Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Scott aka Farmer Ted on January 7, 2014 at 7:23am

I set mine up with a trim job from a router...thinning to 5/8". Can be done with good handsaw, a coarse/medium file and plane.

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Muddy Creek Guitars on January 7, 2014 at 7:27am

First of all, welcome to the nation!
When I started building, I would measure and then chisel out just shy of the line. Then file and sand. This took a while but got good results. Now I use a palm router. It's fairly exact and I just sand it smooth.
I suppose if you have a table saw or planer, that would be faster.
I don't claim to know everything, or anything for that matter. But I'm happy to share.

Good luck building!

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Coventry Halfpenny guitars on January 7, 2014 at 7:35am

Hi

I'm no expert but personally I make the scarf joint add the wings then use a plane to get the thickness I want for the tuners.But do remember that as the thickness of the headstock reducess the length of the neck gets shorter and the headstock gets longer so dont set the length of the neck or frets until the headstock is right.Good luck sorry I don't have any pictures.

 

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Ivo Garza on January 7, 2014 at 7:39am

Depends on what tools you have at hand.  After it is cut but before you glue the scarf joint, a fast and accurate way is a band saw and then a thickness sander (Typically too short for the planer).  I have used a hand saw and a jack plane (An 1/8" is thin for a hand saw and thick for a hand plane alone.)  You can use a router to route the inside and leave a rim that you can take off with chisel and or rasp.  You can use a plane alone (this will build up your arms.)  If it is not too wide, you could use a wide chisel and then a plane or rasp.

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Vinylhed on January 7, 2014 at 8:05am

I've used a number of different ways of doing this.

Sawing works fine, if you've a good saw and a steady hand. I've also cut multiple slots down the length of the neck and then chiselled out the resulting blocks and then sand. My last one was done using a new electric sander, which worked well...but scared the bejesus outta me. That being said, it will be the way I'll be doing it in the future.

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Ron "Oily" Sprague on January 7, 2014 at 8:48am

Taking 1/8" off is really pretty easy with

1) Belt sander (but make sure it is flat and level; 80 grit takes the wood off quick)
2) Block plane (but make sure it is properly sharpened, and properly set up so it doesn't gouge, but results in thin curls)
3) Rasp ( but requires a good eye; it can take a lot of wood off too quickly and unevenly if you're not careful)
4) Block sander and elbow grease
5) Electric palm sander (80 grit makes this fast and easy)
6) Multiple cuts, chisel out and hand sanding
7) Rotozip or Dremel saber tip bit, then hand sand
8) Coping saw, then hand sand
9) Crosscut saw, then hand sand
10) Thin bladed hacksaw, then hand sand
11) Router, then hand sand
12) Japanese pull saw, then hand sand

I have used all of these methods. They all work. If the top has nice wood figure, take it off the back (but it's harder to do on the backside of the scarf). It's easier to take it off the top; go slow, and check your work frequently with a level.

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by jawbone on January 7, 2014 at 10:01am

13) Chainsaw and lots of caffeine    ;-)

ps - be sure to open the windows

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Greg Potts on January 7, 2014 at 9:40am

If you use a saw you're going to have to sand it anyway.

I use a belt sander, it's a vertical model with a 6" wide x 48" long belt. When fitted with a 50 or 80 grit belt it has no problem thinning a headstock. I also use it to shape my necks.

Before I got the big belt sander I used to use a smaller hand-held black and decker belt sander which was mounted upside down on the vise attached to my workbench. It wasn't very convenient, but it would get the job done.

If you take it off the front side, you shorten the neck slightly. On my most recent build I had to start over on a neck because  when I thinned the headstock the front of the neck became too short to properly fit the fretboard. Due to the design of the box I couldn't reposition the bridge so I just started over on the neck and set aside the "spoiled" neck for a different project.

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by SoulStew on January 7, 2014 at 11:01am

Thanks for all of your responses! I have a much better understanding of the process now.

I built a mock up neck and headstock out of some 1x2 spruce as sort of a test run to get the idea down a little bit before I actually start on an instrument. After gluing the scarf joint and letting it dry I glued on some "wings" then shaped the headstock with jigsaw. I then took about an 1/8' off the front side with a palm sander. It actually worked pretty darn good imo, especially for my first time.

Like I said above, I thinned on the front side but I stopped sanding right above where the nut would go. So correct me if I am wrong but, I sanded on the front side and my neck length did not change, right?

I can see how if you took an 1'8 off the whole front side evenly it would make the headstock longer and the neck shorter, but what I did looks really nice. Am I missing anything?

Thanks again for your help everyone, I can tell right now I will be learning a lot from this site.

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Reeds Taylor on January 7, 2014 at 12:09pm

Here's how I do mine.

Hope this helps

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Piht Bull (Delta Dawg Guitars) on January 7, 2014 at 2:03pm

Exactly how i do it . Lol never seen it on a drawing before . 

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Bad Finger (Eric) on January 8, 2014 at 2:00am

That's the fastest and easiest way to take off thickness ~1/4" and greater by hand, in my opinion.  Not sure I could pull it off for 1/8" though as you want to stop the saw short of the final depth and rasp and sand to finish.  So you probably only get to cut down 1/16" or so.  Probably faster to go straight to the rasp or palm sander.

If you go this route be careful when cutting the depth of each slot so you get a relatively even surface to the depth you want.  

• ▶ Reply

• ‹ Previous
• 1
• 2
• 3
• Next ›
• Page