How to make fretboards and neck pieces flat manually

[cesar]

Hello guys!

I decided to build my own eletric guitar since it's too expensive to import one( i would pay another guitar in taxes), that way i can spend the saved money on the rest of the rig.

The catch is how to make the neck pieces ( going for 3 or 5 pieces ) and fret board flat without using any type of machinery?
How do you guys do it?

I already built acoustic guitars before but i had acess to all imaginable machinery on the ocassion

Any additional tips on the process is welcome,

Thanks in advance guys!

 

[TonyFlyingSquirrel]

Impossible to do without machinery.
And, I can tell you from experience, you'll spend as much if not more on tools to build a custom guitar as you would on the purchase, shipping, and customs duties on a boutique hand built guitar.

If you don't plan on building & selling from a business perspective, you're likely better off saving up $$$ & purchasing a custom made.

 

[Deegatron]

if you already build acoustics you likely have a router...
build a router thicknessing sled. I use that .... on everything... literally...

 

[geoffstgermaine]

First - it's not impossible without machinery. Without any machinery you'll likely find it exceptionally slow and tedious, though. I have seen full electric guitar builds executed with only hand tools, but these were done by people who wanted to build with only hand tools... not because they were limited to only using them. This viewpoint may make it difficult to follow through given how much longer many operations will take.

It's hard to make suggestions without knowing to what tools you have access. Flattening can be done very effectively with a well set up and appropriately sized plane. Combine that with a quality workbench and you can get them as flat as your skill will allow (which can be as good as any jointer).

Are the neck laminates already cut to rough size? If not, a power saw is going to take a fraction of the time to cut compared with a hand saw. This is one place where I would view the use of a hand tool as verging on unacceptable as cutting any reasonably hard wood is going to take a very long time.

Deegatron has a great point as well. I know of a commercial builder who uses a router with appropriate sleds and jigs to plane and joint pretty much all of his neck and body woods.

https://www.talkbass.com/threads/router-planing-fixtures.1267460/

 

[odibrom]

When buying the wood, have it to the desired dimensions just before the gluing part, meaning all sides perfectly planed.

 

[cesar]

Impossible to do without machinery.
And, I can tell you from experience, you'll spend as much if not more on tools to build a custom guitar as you would on the purchase, shipping, and customs duties on a boutique hand built guitar.

If you don't plan on building & selling from a business perspective, you're likely better off saving up $$$ & purchasing a custom made.

Just for you guys understand my situation.

I am from brasil, my annual income is somewhere between 12.000 R$ after taxes, one agile guitar would cost me about that, one year of income without spending a dime, it's wayyy out my reality.
Whereas tools i have some and they are relatively cheap just like woods.

 

[cesar]

@odibrom that would be the best of worlds, incredible simple and effective.
Gonna try that

 

[Lemonbaby]

Dead simple - hand plane. I'm a little surprised that everyone's suggesting some kind of machines. Routers in particular are IMHO the worst choice for creating a really flat wood surface.

 

[TuffyKohler]

In the USA, we can hit up companies that install countertops, and get some of the scraps for free.

I've scored a few good size pieces of granite that are perfectly flat, and are great for flattening surfaces prior to glue up.

They can be used to level frets too.

cost = $0

if they install Corian countertops, grab some scraps of that too, it's a good material to make nuts from.

 

[MikeNeal]

2nd on the scrap of countertop. cheapest way of doing it by far.

 

[KnightBrolaire]

Dead simple - hand plane. I'm a little surprised that everyone's suggesting some kind of machines. Routers in particular are IMHO the worst choice for creating a really flat wood surface.

^THIS. Handplane and a level are all you really need to make sure it's flat.
It'll make your life a lot easier if you can get wood close to the overall dimensions of the neck you want though, then you don't need to plane a lot of wood.

 

[TonyFlyingSquirrel]

First - it's not impossible without machinery. Without any machinery you'll likely find it exceptionally slow and tedious, though. I have seen full electric guitar builds executed with only hand tools, but these were done by people who wanted to build with only hand tools... not because they were limited to only using them. This viewpoint may make it difficult to follow through given how much longer many operations will take.

It's hard to make suggestions without knowing to what tools you have access. Flattening can be done very effectively with a well set up and appropriately sized plane. Combine that with a quality workbench and you can get them as flat as your skill will allow (which can be as good as any jointer).

Are the neck laminates already cut to rough size? If not, a power saw is going to take a fraction of the time to cut compared with a hand saw. This is one place where I would view the use of a hand tool as verging on unacceptable as cutting any reasonably hard wood is going to take a very long time.

Deegatron has a great point as well. I know of a commercial builder who uses a router with appropriate sleds and jigs to plane and joint pretty much all of his neck and body woods.

https://www.talkbass.com/threads/router-planing-fixtures.1267460/

I defer. I think I was taking the interpretation a tad too far.

 

[geoffstgermaine]

Dead simple - hand plane. I'm a little surprised that everyone's suggesting some kind of machines. Routers in particular are IMHO the worst choice for creating a really flat wood surface.

It totally depends on how the router is being manipulated. For instance, most people accept using a router and a jig for cutting neck joints for set (glued in) necks. If a jig is appropriately designed it can clearly be extended to a larger surface.

If you check the link I included the OP builds necks for a number of other shops, which seems to be the bulk of his business despite him being a manufacturer of completed instruments himself. He's been building necks using these jigs for more than 20 years, so the proof seems to be in the pudding.

 

[Lemonbaby]

It totally depends on how the router is being manipulated. For instance, most people accept using a router and a jig for cutting neck joints for set (glued in) necks. If a jig is appropriately designed it can clearly be extended to a larger surface.

If you check the link I included the OP builds necks for a number of other shops, which seems to be the bulk of his business despite him being a manufacturer of completed instruments himself. He's been building necks using these jigs for more than 20 years, so the proof seems to be in the pudding.

I didn't say it's not possible - it's just not an easy and precise solution. The question is: how do you make sure, your jig is stable and really dead flat in the first place? MDF will most likely get wonky over time with humidity and weight sitting on it. If I used a construction like this, I'd get the jig CNC machined out of metal. But then again, that's way more expensive than just geting a nice #6 bench plane.

 

[cesar]

Just like odibrom said i managed to make the seller flat it out for me so i will probably use a granite block, i live near a marble factory, to even out it where i will glue if it is necessary.

Many thanks guys

 

[Walshy]

Buy your stock pre jointed and get a good number 5 hand plane. It is one of the most useful tools going and still one of the best and least messy options even with machinery being available. Just make sure you tune it up and use the scary sharp system for honing the iron. Or diamond plates if you can afford them.

Router sleds are great too but can leave tracks that need sanding or planing before glue up.

Most importantly, buy reliable air or kiln dried wood with no more than 15% moisture content. Under 10% is even better. Meters for measuring water content are pretty cheap. Buy one and take it to your lumber supplier and check before you buy.

 

[goodkingzog]

It may have to be enlarged to work with body sized pieces, but the following link could be ok for neck blanks and fingerboards

http://theamateurluthier.com/movies/easyjointer.mov

 

[cubix]

You can also get a hold of a granite plate and glue some sandpaper on that and just sand the wood on it. But it has to be a pretty large piece of granite, maybe scraps from a place that makes headstones for graveyards?

 

[Danukenator]

In the USA, we can hit up companies that install countertops, and get some of the scraps for free.

I also second this.

My father uses a countertop scrap to sand stuff flat and to sharpen some tools. It has worked great in my experience. Just grab some sticky-back sandpaper (or clamp the sheet down depending on it's size).