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Does finger board and neck stock need to be planed?

I am preparing to build my first CBG. I have collected some tools and cigar boxes. I am going to buy my wood for the neck/fingerboard this week. I will probably buy my wood at a big box store. Does the finger board and neck stock need to be planed on the gluing surfaces? Or are they flat enough for gluing as brought home? Any tips on prepping the wood for gluing is appreciated. Does the face/fret side of the finger board need to be planed?

I did a quick search for post on this subject, but didn't see anything unless it's buried way down the list of results. If anyone can point me to another thread covering this subject please post a link.

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Permalink Reply by Skeesix on November 28, 2016 at 6:42am

Just try and select the straightest pieces of wood you can find, and it should be ok without additional planing.

It helps with stability if the grain of the wood more or less parallel with the length of the board. You'll never find a perfect piece because of the way they saw the boards out of the log, but somewhere in the ballpark is good.

If you store the wood, lay the boards flat, not on their ends, or they can warp over time.

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Permalink Reply by ChickenboneJohn on November 28, 2016 at 8:39am

If the wood is sold as planed (PAR...planed all round or PSE..planed square edge in the UK, I'm not sure what the equivalent USA terms are) then it should be good enough to glue-up. Personally I wouldn't do any sanding on a piece of planed timber as it is very easy to round-over a trued-up planed face.

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Permalink Reply by Timothy Hunter on November 29, 2016 at 12:17am

they call it DAR here in Australia... Dressed All Round.

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Permalink Reply by Ken I on November 29, 2016 at 4:35am

Thank for the replies everyone.

I stopped at a cabinet shop this morning. I can get Maple for the neck stock and Walnut for the fingerboard, both planed for $10. That sounded like a good deal to me, so I ordered. They'll call when it's ready.

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Permalink Reply by JL on December 2, 2016 at 1:56am

I pick out good sticks from the bin at the big box store and have no problem gluing as-is, maybe a light sanding with fine grit as the mood strikes.

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Permalink Reply by Dan Sleep on December 2, 2016 at 4:04am

All good advice.

I would like to add that when it comes to a fretted neck, you want the fingerboard to be as flat and true as you can. If the wood is not true, then putting frets into it will result in uneven fret heights, which can cause buzzing and other issues.

When I build a neck, I slot the fretboard first, then glue it onto the neck. Once that is done, I check for flatness with a good quality straightedge. If there are any high spots, I touch it up on my bench sander. I don't take off a lot of material, just a couple of thousandths. I would much rather touch up the fingerboard than have to do excessive fret leveling afterwards.

Just my opinion, for what it is worth.

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Permalink Reply by Jim Saraceno on December 3, 2016 at 3:28am

What Dan Sleep said is spot on. I use the same procedure but once my fretboard is glued onto the neck, I will flatten it with 400 grit sandpaper. I have self adhesive disks that I will mount of a very flat surface. I used to use my router table but I came across a nice piece of 5/4 poplar that is super flat. I then put the fretboard down with light pressure and if their are any irregularities they will show up right away. I just keep at it until the entire freatboard is smooth as a baby's bottom.

After I install the frets (if you use a larger sized zero fret, leave it off) I will use the same process to flatten the frets. Be gentle and use the lightest pressure, you want to remove the least amount of metal possible.