Weeks 12-13: Neck work

This post covers another two weeks of work in the shop - pretty much all on the neck now.

Roughing out the Neck

Prior to gluing on our fingerboards, which we previously trimmed down to the correct widths at the nut and 14th fret (where it will  meet the body), we cut down the neck blanks to the size of the fingerboard.  This was done on the bandsaw after the lines defining the top and bottom edges of the fingerboard on top of the neck were transfered to the back.
The headstock shape I'm using is based on a classic Guild headstock, like the guitar I've had since I was 16 (a late 60s or early 70s Guild D-35).  I traced that design as best I could, but then had to work it down to a slightly smaller size to fit the material  I had.  I had to join up two pieces of the extra walnut from my back and sides to have a piece large enough to glue on for the headplate, and this became a limit on the size of my design.  The design was rough cut on the bandsaw and will be finished by some combination of a rasp, file or sandpaper.

Gluing on the Fingerboard

The fingerboard position has been kept in the correct position by a couple of pins that were inserted at the 1st and 13th fret.  The truss rod was also glued into the neck groove we did in the previous class at the same time that the fingerboard was glued on to the neck.

The glue up is straightforward with a generous amount of glue laid into the groove for the rod, and then all over the neck.  The fingerboard was held in place with a long caul so that clamping pressure was even across the length of the fingerboard's edges.

Inlay

The only inlay on this guitar is for the fingerboard dots at the 5th, 7th, 9th, 12th, 15th and 17th frets.  Two dots are used at the 12th to designate the octave.  The dots I used are mother-of-pearl with a 5mm diameter.  The inlay just requires marking a center position and then using a hand drill to make a shallow hole for the dot.

Each dot is set with some super glue.  Then all of the dots and the fingerboard were sanded.  I still need to go over mine one more time with som 00 steel wool. There are some small dots put in with plastic along the top of the fingerboard as well.  These holes were made on the drill press, then a small plastic stick was inserted in the holes and cut off.

 

 

Frets

The fingerboards we are using were fully serviced before we got them: a radius had been applied and the slots for the frets were pre-cut.  Our job is just to install the frets.
We're using standard nickel-silver fret wire.  Each fret is cut a little long for the slot and then hammered into place with a 'dead-blow' hammer that kicks back very little.  Each fret is tapped in at the top and bottom so that the tang grabs into place.  Then a series of taps from the middle out to each side sets the wire fully into the slot where it is held by the tang.




After the frets are installed, they are trimmed to length with a pair of nippers.  A small straight edge is used to check that none of the frets are sitting
higher than the others.  Any found to be proud are given some extra taps to set them in deeper.  Then a mill file is run along the edges to dress and clean the frets.  The file is held at a 60 degree angle in order to create a bevel .  Each fret can also be dressed with a small file to create a slight horizontal taper at the ends.  Out necks our now ready for carving.

Finishing

We have also begun sealing the top, back and sides with a couple of coats of thinned shelac (a 50-50 mixture of shelac and grain alcohol).  The top was sealed first in order to keep any color that might leach out of the sides from getting into the lightly colored spruce.  This can be a significant issue for rosewood, but didn't seem like a big problem for the walnut I  am using.