bolt on neck and neck pocket templates how..

[tjclem]

...do you make them so that the neck sits tight in the pocket? I use MDF but making everything even and tight is a real pain. I am wodering what tips or tricks you all have. Thanks .....t

[roberthabraken]

Well, that's quite easy actually .

See this post of mine, I recently have done a good job using this method: (see description below link)

First build thread 'Roberts JB4'

- Clamp two bars on each side to the neck.
- Use a ruler to check if it aligns with the body.
- If it aligns okay, clamp it to the body.
- Stick a small piece of wood on the body with double sided tape and secure it with another bar and a clamp.
- Remove the neck.
- Start routing.

And it fits like a glove!
(However, I did it over in a later post to make the pocket deeper, but that doesn't matter concerning the method I used.)


Edit: I forgot to mention in the list of steps that you need to clamp the bars on the end of the neck, beneath the neck, too. As you see in the pics. This, together with the clamps on the body, make sure the bars won't move at all after removing the neck. Of course, when everything is fastened you should remove the clamps you've started with (in first pic) to be able to remove the neck.

[CptanPanic]

I think that method of using the neck as the template is the best way also. But I am trying to figure out a good way to not have the bridge side of the neck being square. I would like to round off the corners, but how to make sure the body exactly matches the neck. Maybe if you use a roundover bit to do the corners that matches the radius of the bit you use to route out the pocket.
CP

[roberthabraken]

Originally Posted by CptanPanic

I think that method of using the neck as the template is the best way also. But I am trying to figure out a good way to not have the bridge side of the neck being square. I would like to round off the corners, but how to make sure the body exactly matches the neck. Maybe if you use a roundover bit to do the corners that matches the radius of the bit you use to route out the pocket.
CP

Yeah, I didn't have this problem because my neck is square on the bridge side and I could use a chisel to clean up the route, but my other idea was, indeed, rounding it with the same radius as the round over bit. Otherwise: you could make an MDF template only for that part and clamp it in between the side bars as I did. That would be easier than a complete template for the neck pocket.

[Beauchene Implements]

Just note that, as many experienced folks told me during my first build, that it isn't the sides of the pocket that support the neck, it's the bottom. Don't make the neck pocket so tight that you don't have any play, or you might have trouble getting proper alignment or crack the body from thermal expansion. Too loose though, and it looks like butt.