I was worried that the dovetail joints might be too tight, too loose, whatever. As it turned out, everything was pretty straightforward.
 |
| Sanding setup for the necks. I have a great vintage stationary belt/disc Sander, and it theoretically has dust ports, but they only capture about 30% of the dust. So I posted a fan in the window and moved the tool near it. Between the fan and the dust ports, it wasn't too bad, |
 |
| With the tip and flat of the belt sander, using a new 40-grit belt, I shaped the neck to rough dimensions, leaving a little for hand rasping and sanding. The bottom one is roughed out, the top one is waiting to go.It was relatively easy to get decent proportions. I love the V figure that emerged as I rolled the headstock into the neck. |
 |
| I used a Nicholson rasp to bring the necks to their final fair shape. I stopped every few minute to remove the neck and feel it for symmetry. Part of the task here was knowing when to stop. |
 |
| Laying out the fit of the neck to the body. This was a difficult measurement. A straight line along the centerline of the fingerboard should fall exactly 3/4" over the top of the body at the location of the bridge. I placed the neck in the body and measured how far it needed to set down on top of the body to accomplish this. For one guitar it was about 1/4", and for the other it was about 3/8". Both seemed within specs. Next, I scribed both sides of the "waste" portion of the fingerboard extension, and marked it for cutting. I could only cut some of it away by sawing, leaving a lot of trim and "inside corner" work around the dovetail. |
 |
| Trimming the waste for a rough fit. A sharp chisel, small japanese saw and shop knife let me trim away enough for a rough fit after bandsawing the waste, then back to the belt sander to shape the "floating" tip of the fingerboard. |
 |
| The neck on the bottom is ready for a rough trial fit, the one at top is uncut. |
 |
| After I got a decent rough fit, I made and added a heel cap to each neck made of curly red maple with a mahogany veneer separating it from the other maple at the "binding" line of the back. |
Fantastic work. Very inspiring. I'm in the process of building my first archtop, I'm in the process of putting in the side braces and linings. It's very helpful to watch you a few steps ahead.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Chris - are you doing any documenting of your build? Are you (also) working from Benedetto's plans and book? I'd love to see it.
DeleteI have been trying to take pictures along the way but have not been as good about it as I would have like. I am also following Benedetto's book, or trying to, although I'm not a great wood worker so it's not quite following the plan exactly. I'd be more than happy to show you what I've got I'm not sure how to post a picture in my reply though.
DeleteLooks good Bob. I see you haven't installed the frets yet, did you take their height into account when you did the bridge height set-up measurement?
ReplyDeleteI waited to install the frets because I didn't want to do all that carpentry on the neck while they were in place.
DeleteBob Benedetto's comment in the book about the line from the top of the fingerboard "1 inch above the top" at the bridge location, in his part about fitting the neck is ambiguous, and had me confused. I ignored it, and drew a line on the plans following the fingerboard (no frets) to the spot over the bridge, which is 3/4." On both guitars, the actual measurement without trimming the extension was +/- 1", and I removed the difference. I'm much more comfortable with the excellent plans than with his commentary, which is sometimes sort of vague.
Agreed, the book is not enough to build the guitar, you also need the plans. Nice work!
Delete