Rockhorst Posted July 10, 2016 Author Report Share Posted July 10, 2016 (edited) @DandHcustoms: I'm in the Netherlands, The Hague area @stevie1556: the price difference between MDF and acrylic is only due to a difference in material cost. The laser cutting itself is charged by the total path length over which the laser cuts. But a large enough sheet of MDF is about €7 while the same size in acrylic is between €50 (5 mm) and €77 (8 mm). Edited July 10, 2016 by Rockhorst Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rockhorst Posted August 23, 2016 Author Report Share Posted August 23, 2016 Getting ready to get back on track after a holiday travelling around New Zealand's North Island Hoping to us my neighbours power tools tomorrow (he's a building contractor, so band saws and stuff aplenty at his workshop). Most important task is to cut the 14 degree scarf joint. Hoping that goes well. Just a quick double check: all my bolt-on guitars have a heel height of 20 mm, but my blank is only 19 mm. I could make the fretboard a bit thicker or route the neck pocket a little less deep. That would be fine right, no serious structural issues? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prostheta Posted August 23, 2016 Report Share Posted August 23, 2016 Nah, none at all. Thinner is common. As long as the neck screws/bolts spread the load over a large area it's not too important. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Muzz Posted August 24, 2016 Report Share Posted August 24, 2016 On 7/10/2016 at 2:58 AM, DandHcustoms said: I saw some one else on here or sso that had a similar jig so I had to make one it's a great idea! A router sled isn't terrible for cutting scarf joints it just takes some time to get the Jig set up properly and of course actually cut the scarf. Where are you located there may be somebody from this group that is close by that wouldn't mind helping you outmind helping you out Plans for a jig to cut a scarf joint with a hand saw on my Cherry Bomb thread page 2 PS if you use the plan just scroll down to the picture of the jig being used to correct the placement of one of the dowel guides. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rockhorst Posted September 5, 2016 Author Report Share Posted September 5, 2016 @Muzz: thanks for that scarf cut jig! Very clever and hadn't seen that yet. I had the pieces cut on a bandsaw and held them against a big belt sander. Got me reasonably close in a very short amount of time, but it's definitely not perfect jet. Getting it perfect by hand is hard. I tried a sanding jig like you used before, and the result for me was not on par. Figuring out a way to do this is my next bottleneck. By the way, I've started on a cigar box guitar as a parallel project, coming along nicely and a little less complicated. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rockhorst Posted September 5, 2016 Author Report Share Posted September 5, 2016 *To be most specific: what I find difficult is not just flattening the two scarf pieces, but getting it absolutely square at the same time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prostheta Posted September 5, 2016 Report Share Posted September 5, 2016 Sanding is my preferred method of truing up the faces, however there's something very very specific that I do to ensure that the face doesn't round off over one side of the neck part, and that's to "bounce" it when I'm placing the face down onto the sanding surface. That is, place the edge where the scarf meets the flat fingerboard glueing face of the neck onto the sanding platen and then push down with the fingers I use to hold the scarf flat so it pivots down onto the surface. It should bounce slightly as you rock it into position, and I use that to gauge the balance better. Not sure if that makes much sense because it's a really physical practice. The objective is to ensure that the face is getting more or less even pressure rather than say, concentrated to one side or at the nut break edge. Does that make sense? Usually cleanup of this kind over an old 120grit sanding belt on a board should take only a few swipes. I promise to cover that in better detail in one of the first ProjectGuitar.com video tutorials. Got to get lighting set up first since the workshop is north-facing! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prostheta Posted September 5, 2016 Report Share Posted September 5, 2016 You mean, so that the break angle is perfectly perpendicular to the edges? That's another way you can alter bearing pressure to adjust it out....! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rockhorst Posted September 5, 2016 Author Report Share Posted September 5, 2016 The line where the two faces meet, should be square to the edges of the neck, is what I mean. The 'bounce' you describe is not entirely clear. Do you mean you press it down, lessen pressure so it slightly bounces back? Or something else? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prostheta Posted September 5, 2016 Report Share Posted September 5, 2016 Kind of. The bounce is simply to get a feel for how the piece is balancing so you know whether there is too much weight on once side or the other. If you pressed right at the end (where the thin bit is) then you'd take more off that edge than the other, partially increasing the angle or rounding off the edge. Does that help? I really need to show this! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rockhorst Posted September 5, 2016 Author Report Share Posted September 5, 2016 (edited) Here's a first look at what I think is adequate enough to start gluing. I've tacked it together with a tiny smidgeon of glue and will make a jig to hold it in place for final gluing. As you can see, the double stripe continues across the scarf. Unless I get it aligned 100% perfect, that might pose a cosmetic problem. So I was thinking of sandwiching a piece of ebony headstock veneer (0.15 mm thick) between the two pieces. This would accentuate the parabola shape after shaping the neck, which I think might actually be a very nice touch. Thoughts? Edited September 6, 2016 by Rockhorst Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
killemall8 Posted September 6, 2016 Report Share Posted September 6, 2016 That is a big reason i always glue a contrasting piece between the scarf. I would use another piece of purpleheart. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rockhorst Posted September 6, 2016 Author Report Share Posted September 6, 2016 (edited) The line between the two pieces is still quite wobbly, but I think this is as good as it's gonna get? I think a friend has a drum sander that I could pass it through after gluing. Edited September 6, 2016 by Rockhorst Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prostheta Posted September 6, 2016 Report Share Posted September 6, 2016 It's a very acute angle, so feather edges like that can seem rougher than they truly are. Certainly, a pass with a drum sander is no bad thing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rockhorst Posted September 10, 2016 Author Report Share Posted September 10, 2016 Gluing seems to have gone well this time! It was a race against the clock, but I was better prepared this time. I've also managed to sand it about perfectly flat by hand, but will probably still have it pass through a drum sander. Meanwhile my fretting supplies have come in, I'll be testing those out on the cigar box guitar the coming week. And I've received samples of stain to try with the poplar off cuts. I've also made a photoshop mock up with the actual woods (ignore the fancy inlay). Not sure I can pull of the binding on the neck and headstock, but I've put it in for now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rockhorst Posted September 11, 2016 Author Report Share Posted September 11, 2016 Stuff was progressing way to nicely without mistakes. Fixed that...I added a 0.5 mm headstock veneer and should have glued it slightly proud. Sadly, I didn't notice it slipping while clamping, so now it's short of the line between neck and headstock angle. Suggestions on how to fix this? I've got another sheet of veneer available. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prostheta Posted September 12, 2016 Report Share Posted September 12, 2016 Isn't that going to get cut back for the nut slot anyway? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rockhorst Posted September 12, 2016 Author Report Share Posted September 12, 2016 (edited) I feel a diagram is in order In my mind, this is where I'd place the nut: on the flat side of the neck My problem (?) looks like this So, recess the nut and move the headstock a bit? Edited September 12, 2016 by Rockhorst Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
psikoT Posted September 12, 2016 Report Share Posted September 12, 2016 11 hours ago, Rockhorst said: Suggestions on how to fix this? You can extend the fretboard over that joint and place the nut over it, as I do in my builds. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prostheta Posted September 12, 2016 Report Share Posted September 12, 2016 Depends on how you want to do it and how much meat there is in that area. I don't think it's a super critical error, just a bit annoying. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rockhorst Posted September 12, 2016 Author Report Share Posted September 12, 2016 36 minutes ago, psikoT said: You can extend the fretboard over that joint and place the nut over it, as I do in my builds. Picture? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rockhorst Posted September 12, 2016 Author Report Share Posted September 12, 2016 37 minutes ago, Prostheta said: Depends on how you want to do it and how much meat there is in that area. I don't think it's a super critical error, just a bit annoying. I totally forgot to consider the nut, so as soon as you mentioned it, I started seeing possibilities. Seems like an easy fix, although I have to rethink my templates a bit. I'll probably shape the fretboard contour separately from the neck and then use that as a template for routing the neck. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
psikoT Posted September 12, 2016 Report Share Posted September 12, 2016 21 minutes ago, Rockhorst said: Picture? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rockhorst Posted September 12, 2016 Author Report Share Posted September 12, 2016 (edited) Ah, Fender style I always associate that with a straight headstock, does it work nicely with an angled one too? Edited September 12, 2016 by Rockhorst Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
psikoT Posted September 12, 2016 Report Share Posted September 12, 2016 2 hours ago, Rockhorst said: Ah, Fender style I always associate that with a straight headstock, does it work nicely with an angled one too? Yes, it works... the only thing is that you'll need a neck which is some milimeters longer. 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.