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The elusive scarf joint

Okay, after failing to pull of a crisp scarf joint with either:

hand saw
table saw
band saw

by slicing the neck stock at an angle, flipping over the cut piece and gluing the two back together. I can just never get a perfect cut, and even after sanding it is never quite like Jim Frets makes it look in that video. (But it might help if I made that little jig thingy like Jim . . .)

So I'm taking a different swing at it by gluing the parts together first, and then slicing on the bandsaw and cleaning it up on the sander. I drew a picture of how it goes for anyone else hitting their heads against the wall with this (seemingly) simple task.

I'll post a photo of the finished neck soon. Providing it is not a train wreck.

(and I will make that jig thingy - someday)

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Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Diane in Chicago on July 6, 2009 at 4:41pm

Here's the video link. Sorry.

http://www.veoh.com/browse/videos/category/howto/watch/v15574729RnS...

Permalink Reply by Sven Pfitt on July 6, 2009 at 5:00pm

Well, having a $300 table saw does make things a bit easier.

I have the same problem. I ignore it.

Permalink Reply by William H Bonney on July 7, 2009 at 1:11pm

Diane,
I think thats what you need. A Table Saw. Shop around get the right type of blades, cross cut ,rip , or combo etc. Good quality blades makes a diff in my opinion.I have scarfed and burnt wood with cheap not quality blades.I have seen your work.It is GOOD!

Terry

Permalink Reply by Diane in Chicago on July 7, 2009 at 4:25pm

Well, thanks! So far I've got along with only hand tools, but as of a couple weeks ago I've been in at the community woodshop, where they have a pretty good table saw. However, can't get the thing to make the Jim Frets scarf for the life of me. So tomorrow night (shop night!) I'm building that jig. But I"m also taking a swing at the method I posted about originally. If it works nicely, that'll be a boon for those of us with very limited tools. If I had space and money, the band saw would be my first purchase, I think -- especially if I can pull of a nice scarf. (Then a belt/disc sander, then a table saw, then a drill press, then a router table . . .)

James Bernard said:

Diane,
I think thats what you need. A Table Saw. Shop around get the right type of blades, cross cut ,rip , or combo etc. Good quality blades makes a diff in my opinion.I have scarfed and burnt wood with cheap not quality blades.I have seen your work.It is GOOD!

Terry

Permalink Reply by Diane in Chicago on July 8, 2009 at 3:57pm

I made the jig. It works great. It took about an hour, including letting the glue dry, worth every moment. If you have a table saw, just make the jig already and the elusive scarf join can be yours.

I left it over there at the community woodshop.

Permalink Reply by Diane in Chicago on May 16, 2013 at 3:28pm

And it was thrown away. Grr.

Permalink Reply by Chuck Dubman on January 31, 2010 at 8:35pm

Block plane, honed shaving sharp, set to cut light, does the best job. Not hard to shave two chunks of wood so flat and smooth that air pressure makes them stick together, like machinists' gauge blocks.

Sanding is guaranteed to take joining surfaces out of flat.

Permalink Reply by Dave Breault on February 1, 2010 at 7:23am

I cut this scarf on a chop saw, then glued the head on (no scarf on that piece). Then plane down the neck until every thing is flush.

Permalink Reply by RL Mott on February 3, 2010 at 11:20am

Josh has a great post on this .
Smokehouse guitars group

Permalink Reply by Diane in Chicago on October 6, 2010 at 1:57am

Here's a diagram of a way to do it on a chop saw. I'm giving this method a whirl on my next two necks. The table saw cut is never quite perfect, but I have access to a really good chop saw.

http://www.talkbass.com/forum/showthread.php?t=501205

Permalink Reply by Craig Cox on October 11, 2010 at 2:58am

I built this jig to use on my table saw. took a couple of hours of shop time: http://home.comcast.net/~kathymatsushita/amateurluthier/htmlpages/s...
works pretty good, but the jig fence and blade MUST be perpendicular to the table if you want the "perfect" cut. mine isn't perfect, but I've deemed it acceptable for cbgs!

Permalink Reply by Diane in Chicago on October 11, 2010 at 3:07am

Here's mine. You can adjust it with that drywall screw there in the L.