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Comment by Grandpa on January 28, 2018 at 10:29am

Greg, I cut my scarf joint, then after it's all glued up and dries overnight, I take my headstock thickness down to @5/8" by running the top surface through my band saw (but I've also used a table saw and a chop saw..band saw works best for me) then sand it smooth with my hand held orbital sander. This presents a fairly flat, square headstock surface. I generally hand sand the underside joint with 120 grit or 150 grit to remove any glue remnants and smooth the wood. I also shape the underside of the neck at this point. Drill the tuner holes, any other "prep" work. Then fit the neck to the git, do some more sanding (power or hand). I pretty much do all of the fitting, major sanding and such before I glue on the fret board. None of this should affect the integrity of your scarf joint if you give it adequate time for the glue to bond and dry. I think most any wood glue (I use Gorilla Wood Glue or Titebond III) will set up just fine overnight. One last thing...I make my necks with 1" X 2" lumber, and add wings to the headstock to accomodate my tuners. Some make a separate headstock that is wider from the outset, for example using a 1x2 for the neck, maybe a piece of 1 x 3 for the headstock. A fine method, as well. I like using the 1 x 2, doing the scarf joint, finishing the underside shaping, etc. Then, I glue on the wings, let dry, cut and sand to be even with the height of the headstock. I can use different types of wood for wings for a nice contrast, or use the same wood for consistant headstock appearance. Either way is just a matter of taste, git-to-git. Sorry if this reply was a bit wandering, I wrote it as it came into my head. Good luck on your build and choices.

Comment by Greg Foster on January 27, 2018 at 8:33pm

Thanks grandpa next question I take the head off with a 13 to 15 deg angle I have to thin this down to 12 mm for machine heads I guess if I run this through a drum sander will this affect the scarf join ?

Comment by Grandpa on January 24, 2018 at 5:15pm

Greg, there have been many discussions on this forum about this very subject, and many different opinions and preferences, all of which seem to work for the builders. I make my necks from 1 x 2 sticks, either red oak or mahogany. My preference is to add a 1/4" thick fretboard on my necks (usually red oak) to help stiffen up the whole rig. The string tension is less than on a 6 string git, but cbg necks tend to be smaller than factory git necks, and usually don't incorporate a truss rod or steel bar stiffener, though I (and others herein) have done steel reinforcing bars or rods. But I digress. I havernever been sorry that I added a fretboard, but one of my early poplar necked gits without a fretboard did get a pretty fair bow in it after a year or so. Good luck on your builds, and show us some pic's.