Rockhorst

Some numbers:

Truss rod: 8mm at thinnest point, 10 mm at the end

Route for truss rod end: 12,5 mm (oops)

Neck blank: 19,5 mm

Fret board: 6 mm before sanding/radiusing

So for 20.5mm at 1st fret I'd be 1 mm too thin.

Well, the neck blank being a bit thinner to start with might come in handy here. I read somewhere that I should at least have 3 mm of wood left behind the truss rod. That would give me a neck thickness of about 20.5 to 21.5 mm from 1st to 12th fret, which is what a Regius is according to the specs. Also, I have a custom Fender Strat with basically a baseball neck (1 pc maple of 21 mm all along the length) and that plays like a dream. So with the right curve, a thick neck is not really a problem for me. Overall, I'm pretty satisfied with this attempt, route being dead straight in the center and mostly at the correct depth.

Having said that, it may still be a good idea to fill that part of the route, for some extra stability. I'll check the radius of the bit and see if I can find a properly sized dowel.

Routed the truss rod cavity. Overall, it went well. The free end didn't want to go flat and I misjudged the reason for it (should've gotten calipers out). It was easily fixed with a file, but I have routed the rounded wider bit a little too deep. There would only be a millimeter of wood left if I would stick to my intended neck thickness at the nut. The fix for that I guess is it's gonna be a chunky neck!

I see what you mean now  Thanks

1 minute ago, Prostheta said:

The headstock is being bound also which should give you opportunity to hide it from the side. The nut should do the rest.

Totally, I see how that would work out nicely

I didn't mean to refer to the top rounded curve. It seems that the bottom follows the angle of the headstock, right? That's what I meant to ask

Sorry for my n00bness...is that fretboard end behind the slot a separate piece, or still attached (how did you get the curve?)

Ah, Fender style  I always associate that with a straight headstock, does it work nicely with an angled one too?

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.

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?

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?

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.

Sorry to hear about all the personal set backs Steve! Good to see you're still progressing with the build though. Seems to be going rather well. Nothing wrong with taking it slow. I had put my project aside for almost two months, but I can see the puzzle pieces come together right now. Any plans on starting the neck yet? Are you going full baseball bat, or something slimmer?

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.

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.

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?

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?

*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.

@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.

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?

@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).

@Steve: getting MDF lasered is waaaaay cheaper than acrylic. For comparison: I had my full guitar template lasered in acrylic at €110 while the MDF version was €30, including €15 setup cost. But I've more or less decided that using routers for scarf joints is just silly, time wise. Looking into a bandsaw actually, but before I pull the trigger on that I'm checking to see if I have any friends with powertools that could just do this one cut for me. Also got the address of a furniture maker that may be willing to do the job.

I did buy my first hand plane today. Nothing fancy yet, just something to get started, practicing sharpening and cutting.

I think I've wasted too much time fixing things and a fresh start would be good

B&D jigsaw....I think the janitor at work has a miter saw I would be able to use. I can check tomorrow.

No, no table saw and no room for one either...don't laugh, I have to work on my balcony...I looked into setting up shop somewhere else, but the only viable options are, sadly, north of $2000 a year. I could rent a table saw though....but that would cost more than two new neck blanks