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First Build - And May My Mistakes Be Minimal

#121
Those Dewalt contractor saws with the Rack and Pinion fence are great, really good for small adjustments. Don't they have a dust port too? You see them on every construction site, and they beat on them, so you know they are durable. I have a 90's era Chinese manufacture Jet 10" table saw, so-so quality. It's good enough for rough work, but I need to do a full-blown tuneup on it, getting a lot of rough and burned cuts. It has a 1-1/2 HP motor, but I still trip the motor breaker all the time trying to cut thick rock maple. That stuff is nearly as hard as oak. I have a Jet 6" jointer, works pretty well except for drifting out of square. I did a tuneup on the Jointer recently using Mark Duginske's book as my bible:
Mastering Woodworking Machines (Find Woodworking): Mark Duginske, Andrew Schultz: 9780942391985: Amazon.com: Books
I really admire the people who can do precision work with a few hand tools and a rudimentary workspace. Makes me feel like a hack!
 
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#122
Yup, the Dewalt saws are really fantastic. I also have a 12" miter, which cuts nicely. In fact, I want to use it to do the scarf joint. I figure if I simply set a board with the appropriate angle against the fence and simply clamp the neck to it, it should suffice. A few more steps before that, so I have time to contemplate.

Yes, the table saw has a dust port--shoots a lovely jet of dust towards anyone/thing near the outfeed unless the shopvac is hooked up. ;) Rack and pinion fence, smooth blade height adjustment and it is built like a tank (yet lightweight). I just use the folding stand accessory and have had no issues. For the price, it is hard to beat. Oh, and as we were thinning down the purpleheart center neck strip, we managed to resaw a 1/4" perfect strip from the initially 1" thick board. That will come in handy on a future build. :) Hopefully, it goes smooth tonight and I'm able to get a nice shave on the beam to prep it for the jointer. Will certainly use my 1/64" 5" steel ruler that I normally use for string height for this to get as accurate as possible.

I would also like to set up a couple adjustable sawhorses at the outfeed for when my wife isn't there to assist.
 
#123
Used electric hand planer and jointer on the top/bottom. Need to run a few more passes in jointer as it isn't perfectly level (any other tips in this regard?) it is close, but not perfect. As for the maple outside boards, what's the best way to remove the dried titebond?
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Thanks!
 
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#125
Thanks! I will need to get a decent scraper or three.

Deepest neck part at 1 5/8" I should be good here if I sandwich body wings with my 1" hickory and 1/2" of something else. That gives me the extra 1/8" I need for the neck blank to be above body wings, sans fingerboard.

I would've preferred 1 3/4" body thickness, but I will adapt and learn.

Next steps:

- mark up top of blank for truss, 12 fret, 24 fret, body juncture, body side of truss route, scarf cut/angle, nut

- cut neck to depth, leaving body side intact

- cut scarf

- glue scarf

- glue some wings on headstock

- glue some stringers on body side of neck blank for aesthetic purposes.

- route truss rod channel

- ask Luthier community best way to thin headstock

- realize I missed an important step
 
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#127
PDX Rich said:
Thanks! I will need to get a decent scraper or three.

Deepest neck part at 1 5/8" I should be good here if I sandwich body wings with my 1" hickory and 1/2" of something else. That gives me the extra 1/8" I need for the neck blank to be above body wings, sans fingerboard.

I would've preferred 1 3/4" body thickness, but I will adapt and learn.

Next steps:

- mark up top of blank for truss, 12 fret, 24 fret, body juncture, body side of truss route, scarf cut/angle, nut

- cut neck to depth, leaving body side intact

- cut scarf

- glue scarf

- glue some wings on headstock

- glue some stringers on body side of neck blank for aesthetic purposes.

- route truss rod channel

- ask Luthier community best way to thin headstock

- realize I missed an important step
Click to expand...

Hey Rich-

I took a look through your workflow - not sure if you meant any of this in a specific order, but you may want to consider routing your truss rod channel first, before you start doing a lot of work to that neck billet. Long-length machining operations like routing a precise 25" channel that is dead straight will be much easier if you're working with a neck blank that is still essentially just a big rectangular block. Once you start gluing up headstock scarf joints and add body stringers and such, clamping and handling of the workpieces start to become a big challenge.

Lonnybass
 
#128
If I cut a truss channel first, wouldn't that be all wonky after cutting the scarf? I think this is where I am a tad bit confused. It may just be an issue in my mind due to inexperience, of course!

For reference, I had envisioned cutting the truss channel with the newly-glued scarf hanging off of the table.

Keep in mind that despite my thinking, I generally heed the advice of those who know what they are doing :)
 
#129
PDX
I cut slots for truss rod and CF stiffeners on my cheap Sears router table with upcut spiral bits while the blank was (and still is) just a rectangular section. This felt safer to me than using a router and edge guide freehand. I also cut the truss rod adjustment slot before beveling the headstock angle in a simple router jig. I'll use the same process to thickness the back of the headstock after i glue the headstock wings on. I made another jig to hold the neck beam while I routed away the part that is flush with the body wings, leaving top of neck beam 1/8" above body, just like yours. The whole issue of workflow is a weakness for me, really trying to think it through by visualizing each step before I do it. For some reason, I find making accurate templates really difficult. Have you made any for body or headstock shapes? Neck blank looks cool.
 
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#130
Definitely cut the scarf first before routing the truss rod channel. I think what they were telling you is to rout the truss rod before you taper and start carving your neck because its easier to cut the truss rod channel while the neck blank is still square.
 
#132
Hopkins said:
Definitely cut the scarf first before routing the truss rod channel. I think what they were telling you is to rout the truss rod before you taper and start carving your neck because its easier to cut the truss rod channel while the neck blank is still square.
Click to expand...

That is what I thought, and thanks for the clarification! And yes, I do not plan to taper until the channel is routed. @PDX Mathias has offered the use of his router table (and infinite wisdom :D) for this operation.

And yes, I have the headstock and body drawings--I just need to add some lines, measurements and places where holes go prior to printing.

Hoping to get some quality shop time in this weekend and at the very least do a bit of organizing. I can use a bit more pegboard and some sort of bit organization. Oh, and a new lovely discovery--I have power issues. I think it is the charger on my wife's e-Fiat. When I was running jointer + shop-vac, I flipped a breaker. I'll need to consult my GC buddy about that. The previous homeowner wasn't what I would call a renovation expert....
 
#133
PDX Rich said:
That is what I thought, and thanks for the clarification! And yes, I do not plan to taper until the channel is routed. @PDX Mathias has offered the use of his router table (and infinite wisdom :D) for this operation.

And yes, I have the headstock and body drawings--I just need to add some lines, measurements and places where holes go prior to printing.

Hoping to get some quality shop time in this weekend and at the very least do a bit of organizing. I can use a bit more pegboard and some sort of bit organization. Oh, and a new lovely discovery--I have power issues. I think it is the charger on my wife's e-Fiat. When I was running jointer + shop-vac, I flipped a breaker. I'll need to consult my GC buddy about that. The previous homeowner wasn't what I would call a renovation expert....
Click to expand...

Way to blame the wife. :thumbsup: You're going to do well here. The Force is strong in you.
 
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#135
OK, so the body wings will be the 1" thick hickory, topped with 1/2" thick purpleheart (that my wife was kind enough to donate from the upcoming kitchen backsplash). I think it will look awesome. Yeah, I am deviating quite a bit from the Aria ash bodies, but hey, they make their basses on the heavy side anyway... ;) And yes, it was oh so tempting to go with one of the figured boards I picked up today.... the purpleheart will really tie it together though!
 
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