5 string buckeye burl/mahogany neck through

[lbridenstine]

Love the headstock shape Lisa, reminds me of a candle flame....

Nice.

Thanks, he asked for a water drop, but water drops and candle flames look about the same without color and detail.

Looks great Lisa, you're about where I am on the headstock in the build operations. When you glue up use some MDF between your clamps and the buckeye so you don't dent the veneer!

Lonnybass

I will!

Will the headstock have inlay?

Nope. He wanted the eye inlay to be on the headstock originally, but I suggested that we do a fretboard inlay instead so it wouldn't be competing with the burl. I was thinking 12th fret, but he wanted it on the 1st, which looks pretty cool too.



Do you guys have any thoughts on turning the mahogany at an angle so I can fit the scarf joint on it?

 

[Lonnybass]

Do you guys have any thoughts on turning the mahogany at an angle so I can fit the scarf joint on it?

I wouldn't worry too much. Just keep in mind your end grain pattern when you sand/trim the headstock to final.

Lonnybass

 

[BassHappy]

Thanks, he asked for a water drop, but water drops and candle flames look about the same without color and detail.

I think I like the candle analogy better.

Keep the fire burnin and all that....

 

[vmabus]

I think I like the candle analogy better.

Keep the fire burnin and all that....

Plus, it's hot!

 

[lbridenstine]

More jointing with the router and mdf.

Some of this is repeated from the last update, but it will probably make a little more sense with the pictures, so...

I decided which piece I want on which side and what side will be top and bottom, so I jointed the two outer sides first, then put those outer sides on the inside while I traced the fretboard taper onto it and extended the lines all the way down the neck. I added a little bit of room to the outside of those lines to play it safe, then I cut the taper.

Then after jointing those edges, I flipped the two pieces around so that the tapered sides end up being the center line.

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So now the veneer lines taper out with the edges of the neck.

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I didn't notice when I was taking the photos that one half of the neck is higher than the other on the body end, but it's not glued up yet or anything, so no worries. I'll get it lined up correctly when I glue it.

As you can tell I don't have it leveled out yet. I decided to wait to do the rest until it's glued together so I don't have to level it multiple times and lose thickness each time.

So... it's ready to be glued, but I don't have time tonight, so that will get done tomorrow. I'm hoping for some decent temperatures soon so I can get the neck leveled and do the scarf joint next.

I do plan on at least doing the nut slot and 1st fret inlay route in the basement on one of the colder days.

 

[wraub]

That neck looks sweet.
Never saw that technique before, that center "line" looks really amazing.

Very cool.

 

[lbridenstine]

That neck looks sweet.
Never saw that technique before, that center "line" looks really amazing.

Very cool.

Thanks. I haven't seen it yet either, but I got the idea from Maurizio's necks with the tapered wedges in the middle.

 

[lbridenstine]

 

[Fat Steve]

Absolutely stunning work!

 

[mapleglo]

Wow! How do you keep the tapered pieces from slipping during glue up?

 

[lbridenstine]

Absolutely stunning work!

Thank you!

Wow! How do you keep the tapered pieces from slipping during glue up?

I didn't really. I just put a clamp on one end and slid it around and tightened and loosened and tightened again until I was okay with the alignment, then did the same to the other end, then put the rest of the clamps from one end to the other. I used the cutoffs from the neck on the outside to make a level surface for clamping, but it kind of just complicated things more because of having 4 pieces moving around on me instead of 2 and the clamps actually worked fine with the taper when I dry clamped it before I glued it, but I just thought it might even out the pressure slightly by having those cutoff wedges on there.




Just to get a rough idea of how the back will look...

 

[Jay Jillard]

This build is coming together so nicely. love the neck glue up.

 

[TULI]

More jointing with the router and mdf.

Some of this is repeated from the last update, but it will probably make a little more sense with the pictures, so...

I decided which piece I want on which side and what side will be top and bottom, so I jointed the two outer sides first, then put those outer sides on the inside while I traced the fretboard taper onto it and extended the lines all the way down the neck. I added a little bit of room to the outside of those lines to play it safe, then I cut the taper.

Then after jointing those edges, I flipped the two pieces around so that the tapered sides end up being the center line.

Invalid Link Removed

So now the veneer lines taper out with the edges of the neck.

Invalid Link Removed

I didn't notice when I was taking the photos that one half of the neck is higher than the other on the body end, but it's not glued up yet or anything, so no worries. I'll get it lined up correctly when I glue it.

As you can tell I don't have it leveled out yet. I decided to wait to do the rest until it's glued together so I don't have to level it multiple times and lose thickness each time.

So... it's ready to be glued, but I don't have time tonight, so that will get done tomorrow. I'm hoping for some decent temperatures soon so I can get the neck leveled and do the scarf joint next.

I do plan on at least doing the nut slot and 1st fret inlay route in the basement on one of the colder days.

I'd recognize those Harbor Freight clamps any where. I bought like 40 of them when I was stateside!

 

[Lonnybass]

Hey Lisa-

Where are you making this thing? From the pictures it looks like a mixture of a basement workshop, outside and your kitchen! Just wondering

Lonnybass

 

[lbridenstine]

This build is coming together so nicely. love the neck glue up.

Thanks!

I'd recognize those Harbor Freight clamps any where. I bought like 40 of them when I was stateside!

I have a few. I like them, especially the rubber handles and tips, but the handles tend to slip when I tighten the clamps, so I can only turn some of them so far.

Hey Lisa-

Where are you making this thing? From the pictures it looks like a mixture of a basement workshop, outside and your kitchen! Just wondering

Lonnybass

I do almost everything in the garage, but I keep the wood and hardware in the basement because it's freezing out (or any other weather condition throughout the rest of the year), so I usually take the pictures in the basement because there's better lighting.

 

[mapleglo]

Thanks!



I have a few. I like them, especially the rubber handles and tips, but the handles tend to slip when I tighten the clamps, so I can only turn some of them so far.



I do almost everything in the garage, but I keep the wood and hardware in the basement because it's freezing out (or any other weather condition throughout the rest of the year), so I usually take the pictures in the basement because there's better lighting.

A few of my HF clamps have the same problem. One handle screwed down halfway through the threads. For the money, I still think they are worth it.

 

[lbridenstine]

A few of my HF clamps have the same problem. One handle screwed down halfway through the threads. For the money, I still think they are worth it.

Yeah, they're definitely worth it. I think next time I buy some, I'll try to clamp them down at the store and see if any of them do that or not.

 

[lbridenstine]

I did some work on the bass indoors today. I wish I could always do that...

I guess I skipped a few steps in taking pictures, but first I laid out the inlay on the fretboard, then traced it with a scribe tool.

I've had people suggest that I fill the lines with something white so it's easier to see when the Dremel bit is spinning, so I found some of my white water based screen printing ink.

Squeegeed it and tried to wipe some of the excess off with a tissue.

Took the Dremel to it. I did extremely shallow passes. After I was done with the Dremel, I laid out the dots and marked where to drill for those and drilled them. The tape on my drill bit kept moving, so most of the dots ended up too deep. I'll have to remember to do something about that.

I did the nut slot with the Dremel too.

I measured the tuners and it looks like the headstock thickness needs to be about 1/2". I was thinking bass headstocks were 5/8", so that's what I had drawn out before when I thought the mahogany wasn't long enough for the scarf joint. Without that extra 1/8" thickness, it turns out that the mahogany is long enough.

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I'm figuring the mahogany thickness should be about 7/16" to leave room for the burl and a veneer to go in between the two.


I made this short video of the inlay process.

 

[wintremute]

I feel like I'm binging on Netflix. I just started reading this thread today, but now I have to wait for new updates! Looks magical. Carry on.

 

[lbridenstine]

I feel like I'm binging on Netflix. I just started reading this thread today, but now I have to wait for new updates! Looks magical. Carry on.

Thanks for taking the time to read it! There should be a pretty steady stream of updates from now until the end.