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making the headstock angle


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:D I've started to build my first neck out of pine. I'm using measurements off my ibanez wizard(ish) neck. And it has a headstock angle (and i hate guitars w/o em) and so i have to copy the angle.... i have it drawn out, and theres enough wood, but ummmmm, i don't know how to cut it.... The miter saw doesn't look like it'll do the job, i don't have a bandsaw, and the rotozip (kinda like a torqued up and bigger version of a dremel) seems like it would take too long... I saw the tutorial that says to cut the triangle, then glue the removed triangle on the reverse, and cut again, but i can't do that, i've already gone too far... any help would be appreciated.

thanks.

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Doing a 1 piece, or gluing on? Also, jigsaes work, but I'd find a bandsaw. 

I'm doing a 1 piece, and glueing on extra wood on the end so that it's thick enough to cut an angle. I don't know if that's what you meant, or if you meant doing that odd u-joint thing ibanez does? Yea, so far i've used a jigsaw for every cut... but i'm not sure it would work in this situation.

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I don't know much about building guitars, but I do seem to remember someone on this board asking about using pine for guitars, and the general opinion seemed to be that pine is too soft.

Or am I wrong?

yes that is correct, it is WAY too soft. I'm just build like 4 or 5 practice necks out of pine because it's cheap, and I don't wanna waste money on maple or mahogany or anything else I might mess up on. Hell, this first neck might turn out perfect, but chances are is that if i woulda done it with maple first, something bad woulda happened, i have bad luck...

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I looked at the tutorials to give me an idea, but basically i took the 1 by 4 and i measured, and i started. I figure by the 5th one i do, i'll have developed a way to do it with ease. Tommorow I'm picking up a rasp or two, and a file or two, gonna try the rotozip to put in the headstock angle, and see where it goes...

and Litch, I dunno if maple is available at home depot? but at home depot a 6 foot piece of 1 by 4 is 6 bucks, it's double that on stew mac... and "board feet" and all those fancy measurements on the web aren't much help...

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um.... how about ditching the power tools (Rotozip??? Are you high?)

This job can be done with a hand saw. You use you hand, in conjunction with your arm, in a recipricating back-and-forward motion. Then you use a plane, also with the hand/arm tag team, to true up the faces.

It's amazing the things you can accomplish without ever plugging into a power outlet. </sarcasm>

Secondly, it you're having to glue on a piece, angle it to get the strongest grain orientation - you've already lost the aesthetic appeal of a one piece, so you may as well trade that against the improved strength of an angled scarf joint.

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FWIW, I've made a little 13 degree jig in which I clamp down the (unshaped) neck and only use my router with a medium/large bit in it to shape it. Then I turn the piece around, both hor. and vert. and do the same, with a different depth ofcourse. leaving me with a perfect 13 degree angled headstock in any thickness I want....

I'll post a pic if I can find a digicam somewhere.

JP

ps. The jig I copied from a guitarsite somewhere...

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I use my bandsaw and then one of my belt sanders to flaten out the surface, though I guess you can't do it that way. A scrollsaw would work, but would probably take forever.

I considered doing it that way but i wanted something with a bit more accuracy insurance, looks like it woked out pretty good for you :D

the miter saw is the perfect tool for that imo

johnneck10-1.jpg

johnneck10-2.jpg

no need to worry about blade wander, but think i do need a new sharper blade, thinking about trying out of those fraud 80 tpi carbon blades.

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Guest Litchfield Custom Gutars
FWIW, maple is cheaper than pine.

Where do you buy wood? At my local places Pine is around 2$ BF and Maple is around 8$ BF or more, and that's just the plain Maple.

:D

Well, I shop at Windsor and I get my maple 1x4s for $1.09 a BF. Pine is abot $2.30 a BF.

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