David Ivy Posted November 14, 2020 Report Share Posted November 14, 2020 I have started a strategy style body and neck. This is my second scratch build. Last night I cut the neck blank and routed the truss rod channel. Today I cut and planed fretboards.did fretboard slots and sanded the body some. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bizman62 Posted November 15, 2020 Report Share Posted November 15, 2020 12 hours ago, David Ivy said: I have started a strategy style body and neck. Auto-correction? Anyhow, looks interesting. I'm a bit worried about the truss rod channel, though, as it's both off center and has those holes on the side. That may cause issues. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Ivy Posted November 15, 2020 Author Report Share Posted November 15, 2020 17 hours ago, David Ivy said: @Bizman62 #1 I tried to drill out some of the wood first so the router didn't have to work as hard. #2 the side of the board that I used to rout against the fence on my router table was not planed to a straight edge. I hope that it will work , but worse case sinarrio I have another piece of wood. I could start again if need be. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bizman62 Posted November 15, 2020 Report Share Posted November 15, 2020 9 minutes ago, David Ivy said: worse case sinarrio I have another piece of wood. I could start again if need be That's the joy of bolt-on necks! Drilling the wood to save the router is a good idea indeed. However for the truss rod cavity a few shallow passes aren't too much of an effort compared to routing control cavities and such. The channel looks like you've routed it using the side of the neck as a guide, and the neck is wedge shaped. If you want to fix it, it would be easy at this point. Simply glue a strip to fill the channel and reroute. If the neck is already wedge shaped you can use a fence to lean your router against: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Ivy Posted November 15, 2020 Author Report Share Posted November 15, 2020 @Bizman62 thank you for the helpful tips. I appreciate that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crusader Posted November 15, 2020 Report Share Posted November 15, 2020 If you want to save the neck, what I would do is router out the bodgy area and glue a piece in, make sure the glue is completely dry (ie. continue the next day) then re-router the truss rod channel. It will be under the fretboard, never seen and you will completely forget its there. Use the fence technique that Bizman62 suggested Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Ivy Posted November 15, 2020 Author Report Share Posted November 15, 2020 @Crusader thanks for the tips and encouragcement. I am going to cut a strip of wood and glue it in. Then reroute the channel again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Ivy Posted November 15, 2020 Author Report Share Posted November 15, 2020 Okay , I chiseled out the truss rod channel. Then I cut a strip of wood to fit the channel and glued it in. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crusader Posted November 16, 2020 Report Share Posted November 16, 2020 That's great but I would have used a router to ensure the channel is clean and straight using @Bizman62's idea of using a fence (because the repair would be off-centre) However if you're happy with the repair its all good Just for the record here is a picture of my truss rod jig. I do a single action truss rod so it has a curve (ie. up and down not sideways) For a dual action rod it just needs to be straight. It takes a lot of time to build jigs and templates, in fact you can spend more time making them than the actual guitar. But you absolutely need them to make sure your routering goes according to plan (By the way I use routers for EVERYTHING) A lot of people use hand-tools but I mess things up using them When I first started I ruined 4 necks before I got it right but at least I was only using cheap local timber! Whatever you do, don't rush things. When I do this groove I do several passes at about 2mm deep each time. Every time I do one I am on-edge, totally stressed out that I will stuff it up. Notice I keep the bench clear so the lead doesn't get snagged on anything. And by the way the jig is secured to the bench with screws underneath the neck This jig took a tremendous amount of effort to build, experimenting and coming up with ideas on how to get best results (so the trimmer glides smoothly and stays centred etc.) I hope you don't follow the exact way I do things. You have to figure out what works for you and I'm sure you will find ideas if you google around Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Ivy Posted November 16, 2020 Author Report Share Posted November 16, 2020 @Crusaderthank you. I will figure out the best way I can do the repair. Although the best way would be to route a truss rod channel first ,then find the center and draw the line and cut out the neck shape accordingly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bizman62 Posted November 16, 2020 Report Share Posted November 16, 2020 (edited) 2 hours ago, David Ivy said: Although the best way would be to route a truss rod channel first ,then find the center and draw the line and cut out the neck shape accordingly. Pretty much yes. Although you can draw the centerline first aligned with a true straight side of your blank and use the adjustable side fence attached on the router base: Edited November 16, 2020 by Bizman62 Added lines to the image 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Ivy Posted November 16, 2020 Author Report Share Posted November 16, 2020 @Bizman62 thank you for your suggestions. I do really appreciate them. I will do that on the next neck blank I route. But, I want to try and salvage the neck I am working on. As this is my second full build I did learn lessons from my first build and these things teach me how not to do some tasks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bizman62 Posted November 16, 2020 Report Share Posted November 16, 2020 1 minute ago, David Ivy said: I want to try and salvage the neck I am working on. The patching strip looks fine. Believe or not, trying to figure out how to help you recover from your mistakes helps the rest of us as well. One lifetime would not be long enough to face all the potential issues in our own builds. The last time I made a similar patch was to replace rotten wood in a window pane. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Ivy Posted November 17, 2020 Author Report Share Posted November 17, 2020 Well I sanded the glued in strip even with the neck. Then I drew a center line, and I routed it ever so slowly by hand and eye. Then I glued the fretboard on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bizman62 Posted November 17, 2020 Report Share Posted November 17, 2020 Did you remember to put the truss rod in before gluing? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Ivy Posted November 17, 2020 Author Report Share Posted November 17, 2020 @Bizman62 yes I did. And I put tape over it before spreading the glue. Then I pealed the tape off and put the fretboard on and clamped it down. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScottR Posted November 17, 2020 Report Share Posted November 17, 2020 For what it's worth, I paint a thinned layer of petroleum jelly on the top edge of my truss rod, place it in the slot, and tape over the slot with that super thin transparent scotch tape. Then I trim it to with in 1/8th inch (couple off mms) of the slot, spread the glue and leave the tape on. Overkill maybe, but it makes me feel good. SR Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bizman62 Posted November 17, 2020 Report Share Posted November 17, 2020 That petroleum jelly sounds like a good idea! I've been covering the truss rod with a similarly trimmed strip of masking tape. As per a hint on a Crimson video I've also rolled a few pieces of masking tape on the truss rod to prevent rattling. There's space for those as the truss rod sits a hair deep. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Ivy Posted November 17, 2020 Author Report Share Posted November 17, 2020 @ScottR@Bizman62 thank you for the helpful tips I will have to try those on the next neck that I build. I am also putting together a tele from parts but i made the body out of one piece of poplar. Then I used Rit dye and dyed it black sanded that back til it was just in the grain then dyed it royal blue over that. I think it looks nice. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScottR Posted November 17, 2020 Report Share Posted November 17, 2020 4 hours ago, David Ivy said: I think it looks nice It does indeed. SR 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Ivy Posted November 18, 2020 Author Report Share Posted November 18, 2020 I drilled the holes for fret markers. Then I used a plug bit to drill out the markers out of red oak. Then I glued the fret markers in. I also chiseled out the nut slot. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bizman62 Posted November 18, 2020 Report Share Posted November 18, 2020 For some reason the body colour now reminds me of the opening phrase of the Big Sleep by Raymond Chandler: "I was wearing my powder-blue suit... I was neat, clean, shaved and sober, and I didn't care who knew it. I was everything the well-dressed private detective ought to be." Double checking what "powder blue" should look like revealed that the hue on the body is darker than the Wiki examples. The Finnish translation says "Gunpowder blue" which may look somewhat closer... Anyhow, the body looks cool! I also like the self made wooden fret markers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Ivy Posted November 18, 2020 Author Report Share Posted November 18, 2020 @Bizman62that is a cool reference to the color. It is a royal blue over black. And thank you, the red oak neck with walnut fretboard and red oak fret markers ,I think it looks pretty good. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Ivy Posted November 19, 2020 Author Report Share Posted November 19, 2020 I did some carving on the profile of the neck with my new shinto saw rasp. Radious the fretboard and drilled the holes for the tuners. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScottR Posted November 19, 2020 Report Share Posted November 19, 2020 That neck is cleaning up nicely. SR 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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