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Air Gap Between Box Top and Neck?

I've seen (on line of course) a couple of CBGs where the builder created a small (1/8") gap between the top of the box and the neck (pass-through neck). I think this was done to allow the box top to resonate better when strings are played and the vibration is transferred through the bridge.

Anyone familiar with this technique? Has anyone tried it? Any thoughts?

Thanks

Tom T

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Permalink Reply by Tom T on October 24, 2014 at 10:53am

Thanks for the clarification. I've been using Titebond II.

I have tons of good wood clamps, but continue to struggle with getting a good, tight clamp on scarf joints without slipping. Clamping the long part of the neck to the work bench, then positioning the head stock with a block to keep it from sliding might work, but I haven't tried it yet. Any suggestions for keeping scarf joints stable when clamped?

Thanks

Tom T

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Permalink Reply by robert jones on October 24, 2014 at 11:31am

Use a jig for clamping scarf joint.

Can be as simple as a scrap of plywood with two scrap pieces of neck material screwed to it to stop the pieces from moving when the clamps are applied.

Screwing on the stops let's you adjust for different neck lengths and angles.

If you wax the jig with floor wax the glue won't stick to it.

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Permalink Reply by Tom T on October 24, 2014 at 1:53pm

Thanks Robert.

The floor wax idea is nice. Hadn't thought of that.

I'll try laying out a jig/fixture to hold the scarf joint pieces in place.

Tom T

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Permalink Reply by Ron "Oily" Sprague on October 24, 2014 at 3:40pm

'Nother way of holding the glue joint in place before clamping is to pop a coupla staples into one piece of the join, clip em off so just a tiny bit protrudes, then carefully mash em together by hand during glue up. Prevents sliding so you can apply the clamps. I got this idea from a luthier's website I ran across a coupla months ago. Works for both scarf and heel joint glue-ups. I just used it in the theater shop last weekend while making a prop for our middle school show.

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Permalink Reply by Tom T on October 25, 2014 at 12:03am

Another clever solution. I had thought about drilling a tiny hole through the two pieced then tapping in a tack or brad. The staple idea is much cleaner.

Thanks,

Tom T

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Permalink Reply by Uncle Fred on October 29, 2014 at 10:05am

I keep a table salt shaker in my glue area. A few grains of salt on the glue surface at each end of the surface will keep the pieces from sliding around when clamped. I use it every time I do a glue up. You can still force an adjustment but the pieces will not slide around as you tighten the clamps.

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Permalink Reply by Tom T on October 29, 2014 at 12:01pm

Fred, that is just an amazing tip! I will give it a try tomorrow, even if I have to cut to pieces of scrap. Thanks for a great idea.

By the way, is that Morton's Iodized salt or just Sea Salt?

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Permalink Reply by Uncle Fred on October 29, 2014 at 3:07pm

I use regular table salt like Morton's. Don't use too much salt or it will keep the pieces from joining tightly. Two salt crystals at each end of a small glue area will be enough. The salt crystals will be forced into the wood by clamping, thus, holding the wood in alignment. So a hard wood will need more clamping pressure to indent the salt crystals into the wood.

I've used too much salt before and been unable to clamp the pieces together. So, salt sparingly.

This tip has saved me a lot of time and aggravation. The slick surfaces of Tightbond are one of the negatives of using the glue.

-Fred