New Build - Heretic Paradigm 6

[HaMMerHeD]

I got the truss rod and carbon fiber rod slots done:

I'm getting to be pretty excited about this project now. I should be able to get the neck cut out, make a neck pocket router template, and hopefully get the threaded inserts in the neck tomorrow.

For tonight, I'm just gonna epoxy in the carbon fiber rods.

 

[MoonJelly]

Love the colors on that neck.

 

[HaMMerHeD]

I hadn't really thought much about the body profile other than "rounded bevels on the front, and round on the back", so I took a minute to draw out a rough plan for the top.

What I mean by "rounded bevels on the front, and round on the back" is basically this:

The back is fullly smoothed and comfy, and the front shows some hard lines.

 

[HaMMerHeD]

I didn't get a whole lot done today. I just leveled the neck heel addons that I glued on the other day, to bring the neck heel to the right width.

I glued on rather a lot more than was strictly necessary. It only needed about 1/16" on each side, and only for about 3" from the end of the heel, but my thickness planer doesn't do 1/16" thick, and it doesn't do less than 12-1/2" length. So I glued on some extra.

I cut the glued on pieces so that they were about 1/16" proud of the neck on both sides, then took them down with a #4 Kobalt plane, a low-angle Stanley block plane, and some Sheffield bench scrapers.

The glue joint will be just about invisible when the neck is carved and finished, and anyway, it'll be almost entirely contained within the neck pocket, so it won't matter much if it isn't invisible.

Also, the neck blank is cut to width. My process from here out (for the neck anyway) is as follows:

1. Epoxy in the carbon rods (they need to be scraped down a little first)
2. Rough-cut the neck taper (~1/16" outside the line)
3. Cut the final taper on the fretboard
4. Install the truss rod and glue on the fretboard
5. Trim the neck to the fretboard
6. Add ears to the headstock
7. Add the ash headplate to the headstock
8. Shap the neck

Lots of steps, but it's not terribly time consuming stuff.

 

[HaMMerHeD]

I may actually amend that process a bit for this build.

I'd like to use the threaded inserts in this neck, and I have had a really hard time getting them into wenge in the past so I'm thinking about putting them in from the top, before the fretboard goes on. But if I do, it'll mean a pretty significant process change because I'll need to fit the neck to the neck pocket before attaching the fretboard. And of course that means the neck will have to be trimmed to final shape first, and the fretboard trimmed to the neck, rather than the other way around, which is how i normally handle scarfed necks.


So...not entirely sure at this point.

Thoughts?

 

[GXPO]

I think I've never built a guitar but this is all incredible. Thoughts and prayers regarding the inserts.

 

[HaMMerHeD]

So....god damn it.

I marked my lines, rough cut the neck on the bandsaw, attached my straight edge router template, started routing....and then watched a big shard of wenge get torn off and flung against the wall.

I didn't take any pictures.

I don't know if I can fix it, or, frankly, if I want to.

Also now I need new hearing protection.

 

[MoonJelly]

Shiiiit. I feel your pain on that one, only mine was a shard of ebony. It was on the face of a body and it took some of the body with it. So I thought if I could find it I'd glue it back in. It went somewhere in the grass and I never found it.

I still have the body sitting in a corner for like 2 years now, I keep thinking I'll come up with a way to inconspicuously repair it, but it's essentially firewood to me now.

 

[HaMMerHeD]

Yeah.

I think I'm going to set it aside for possible future repair and use in a different project. But for this one, I'm going to go get some maple and press on with my original plan.

 

[Knarbens]

So sorry man! :/
Do you have a spiral cut flush trim bit?

 

[HaMMerHeD]

I do, but it's a top-bearing bit, and I was using the template on the bottom. I was using a bit with a 1/4" cutting height, and had only about 3/16" of the bit engaged with the wood. So I'm calling it an internal weakness.

 

[BlackMastodon]

Shit, sorry to hear about the set back. Forgive my ignorance, but is it possible to cut ebony/wenge/hardwoods using the router "backwards" to avoid tear out like that? I thought I remember hearing about that somewhere, though I'm not surprised if that's wrong.

Regarding the neck inserts below the fretboard, don't you really just need to shape the heel area on the neck and match it up on the body before drilling for the holes? As long as the centre lines match up I think this should work.

 

[HaMMerHeD]

Shit, sorry to hear about the set back. Forgive my ignorance, but is it possible to cut ebony/wenge/hardwoods using the router "backwards" to avoid tear out like that? I thought I remember hearing about that somewhere, though I'm not surprised if that's wrong.

Regarding the neck inserts below the fretboard, don't you really just need to shape the heel area on the neck and match it up on the body before drilling for the holes? As long as the centre lines match up I think this should work.

Yeah, some climb-cutting might have prevented that. But I dislike climb-cutting, as it is perilously difficult to control.

And yeah, all I'd really need to shape is the neck heel before I can put the threaded inserts in. But since it's no more work to set up for a full-neck taper cut than it is to just shape the heel, I prefer to combine those operations.

The plan for that operation is this (After the scarf joint is routed and glued...again):

1. Taper the neck,meaning: go from square neck blank to final-width at the nut and the heel.
2. Make a neck pocket template
3. Route the neck pocket
4. Fit the neck heel into the neck pocket
5. Drill holes in the neck for the threaded insert
6. Install threaded inserts (using epoxy to lube instead of wax)
7. Use a tapered/sharpened 1/4-20 screw to mark for drilling screw holes in the neck pocket
8. Drill holes for neck screws, with 1/2" diameter counter-sink for the washers

I did go get some nice maple and have glued the new neck together. I'm just waiting on some free time to appear before I go do the scarf joint.

 

[BlackMastodon]

While you have the neck in the heel, can't you just drill through both to make sure they align correctly and then drill in the neck with a wider bit for the inserts if necessary?

 

[HaMMerHeD]

They may align correctly that way, but it's more likely that the bit will deflect with so deep a cut.

I prefer to mark the center point of holes, then drill. Otherwise you are almost guaranteed to get those insert holes drilled off-center.

 

[FloridaRolf]

Damn, sad to read about that. I'm still struggling with the pieces of wenge for my neck and may even scrap that wood because it's such a pain in the ass to work with and even planing with all that grain crossing everywhere is almost impossible.
Keep your head up!

 

[MikeNeal]

That's the downside of wenge. You can get all the way done a project but the last millimeter - then bam massive tear out.

For what its worth - I only climb cut wenge these days. It can be sketchy. And it's a major reason i went cnc

 

[HaMMerHeD]

New neck is mostly machined. I need to go get some epoxy for the CF stiffeners, then Imma taper the fretboard and glue it on.

 

[HaMMerHeD]

So...being very frustrated by my plethora of neck problems, I let the project sit for a long time. Far longer than I intended. But hey...I have a toddler. Life...finds a way to get in the way.

But recently, I took the project back up, and I have made a lot of exciting progress.

I have a neck, and it's looking pretty good. It's made from a 3/4" Purpleheart core, two 3/8" hard maple stringers, and Jatoba...sides.

Looks nice, yeah?


I also decided to change the headstock. It's more like my old one, but updated and streamlined a bit for a 6-string bass.

Tuners fit!


And I made the headplate. It's made from two 1/8" slices I took of a bit of swamp ash body slab cutoff. Of course, it needs a matching slot for the truss rod access.



The updated headstock is bout 5/16" wider than the 4" blank, so I'm gluing on some ears on the head tonight, and I'll glue the ash headplate on tomorrow.

(Also, sorry about all the broken images. I'll see if I can fix them.)

 

[HaMMerHeD]

So I cut the headstock out.


Then thinned the backside a bit:


And cut the headplate to about 1/16" larger than it needs to be:


And glued it on:


Once it's out of clamps, I'll install the truss rod and glue on the fretboard, then trim them both to size.