Carbon fiber neck build

[Jeroen914]

Both the gelcoat and reinforcement putty are epoxy based, not polyester
As you predicted, the heel and specially the headstock were toughest to get out
I'll put some extra attention into the release agent

 

[Jeroen914]

use graphite for the mold, but don't hold me responsible for what happens to your MM!

You should share some of your neck making procedures with us poor struggling amateurs

 

[2112]

sub'd

 

[Jeroen914]

Yeah... finally an update
Told ya not to hold your breath

Upon fixing the broken mold, I found out that I did manage to get some mechanical lock into it, explaining why it released so terribly. It was very minor, but enough to act up
So been doin' a lot of sanding and fixing and sanding and bondo and, well you get the idea... Hope I got it right

Prepped everything the best I could and layed up the carbon into the mold tonight

It's in the vacuum bag now, curing
I'll let you know how it turned out tomorrow
Fingers x-ed

 

[swarfrat]

Idle noob CF/FG question:

I know they can be stiff, but is the shell alone stiff or do you need some internal geometry? Like the neck is an I-beam?

The L-2 was fiberglass right? Does C/F make any appreciable differences from ordinary FG?
Does anything go inside if its hollow? Foam?

Is there some assembled tome I should peruse rather than hijack someone's build thread?

 

[Jeroen914]

Am quite the CF noob myself, so don't worry
Yes, it's very strong. I was actually really surpised by the stiffness of the first part I made
It should basically end up as kind of a tube, filled with foam
Check some of MPU's threads, he's build some awesome stuff out of CF

 

[Jeroen914]

Well... to be honest, I was pretty sceptical last night
Things didn't go as smooth as I planned and the vacuum-bag played up
But I managed to get it all to work and I demolded the part this morning without any issues

Here it is!

detail of the headstock

obligatory feet-shot

it even fits

There are some minor surface imperfections (couple of air bubbles in the epoxy top coat), but that was to be expected and is easily fixed
It's extremely stiff / strong and weighs near to nothing

To say I'm pretty stoked would be an understatement
Now on to trimming..

 

[Jeff Siddall]

Well... to be honest, I was pretty sceptical last night
Things didn't go as smooth as I planned and the vacuum-bag played up
But I managed to get it all to work and I demolded the part this morning without any issues

Here it is!

View attachment 4972356

detail of the headstock
View attachment 4972357

obligatory feet-shot
View attachment 4972358

it even fits

There are some minor surface imperfections (couple of air bubbles in the epoxy top coat), but that was to be expected and is easily fixed
It's extremely stiff / strong and weighs near to nothing

To say I'm pretty stoked would be an understatement
Now on to trimming..

That turned out great. Nice work!

 

[scuzzy]

Well... to be honest, I was pretty sceptical last night
Things didn't go as smooth as I planned and the vacuum-bag played up
But I managed to get it all to work and I demolded the part this morning without any issues

Here it is!

View attachment 4972356

detail of the headstock
View attachment 4972357

obligatory feet-shot
View attachment 4972358

it even fits

There are some minor surface imperfections (couple of air bubbles in the epoxy top coat), but that was to be expected and is easily fixed
It's extremely stiff / strong and weighs near to nothing

To say I'm pretty stoked would be an understatement
Now on to trimming..

Just let a fretboard on without trimming, nice 4-to-6 string conversion!

Looks great!

 

[Jeroen914]

time is tight, so progress is slow
but I did manage to remove most of the excess today and it's slowly starting to look like a neck

 

[DeathDancer]

Is Buzz putting Woody in his place?

Slow or not progress is progress!

 

[Jeroen914]

Is Buzz putting Woody in his place?

I think it's Jesse, but I'd have to check with my daughter to be sure

 

[Jeroen914]

small update on my ghetto cf project...

First of all, I made the top plate fit flush inside the neck
I also built my version of "Bruce Bars", a bit different, but the same idea
I have no skills but lots of patience and determination, so after f-ing it up 3 times the fourth came out as planned

I'll double check everything for fit and then it's time to glue these pieces together

 

[DeathDancer]

I'm not familiar with that term. What do you mean by Bruce Bars?

 

[1n3]

I'm not familiar with that term. What do you mean by Bruce Bars?

Threaded Inserts

 

[1n3]

Jeroen914 - can you talk about how you deal with the small carbon fibers from cutting/filing? CF is cool stuff, but that issue concerns me.

 

[Jeroen914]

@1n3 It's actually not that bad to work with
It can be very sharp, but I've had no issues with splinters so far (last famous words)
I do make sure to be wearing a good vapor mask when sanding/filing/cutting, cause the dust is supposed to be extra nasty, so not taking any risks there
I also wear latex gloves as the dust can be slightly itchy, but no where near as bad as fiberglass
Fascinating stuff to work with for sure

 

[1n3]

@1n3 It's actually not that bad to work with
It can be very sharp, but I've had no issues with splinters so far (last famous words)
I do make sure to be wearing a good vapor mask when sanding/filing/cutting, cause the dust is supposed to be extra nasty, so not taking any risks there
I also wear latex gloves as the dust can be slightly itchy, but no where near as bad as fiberglass
Fascinating stuff to work with for sure

Thanks. And cleanup?
I can testify on itch from fiberglass.

 

[Jeroen914]

I did most of the dust-making outdoors, but I'm guessing clean up is the same as with anything that produces a lot of dust, wether it's from working with wood, plaster, bodyfiller, grinding metal etc.

 

[Whale]

The work you’ve completed so far is utterly fascinating! I can’t wait to see the final product.