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5 string buckeye burl/mahogany neck through

#21
I got the body cutout and routed to the template.

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Cut out the little bark area (roughly).

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Used a router and straight edge to joint the burl and also cut out parts of the shape, but left the sides flat for clamping.

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Any suggestions on good, but not super expensive straight edges? I've pretty much been using edges of mdf and they only stay straight for so long.

Glued.

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I started testing some different finishes on scraps.

This one is gloss polyurethane. I sprayed a ton on and it all soaked in.

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Platina blonde shellac looks nice.

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I'm going to put some poly over those.

This one has mirror coat epoxy, which I like better on this one than I did on the burl for my bass last time (when I used it to stabilize).

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#22
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#23
Deep Cat said:
I get a lot of use out of a fairly long emerson clamping straight-edge.

http://www.amazon.com/E-Emerson-Tool-C50-All-In-One/dp/B003TXSAHU/ref=sr_1_1?s=hi&ie=UTF8&qid=1399355576&sr=1-1&keywords=clamping straight edge

I've also used home center aluminum extrusion type things for shorter straight edges. The L shape stays pretty straight for a long time and works well as a fence or guide for a router.
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I actually have something similar to that, but I'm looking for one that I can run a template bit's bearing up against, so I can just clamp it right up to the line I'm routing.
 
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#24
You can have a straight edge made of steel, by a machinist. Have it rectified and use the edges to run the bearing while routing. That's what I use.

Or if you have a jointer and plenty of MDF scraps, just plane the edge before use or from time to time to keep it straight.
 
#25
#27
The maple for the neck came today. Unfortunately it has a bow in it.

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I sprayed the concave side with water and laid it that side down on the grass out in the sun for a couple hours, because I've read that that's a method for flattening boards (except for the couple hours part, I just didn't have more time available today). I emailed customer service and they told me to spray both sides and put something heavy on it to flatten it out. Are there other methods I should try if this doesn't work?

I'm going to cut the maple into strips, flip them sideways and laminate them, so I guess the bow is more of an issue with gluing the strips together without it having tension than it being a problem of the neck being bowed.

I finished cutting out the burl. It's not flat yet, but I'll wait on that until I get a new router sled built. I'm not sure whether or not I want to coat this with epoxy. I did on my other one and it seemed like all it did was give me more that I had to sand later.

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I do like how the mirror coat looks on this.

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I added poly to these. It's still soaking it in, so it's not really a good comparison to the mirror coat yet.

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#28
Hopkins said:
That would probably work, but you would need to find something at least 1/4" thick. I use something similar but made of aluminum.
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The other ones they have on there that I clicked through so far are thinner, so I'll either need to look somewhere else or maybe put 2 or 3 of them together? I want something like 3 feet long probably so I can taper necks with it and stuff like that.
 
#29
Yes, what Hopkins said, 1/4" thick is preferred.

Maybe plexiglass? You could make your own straight edges. Buy it at least 1/4" thick (I prefer 8mm for this). Then plane one MDF edge on a jointer and immediatly route the plexiglass edge. Cutting it on CNC or laser would be ideal.
 
#30
I'm really anxious to hear if you had any luck flattening the board by putting water on it. I'm in the same boat not having a jointer so any tricks to flattening a grumpy board is great. Does having a board that is not dry enough cause this or is it just one of those things that just happens?
 
#31
lbridenstine said:
The other ones they have on there that I clicked through so far are thinner, so I'll either need to look somewhere else or maybe put 2 or 3 of them together? I want something like 3 feet long probably so I can taper necks with it and stuff like that.
Click to expand...


You may have to go to a metal supplier. Homedepot probably wont have what you need.
 
#32
Igor Porto said:
Yes, what Hopkins said, 1/4" thick is preferred.

Maybe plexiglass? You could make your own straight edges. Buy it at least 1/4" thick (I prefer 8mm for this). Then plane one MDF edge on a jointer and immediatly route the plexiglass edge. Cutting it on CNC or laser would be ideal.
Click to expand...

I don't have a jointer, CNC, or laser cutter, so I'll probably have to go a different route.

Jonny5bass said:
I'm really anxious to hear if you had any luck flattening the board by putting water on it. I'm in the same boat not having a jointer so any tricks to flattening a grumpy board is great. Does having a board that is not dry enough cause this or is it just one of those things that just happens?
Click to expand...

I'm hoping something works! They only have a 7 day return policy, so I'm a little worried that it won't work and I won't be able to return it either. It looks like it might be just a tiny bit better after yesterday, so I'll keep trying.

Hopkins said:
You may have to go to a metal supplier. Homedepot probably wont have what you need.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I was just looking at Home Depot's site to see if they had stuff I could make a router sled out of and I saw those flats on there. I don't know of any metal suppliers, I'll have to do some searching.




I might not have any updates right away. I want to make the new router sled before thinning down the body, then drilling/routing the control cavity and making the cover. I think the only other things I can do until we order more stuff is to cut and glue the neck, level it, and cut the scarf joint, but I need the maple flat before I can do any of that.

I'll post pictures of the router sled assuming it turns out good.
 
#33
lbridenstine said:
I don't have a jointer, CNC, or laser cutter, so I'll probably have to go a different route.
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But don't you have access to a company that does CNC or laser cutting? You could look for them in your city or nearby. Or even a woodworking place which has a jointer?

Or you will have to go to a metal supplier to get a blank.

That's part of being a luthier, you have to go after solutions for the problems. You can't just rely on Home Depot for supplies.
 
#38
If you order it online, I would put a note in the special instructions box that you are using it for a straight edge for a router, and to have them package it in a way that it wont get bent during shipping. It would be best to find a local metal supplier though, that way you will know its straight and not bent or bowed before you buy it.
 
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#39
Hopkins said:
If you order it online, I would put a note in the special instructions box that you are using it for a straight edge for a router, and to have them package it in a way that it wont get bent during shipping. It would be best to find a local metal supplier though, that way you will know its straight and not bent or bowed before you buy it.
Click to expand...

I already ordered it, so I did put that in the instructions, but if I need any more in the future, I'll try to find it locally.
 

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