JayT Posted June 28, 2021 Author Report Share Posted June 28, 2021 Lil bit of progress, neck & fretboard coming along. I'm hoping that with sanding/radiusing the fretboard the inlays will sharpen up. Sorry for picture overload of boring stuff, but I'm using this site as my personal build journal 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ADFinlayson Posted June 28, 2021 Report Share Posted June 28, 2021 I do like that bit of maple you're got for your neck, nice shimmer in the middle 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bizman62 Posted June 29, 2021 Report Share Posted June 29, 2021 You succeeded well in directing the sharp ends! Leaving the edge parallel to the centerline to get the drops perpendicular was a clever idea. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JayT Posted July 8, 2021 Author Report Share Posted July 8, 2021 Slowly but surely. Rough cut neck, took a visit to clamp city and routed I wanted some more length on the fretboard so added a scrap at last fret hope it’ll be hard to spot at the heel. Kinda concerned it’ll pop off if truss rod is tightened too much, guess time will tell… 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Muzz Posted July 8, 2021 Report Share Posted July 8, 2021 Looking fantastic, the dots are cool. I don't think your fretboard extension will experience significant stress, a welded truss rod resisting un up bow will push up on the fretboard in the middle and down on the neck at the ends. I have only ever seen one guitar with a back bow (a Gibson Les Paul Custom and brand new), and I am guessing even in that incredibly rare situation you would need a lot of pressure to pop the end of the fretboard off, does anyone know? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JayT Posted July 10, 2021 Author Report Share Posted July 10, 2021 (edited) Did some neck work today Sure wish I had a bandsaw with more clearance Still working on the transition curve … Edited July 10, 2021 by JayT Too many pics Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JayT Posted July 11, 2021 Author Report Share Posted July 11, 2021 (edited) Finished (mostly) the head/fretboard transition Then carved out the side dot cavities, in tear drop shape filled with epoxy/wood dust mix ... Edited July 11, 2021 by JayT pic dupe 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bizman62 Posted July 11, 2021 Report Share Posted July 11, 2021 6 minutes ago, JayT said: Then carved out the side dot cavities, in tear drop shape You sure don't make things easy for yourself! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JayT Posted July 11, 2021 Author Report Share Posted July 11, 2021 1 hour ago, Bizman62 said: You sure don't make things easy for yourself! Sure I do, I mean it’s not like I carved little tiny wood tears to go in there… I did consider it though Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScottR Posted July 11, 2021 Report Share Posted July 11, 2021 That's an impressive piece of work. SR 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bizman62 Posted July 12, 2021 Report Share Posted July 12, 2021 9 hours ago, JayT said: not like I carved little tiny wood tears Now that you said that, I realized that you didn't. Carving the tears or rather a tear shaped rod shouldn't have been too much of an effort compared to carving the tear shaped holes! The shape looks easy but getting the points point to the same direction is a task I've heard highly experienced luthiers struggle with. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JayT Posted July 13, 2021 Author Report Share Posted July 13, 2021 (edited) 18 hours ago, Bizman62 said: getting the points point to the same direction is a task Fortunately I centered them on the fretboard/neck seam…easy enough to drill a hole then take my tiny chisel to punch out the V part right on that line Did some neck carving today a little more of a D contour than I like so tomorrow will have to tweak Edited July 13, 2021 by JayT Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Muzz Posted July 13, 2021 Report Share Posted July 13, 2021 Shaping up nicely 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JayT Posted July 21, 2021 Author Report Share Posted July 21, 2021 Sanding sucks…but got a nice radius with this janky guide Getting close to finished neck now for question time— any advice on sealing/not sealing the finger board? I’ve got some options but (as usual) a unsure the best route here. If any at all Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bizman62 Posted July 21, 2021 Report Share Posted July 21, 2021 For what I've understood maple is too dense for any pore fillers and such. Oil can be used but it will soon wear out and be replaced by gunk made of fingertip grease, sweat and fine metal dust of strings and frets. Dark fretboard woods usually are oily by nature, the fretboard oil only enhancing the grain, so they don't suck dirt as much. That's the main reason maple fretboards are lacquered rather than left natural or oiled. As I said oil potentially wax finished will work but it should be cleaned and redone often to keep it clean. That said, there's people who really like the dirty fingermarks on a maple fretboard. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charlie H 72 Posted July 22, 2021 Report Share Posted July 22, 2021 I really like how you handled the carve around the hole in the headstock-and the way you are carrying that shape thru the project. I have heard good things about tung and tru oil for maple necks but have not tried them myself. I am hoping to try on my current build-but thats a ways off. Some form of hard finish is the typical way to go. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bizman62 Posted July 22, 2021 Report Share Posted July 22, 2021 I'd like to add that an oiled and waxed maple neck is fantastic compared to lacquered. The palm sliding on the back of the neck doesn't cause such wear as the fingertips do on the fretboard. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JayT Posted August 6, 2021 Author Report Share Posted August 6, 2021 Back from OBX vacation and did some work - frets in I messed up my drill press trying to use as an arbor press, after 3 frets I went back to good ole hammer and worked so much better- I bet I can tighten something in that drill press to make it stop slipping 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JayT Posted August 19, 2021 Author Report Share Posted August 19, 2021 Progress report...made a template for the pick guard. Found centerline using this laser level thing I received 17 years ago as a gift from mother-in-law to hang pictures or something. I've only ever used it for guitar making...and bonus I figured out the red googles it comes with is for seeing the beam better in bright rooms. I gotta start reading directions, I thought it was to proect my eyes from the blinding beam or something so of course I never used them routed the neck pocket... ...and got a nice tight pocket. Starting to look like something resembling a guitar! 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mistermikev Posted August 19, 2021 Report Share Posted August 19, 2021 nice work. nice and clean. good job. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JayT Posted August 23, 2021 Author Report Share Posted August 23, 2021 Routed the pu cavity and drilled some holes, attached neck … but at 48mm thick the body was a bit too honking so I decided to route off 3mm from the back end it didn’t work out as planned, -the body scraps and leaving “ rails” was a bad idea — the non-sled I rigged up kept leaving ruts, 3mm became 5mm then 7.5mm so after chiseling, planning, and sanding it went from a “chunky meaty body” to a “slim lightweight body” it is what it is round the edges & carved belly cut but sine it’s on the thinner side now I’m not going to make a forearm contour, trying to avoid neck dive but I’m happy with it I suppose- almost panicked and scrapped the whole thing- glad I took a breath 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScottR Posted August 23, 2021 Report Share Posted August 23, 2021 Looks good to me. SR 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JayT Posted August 24, 2021 Author Report Share Posted August 24, 2021 Made pick guard today 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JayT Posted September 14, 2021 Author Report Share Posted September 14, 2021 (edited) Dyed and 1st coat of poly Edited September 14, 2021 by JayT 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mistermikev Posted September 14, 2021 Report Share Posted September 14, 2021 47 minutes ago, JayT said: Dyed and 1st coat of poly looking good. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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