First Full Build: Drop in a pond ripple effect

[chinjazz]

fwiw, i don't do any faceting, i just hit it old school -spoke shave, dragon rasp, chisel, scraper, sanding bar, etc.. imho spending time laying out and maintaining geometry that i'm just going to chop off anyway seems wasteful... but whatever works.

i do like back of the neck templates though. one for the nut area, the 12th, and the heel. i cnc mill them out of thin plexi and compare constantly with the templates and measure with calipers. i find those sliding pin type gauges like General's are "ok" for roughing, but lack detail for finishing and are kinda coarse where the fretboard meets the neck.

sop for me is to use the rasp to carve out a annular channel at the nut, and the 12th or the body joint depending on the instrument to within say .030 or so of final contour and then go in with the spoke shave and slice out the meat in between those spots. using a 12" steel rule keeps me aligned. then i semi-finish, then define the heel and volute areas, then go for final.

you're doing well so far Mr Chin, keep it up!

Thanks for the window into your detailed process! I definitely benefit from it and others I’m sure. Much appreciate your time

 

[Arie X]

I did that on my first neck, it took a long time to get it straight all the way along the neck.

I figure out the profile I want at the nut and 12th, find the tangent line for each side and draw the line along the neck, once you have those lines drawn on the neck blank there's no way to mess it up and it's consistent end to end. I envy you guys who can use a draw knife, it looks really cool. My one attempt with it was bad, I didn't ruin the neck, but it was close! I am sure over time I'd get used to it.

drawknife? heck no. that's too much freedom -even for me. spokeshave's got a foot and adjustable aperture. keeps one from ruining the work.

 

[Jisch]

i used a spokeshave, but it was a figured maple neck and the knife dug into the figure, it was a nightmare.

 

[chinjazz]

i used a spokeshave, but it was a figured maple neck and the knife dug into the figure, it was a nightmare.

Yikes!

On a slightly different subject, I’ve been basically planning on using my Workmate to clamp down my neck for carving. Don’t have a proper bench or nifty vise yet.

I’ve been seeing this for sale locally for $25 (un-used) and think it may have some good uses for carving and clamping. Thoughts ?

I think they’re 99 new.

 

[Jisch]

I have used my workmate to hold the neck (or bass) to carve every bass I've made. I think it works really well for that.

 

[chinjazz]

I have used my workmate to hold the neck (or bass) to carve every bass I've made. I think it works really well for that.

Thanks for the quick reply Jisch!
$25 towards something else

 

[rwkeating]

I used a workmate type bench to carve my necks. I put wood what is thinner than the neck on the bench so the neck is lifted up and I can get to the sides. The cloth goes between the scrap wood and the neck. I use clamps at each end to hold the neck in place. Since I've been making bolt on necks, I don't need to support a body or get all the way to the end (the blue tape marks where I stop.) Maybe this picture will give you an idea for your setup.

 

[chinjazz]

I used a workmate type bench to carve my necks. I put wood what is thinner than the neck on the bench so the neck is lifted up and I can get to the sides. The cloth goes between the scrap wood and the neck. I use clamps at each end to hold the neck in place. Since I've been making bolt on necks, I don't need to support a body or get all the way to the end (the blue tape marks where I stop.) Maybe this picture will give you an idea for your setup. View attachment 2844554

Hey RW, thanks for the pic and description!

I’ll definitely model after this. I have extra cork that I’ll put on the scrap to keep the FB from getting dinged or marred.

The weather warmed up a bit so I have to get on with it this weekend

 

[chinjazz]

I couldn’t resist... all the talk today....

Did a brief setup test this eve..

Took a router sled sideways, slapped a thinner strip of MDF for a neck fretboard bed, clamped it all up with a maple scrap piece,

made a pseudo facet line....

Then Shinto time:

5 or so minutes on the rough side

Then the finer side:

Love that finer side!!

Found that short 1-2 inch cuts on an angle with the grain works great. Also can pull or push the whole rasp across the wood length wise and it feels like your planing it.

Anyway thanks for looking

 

[chinjazz]

Neck carving

Shinto is a cool rasp

I didn’t finish it today but certainly in the ball park.

I was a little worried how the stringers would look up by the nut, but it’s pretty cool.

I’m pleased with the outcome thus far.

When deciding on the shape/cuts of the neck pocket I kept thinking classic meets modern and came up with this:

But, I’m definitely going to change it.

Thinking ahead on color, tone and finishing, since I have tooled around with Transtint, I’m definitely going to go with a @Lonnybass 3 step method which is awesome!

 

[Lonnybass]

Looks fantastic!!!

 

[chinjazz]

Looks fantastic!!!

Thanks man! This part has been fun!

 

[Lonnybass]

Thanks man! This part has been fun!

Yeah man! This is where you get to channel your inner Stradivarius. Have fun with it!

 

[chinjazz]

A minor flub update:

After a few rounds of shaping and sanding I noticed one area of over shaping.
Happened at a crucially aesthetic area (to me) where the top of the neck back joins with the body.

I haven't addressed this yet and looking for ideas.

So my initial thinking was to fill it with maple dust and re-sand, shape, scrape.. Then I thought the dust with titebond or LMI yellow glue would look too dark (maybe not because it might blend in with all the other bark marks of the ash body.

Or possibly make larger chips (whittling?), and go that route, but I haven't done that before.
I've got a lot of maple from the billet to work with for producing dust or chips.

Anyone have any suggestions?

Reshaping the top of the body isn't a real option given I love the shape and that point meets perfectly with the 12th fret

 

[Jisch]

Use a scrap from the body and carve a small piece of wood that will fit in that gap and glue it in. For small repairs like that I use gel CA glue. CA glue looks a lot more like the final finish than titebond that repels oil. It will be invisible to anyone except you (and anyone you tell - if you're like me, the first thing I do when I hand someone my instruments is tell them where all the mistakes are, gotta stop doing that). Don't use glue/sawdust, it will be way more noticeable.

Looking good!

 

[chinjazz]

Use a scrap from the body and carve a small piece of wood that will fit in that gap and glue it in. For small repairs like that I use gel CA glue. CA glue looks a lot more like the final finish than titebond that repels oil. It will be invisible to anyone except you (and anyone you tell - if you're like me, the first thing I do when I hand someone my instruments is tell them where all the mistakes are, gotta stop doing that). Don't use glue/sawdust, it will be way more noticeable.

Looking good!

Thanks Jisch! I like that idea! I've got plenty of that swamp ash. I don't have gel CA, been using StewMac 20, and 10, also have Host Stuff Super T - Gap filling CA, and some activator. Do you find any advantages to using gel CA for these types of repairs?

 

[Jisch]

Mainly that it's really tough to make something that small fit perfectly. The gel fills in the gap and the luster of dry CA is similar to the finish you'd get with oil. It also will accept an oil finish. I would use the gap filling CA, same stuff, basically. Of course the idea is to get a piece in there that is perfect. I would also figure out your clamping strategy beforehand, the thicker the CA the longer it takes to dry which can be helpful if you're trying to get it in place exactly. I typically use a dowel or something similar to hold the piece in place and use the kicker to make it set up instantly. It sounds like I've had a lot of experience with this - ha!

 

[chinjazz]

Mainly that it's really tough to make something that small fit perfectly. The gel fills in the gap and the luster of dry CA is similar to the finish you'd get with oil. It also will accept an oil finish. I would use the gap filling CA, same stuff, basically. Of course the idea is to get a piece in there that is perfect. I would also figure out your clamping strategy beforehand, the thicker the CA the longer it takes to dry which can be helpful if you're trying to get it in place exactly. I typically use a dowel or something similar to hold the piece in place and use the kicker to make it set up instantly. It sounds like I've had a lot of experience with this - ha!

Very good, thanks! Yeah, I spent most of my tweaking/repairing of my instruments over the years all boiling down to what I call "the art of hiding".

 

[chinjazz]

I started a new job which is 100% remote!

One of the fringe benefits affords me lunch breaks working in the shed.

Recently I decided I wanted to install threaded inserts for the neck. A few I found were too big and the screws would be super durable but heavy.

With the upper part of the neck not having a lot of width to play with l, the right size was key. It took a while to find them but I found them at Home Depot.

Here are a few pics of the progress:

After the holes were drilled, I needed to chamfer the hole:

I do this operation by hand by putting a bit of thumb pressure on the back of the bit and turn the bit with two fingers on my right

I found that spinning this bit in a drill against rock maple is like playing with the chip out deamons

Anyway, locked and loaded to turn my hand.

Basically a few drops of CA in the hole and with a light bit of paste wax on the insert threads and it’s a great day:

I also hit the top edges with CA and kicker.

Happy with the results and it fits the body like a glove

Next up will be body carving, shaping, and scraping while I wait for pickups to arrive.

 

[chinjazz]

Did a little bit of finessing some of the edges and couldn’t resist a quick shot of Napthia.

Thinking about a natural finish again....Hmmmm... open to suggestions