Rick500

That's been my experience. The hand-cut rasps are just completely different tools than machine cut rasps. [Edit: Oh, I now see that Mattia already said just that. Well, I agree with Mattia then. ]

<shrug> Sounded like a legitimate question to me.

Must...not...be...tempted...

First zebrawood I've seen that I liked. Looks great so far!

Yeah, you could probably get by okay with just the finer one. The coarser one will save some work and time though, if you can spend the extra money.

I recently got a pair of Dragon rasps (sold by Stew-Mac), one fine and one coarse. Wow! These are really great rasps. Very much worth the little over $80 I paid for the pair of them. If you're in the market, take a look at them. I was a little skeptical, but having them in-hand now, I don't see how they could be any better.

Okay, no one so far that I've seen has told anyone what they should or shouldn't do, or offered any chastisements, but have only expressed their own opinions. Let's just move past it, please.

It was just the easiest way to show the curvature of the neck in the pic. And it still didn't really show well.

I based my advice on the comments that the neck pocket was too big for the neck and an attempted fill and reroute was done incorrectly. But yeah, as you point out and as I mentioned previously, it would definitely be very helpful to see pics.

Got the neck shaped this evening. Still my favorite part of a build. Few more pics: 1 2 3

If you're going to buy router bits, try routerbits.com or mlcswoodworking.com . Free shipping in both cases, if I'm not mistaken, and good quality bits. Preference is routerbits.com (Whiteside bits, which are the best.) But MLCS sells good quality stuff too. In both cases, less expensive than Stew-Mac.

I think the minimal rules as they are, are fine. I don't think each guitar necessarily should be required to have a name, but it's not a big deal. Personally, I like to look through the GOTM each month as a showcase of instruments that have been recently finished (in most cases anyway) and that the builders are especially proud of. I really don't care who wins. I haven't entered one myself, but if I did, it wouldn't make much difference to me if I won or not. I just like to see the latest batch of products this group has turned out.

My advice is-- Fill the neck pocket: Route out a rectangle just big enough to leave you with all straight lines, 90 degree corners (clean up the round corners left by the router bit with careful use of a sharp chisel). Cut a block of hardwood to fit. Glue it in. It should fit snugly. You can clamp it from the block to the centerline at the bridge end of the body, and from the front of the block to the back of the body. When it's dry, take the surface down so that it's flush to the surface of the body. [Edit: If you want, you could always make it a design feature, and use a block of contrasting wood, taking it all the way from the neck end through the bridge end of the body. That would also eliminate the need to square up round corners left by a router bit.] Draw a center line on the body (through the block as well). Make a template of the neck heel: Mark a center line on the material you'll use to make the template. Doesn't actually have to be in the center of the material, just a straight line really. Mark a center line on the neck. Place the neck carefully along the center line of the template material, and trace around the heel. Cut the template. Take your time and get it as close to perfect as possible with a file and sandpaper stuck to a flat block. Fit the neck heel into the template to check for fit. Adjust as necessary. Cut the neck pocket: put a couple layers of masking tape along the template surface where the router bit will ride. Double-stick tape the template in place (use the center lines on the template and the body). Use a big drill bit (Forstner bit if you have one) to get rid of most of the waste wood from the neck pocket. (You can do this before you attach the template; just put the template in place and trace around it, then remove the template and drill out the waste.) Clean it up with the router, routing no more than a quarter inch deep per pass (preferably even less). Take your time. Test fit the neck in the pocket. It should be really snug due to having made the template a little smaller with the tape. If it's too snug, take a layer of tape off the template and route again.

My family is also of Dutch descent. I've only known that for the past 5 years or so, so I have some catching up to do.

Happy birthday!

I agree with Mattia. I have several guitars with oiled mahogany necks, and they feel just fine.

Next pic...

You might consider trying again with another block, and reroute the neck pocket again. Just a matter of routing a few straight lines and cutting a piece to fit, which isn't too hard to do if all the lines are straight and all the angles are 90 degrees. Then reroute the neck pocket. Then since you're already going to be making a new neck pocket, it shouldn't be too much of a big deal to put it in the right place in relation to the bridge for the correct scale length. If needed, you could also relocate the bridge. Can you post a pic?

Yeah, I am working on a black limba neck right now. I'm just now shaping it, haven't gotten to the point of finishing it yet. It's a lot like mahogany in texture, though. I'm going to Tru-oil it, wet sanding with Tru-oil to serve as grain filler.

Super-slickest with tung oil and nothing else, is maple. Not warm, but slick.

I saw one on the web somewhere just like that. I'll see if I can find the link.

I went out to Home Depot and looked around, unfortunately didn't find anything. Nice find, though; great deal!

After much drill press trouble (the old crappy one and the nice new one), I'm on track again and got some work done today... Drilled for inlays: Starting to rough shape the back of the neck: Heel Volute (both still just roughed in)

For anyone who's thinking about it... this is really, really nice stuff. You won't be disappointed.

Yes, it's the model you mentioned. I should've posted an update this weekend. I finally got it operating satisfactorily but I had to spend about $45 to make it happen. I did everything I knew how to, to diagnose the problem. Checked the alignment of all the pulleys, checked and adjusted the belt tension, checked the installation of the chuck, etc. etc. I went back and talked to the people at Woodcraft, and the only additional thing they suggested was to check the belts themselves to see if there were any irregularities (there were none). So with no other ideas, I bought six feet of Powertwist flex link belt. That solved 95% of the problem. I also used a piece of scrap wood to lever the motor a little farther back than I could by hand, to put more tension on the belts. I shimmed the base a little to make sure it was absolutely level on the floor. I tried to call Jet over the weekend, but evidently they're only there Monday through Friday. I'll have to call them back this week. I notice that the forward pulley is not spinning perfectly true, although the other two are. Same with the spindle that pulley is on. Although, strangely, this doesn't translate to the chuck, which looks to be spinning dead-on centered. But I think this pulley is causing what remaining vibration exists. Hopefully Jet will have some suggestions and/or a send a replacement. Anyway, it's performing acceptably now. I don't like the idea of having to have spent almost $50 to make it operate like it should have out of the box, but at least it's working. This is the first issue I've ever had with a Jet tool (and I have their band saw, jointer, and drum sander in addition to the drill press). I still trust the brand, but they aren't exempt from problems.