Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Jenny on August 12, 2009 at 10:45am

I'll be interested in seeing the replies here. I chickened out on making my own neck for my first build, and will be trying to bolt on a neck, also.

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Permalink Reply by Jkevn on August 12, 2009 at 10:53am

My guess would be to use some type of threaded insert. Drill hole in neck for insert, install insert, drill holes in box/body, bolt on from inside box. Here's a website with good pictures to give you a good idea, they're available at most hardware stores. Goodluck

http://www.yardleyproducts.com/

http://www.amazon.com/1-4-20-Threaded-Inserts/dp/B001DSXJOW

Better still: http://www.rockler.com/search_results.cfm?filter=threaded+insert&am...

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Permalink Reply by Diydc on August 12, 2009 at 11:12am

Hi, I see some nice work there in the pictures, thanks on that front...

I have worked out a technique to making necks to boxes in the mandolin/ fiddle scales, which is more or less extending the neck with a threaded piece of iron all te way through the box, and applying a piece of hard wood at both ends to take the pressure/pull. One end is attatched to the neck via a back plate, or sunken into the heek, the other is tightened at the srting fix end of the box.
I welded such plates and threads together for CBGs using electric guitar necks, and it works really well, you can even leave a bit of leeway for height adjustment, just like a banjo really.
I hope this is understandable, and at times like these I wish I had a digital camera for uploading photos to explain exactly what I mean....

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Permalink Reply by Wichita Sam on August 12, 2009 at 11:29am

Diane,

I don't know that the thingy is called.... it looks sorta like a two sided tack. Press one side into your box, then align your neck and press it against the box. This will give you points so that you can drill the neck and the box from the outside and have it align. If you get everything "just right", why not bolt and glue? It will be super strong and you won't have to mess with inserts in your neck... Simple small size lag bolts will do to align and tighten enough for the glue to finish the job?

I did that on my last built, a cat bowl reso and it worked fine.... can handle a lot of tension well...

the best,

Sam

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Permalink Reply by Diane in Chicago on August 12, 2009 at 11:36am

The bolting part is really hard - no room to drill pilot holes from the inside, and from the outside nearly impossible to get a square hole in the neck because of wonky angles. The fingerboard and the heel plate are not perpendicular, for my neck set angle. I'm stumped how to get a hole into the neck that is square.

Wichita Sam said:

Diane,

I don't know that the thingy is called.... it looks sorta like a two sided tack. Press one side into your box, then align your neck and press it against the box. This will give you points so that you can drill the neck and the box from the outside and have it align. If you get everything "just right", why not bolt and glue? It will be super strong and you won't have to mess with inserts in your neck... Simple small size lag bolts will do to align and tighten enough for the glue to finish the job?

I did that on my last built, a cat bowl reso and it worked fine.... can handle a lot of tension well...

the best,

Sam

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Permalink Reply by Dylan Waldron on August 12, 2009 at 12:52pm

http://www.boltdepot.com/hanger-bolts.aspx I did the same as you Diane and this is what I used. It doesn't really matter if they are square in the neck as long as you make the bolt holes in the box a little bigger so you can adjust the neck to the height you need. I used 5/16x18 hanger bolts that were 3'' total length. Hope that helps.

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Permalink Reply by Lionel Berthelon on August 12, 2009 at 1:05pm

As for the drilling space issue, a 90 Deg chuck adapter like this http://www.amazon.com/Malco-HCAD-Degree-Accessory-4-Inch/dp/B000E24230 might help you on the space issue if brace is glued in, and what Ted said about taking the brace out if possible will help you out. I thought I saw in Stewmac a double sided screw, one side wood thread to go into back of neck and machine thread on otherside that will pass thru block to bolt on

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Permalink Reply by Roger Morin on August 12, 2009 at 1:09pm

Diane you might want to contact Jay at Tinyguitars as he does a lot of bolt on necks on ukes.

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Permalink Reply by Diane in Chicago on August 12, 2009 at 1:11pm

Those soundholes should hopefully give me enough clearance so I don't clip the box when I play on the end strings. And, of course, be a soundhole.

Ted Crocker said:

Diane, is the internal brace removable still? The brace, box side and heel surface are all parallel. I'm just thinking out loud but perhaps you could remove the brace and drill a thin (1/8") hole along the centerline. Put it back in the box and insert a nail (nail should fit snug thru the hole) through it to mark the location on the box to drill another hole. The hole in the box need not be as thin as the nail. You could then carefully position the neck and again use the nail from the inside of the box to mark the location of the hole on the heel.

At that point you can decide how you want to secure them, I'm a fan of threaded inserts but a lag bolt would work also. You would then remove the brace and use the proper size bit to enlarge the hole and also enlarge the hole in the box if needed. Next use the proper size bit for your method to drill perpendicular into the neck heel.

Did that make any sense?

BTW, again you've shown us a spectacular instrument in progress. I really like that wild soundhole on 2 planes...

Ted

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Permalink Reply by Diane in Chicago on August 12, 2009 at 1:14pm

So the wood thread goes into the heel. Excellent!

Which will hold better in the long run? This or the threaded inserts? I guess the one with the biggest threads?



Dylan Waldron said:

http://www.boltdepot.com/hanger-bolts.aspx I did the same as you Diane and this is what I used. It doesn't really matter if they are square in the neck as long as you make the bolt holes in the box a little bigger so you can adjust the neck to the height you need. I used 5/16x18 hanger bolts that were 3'' total length. Hope that helps.

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Permalink Reply by Mark Werner on August 12, 2009 at 1:42pm

I used the "hanger bolts" described above for my uke; they worked fine. I used nylon-insert nuts for security.

On my mandola, I used a "furniture insert". Available at any hardware store, it requires a biggish (5/8" ) hole in the heel part of the neck, into which you screw the insert with an allen wrench. If you then carefully mark the position of the threaded hole in the insert, you can line this up with the box and drill a slightly-oversized hole from the outside.

The mandola has been sturdy and stable for months now, and that's with the tension of a full set of 8 strings.

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Permalink Reply by Old Lowe on August 12, 2009 at 1:54pm

If you went the banjo approach you could drill a hole in the heel and glue in a large threaded rod that you can poke thru a hole in your your box and crank it down,
I would also put some nails maybe 2 in the top part of the heal to dig into the wood to keep it from torqeing on you.
I would put the bolt towards the bottom of the heal so it would pull against the strings also.

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