 15 degrees...they also have a 12" sliding compound miter saw for $290 or so...both are laser guided...sounds like the perfect tool at the perfect price if you do allot of scarf joints...I am thinking of picking one up... If you use a radial arm saw or miter box you will still need a jig to hold the neck tight against the fence. Otherwise its not gooing to work. A table saw is your best bet if you are going to machine the joint. Wouldn't a couple clamps work, you might have to screw a piece of wood onto the fence to make it taller though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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