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Build II - Paradox MJ5 - New design!

#224
Visited a local cabinet maker today to get the neck blank planed and thicknessed. Before I went there, I saw there was some minor tear out on the blank, so I already new this wood was prone to tear out pretty easiliy. I told this to the cabinet maker and he especially sharpened the blade of the planer for me before feeding the piece through, but despite all efforts (different directions, taking off more or less wood at the same time etcetera) the end result was this:

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Only a drum sander could fix this, but I do not have access to that and they're pretty expensive around here.

So, the cabinet maker offered me a piece of regular plain sawn maple, good price and he planed it to the right thickness for me. Would be my third neck blank for this bass, not particularly lucky with that...

This is it, side that will probably get the fingerboard attached to it:

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And the other side:

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Do you think it's suitable as a neck blank?

Or should I use the quarter sawn wenge blank I've got lying around?? What do you think?

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In the meantime I'm working on my scarf joint jigs....
 
#225
Wenge neck blank, it'd have nice contrast compared to the body, and wenge necks feel great. If you could use the curly maple as a fretboard with wenge blocks and binding that would look great.

looks great so far man, looking forward to more progress

-Greg
 
#227
Greg Johnsen said:
Wenge neck blank, it'd have nice contrast compared to the body, and wenge necks feel great. If you could use the curly maple as a fretboard with wenge blocks and binding that would look great.

looks great so far man, looking forward to more progress

-Greg
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Great suggestion! I'll think about that, for this, or the next build.

Ol'Bass'ead said:
That blank should work fine-not to mention its gorgeous! (If you dont use it, Ill buy it off you). What I would do is cut it right down the middle and put a 1/4" of wenge in there-or maybe two!
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I was referring to the plain maple, are you sure you aren't talking about the flamed one? Wouldn't call the plain maple gorgeous...
 
#229
I might be wrong, but I don't see that tear out as being a real problem for your neck... if it's correctly planed, even though there is tear out, those tear out holes will be covered with the glue and I don't think it will compromise the strength of the neck and the fingerboard glue joint. (or any glue joint)

And you will certainly be able to get rid of it during the finishing process by hand on the exposed side of the wood.

Am I wrong in thinking this?

Or does the tear mean you couldn't get the piece well planed?
 
#230
fretless_guy said:
If it were me, I would try to find someone that has a drum sander. There has to be someone around who could sand the flame maple board down for you.

Before I bought mine, I put an add on an online woodworkers forum.
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I will, eventually, but I need to proceed with this build. This build is going too slow already. And the design is rather over the top already with the flamed maple top with wenge veneer, the macassar ebony fingerboard, binding, pearl pickguard etcetera. So the plain maple will fit perfectly and also looks nice with the macassar. Plain maple was the original plan anyway.

jmorbita said:
I might be wrong, but I don't see that tear out as being a real problem for your neck... if it's correctly planed, even though there is tear out, those tear out holes will be covered with the glue and I don't think it will compromise the strength of the neck and the fingerboard glue joint. (or any glue joint)

And you will certainly be able to get rid of it during the finishing process by hand on the exposed side of the wood.

Am I wrong in thinking this?

Or does the tear mean you couldn't get the piece well planed?
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Well, the piece is rather well planed, not perfectly, but okay. However, I think you are wrong. Because there's a lot of tear out. If you glue the fingerboard blank to it, it will be invisible, but after cutting the neck to shape, you will expose the tear out on the edge between the fingerboard and the neck. Getting a really nasty glue line....

Next to that, I like to shape the neck with a spokeshave. Being a plane too, I expect to encouter the same difficulties when shaping the neck.
 
#234
pushifier said:
Yes sending the wood, would be a better options then.
(got this one from markplaats for 425 euro second hand; it is such a relief now not sanding/flattening wood by hand...it took like forever )
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That's not a bad price, although still not cheap considering my tight budget. Maybe next year :). Oh.. and I do not have space in my shop, so I would have to figure that out too.. I think that's the biggest problem.
 
#235
Routed the plain maple straight and clean (4S now) and it turns out to be a rather nice piece, with a very subtle flame. Fits the macassar ebony very well. So, this is the plan:

This build: hard rock maple (little flame) - macassar ebony fb

Next build (fretless): wenge neck - black ebony fb

The heavily flamed maple piece has to be saved and receives a rosewood fb for another build, maybe my first electric guitar.
 
#237
bassteban said:
Subbed. LOVE that design.
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Thanks!! :cool:


Due to the lack of decent machinery I'm going to have to cut the scarf joint by hand and clean it up with the router afterwards. This needs a jig and since I didn't keep the previous one I'm making a new one right now:

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This one will be decent and made to be used more than once. On the right a kind of miter box like jig that holds my saw straight and perpendicular to the workbench while cutting the neck blank at 12 degrees. On the left (not glued yet) the guides for the router sled.

I hope to finish this all soon so I can proceed with the good stuff again...
 
#238
After almost a week, I finished my new 12 degrees scarf joint jig for a hand saw and a router. If you have about one hour each few days, it's going slow, especially with those less exciting tasks you have to get past to get to the good stuff.. but I wanted this to be as perfect as possible, it's a crucial part of the final strength of the neck construction to get this right. Getting tired a bit of only having a router, jigsaw and drill press, but I'll get there.. oh well.

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