Is it better to use a sanding block or planner to flatten the neck wood before joining the new board?
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Double Bass Flatten neck for new fingerboard
- Thread starter Joshua Phelps
- Start date
I'm not a luthier, but I've worked on precision optical surfaces. It's my opinion that flattening anything with abrasives is not cakewalk. The problem with a sanding block is going to be that the edges of the workpiece will get rounded off slightly. Also, any technique will require checking and localized correction to ensure a good fit.
Neither...
It is better to use a professional luthier who has done this 100's of time before. I guarantee it will come out better.
I dont mean that in a facetious way at all. We have the proper tools and experience for this operation. Fitting a F board can be quite involved.
+1 A hand plane needs to be set up extremely well and you need lots of experience to plane a board flat otherwise you will screw up your neck. Sanding blocks can cause havoc too.
As the procedure gets to the freeze design stage I chalk it to check for final fit. It's a long difficult process. It can be like trimming a leg on a kitchen table: by the time you're done you'll end up with a coffee table ( that wobbles).
I did it once and it worked out really well.
I made a sanding block out of a piece of angle iron that was both longer and wider than the neck. I taped two pieces of sandpaper on there and took it very slowly up and down the neck. when I was done it was perfectly flat and had nice sharp edges with no rounded corners.
I made a sanding block out of a piece of angle iron that was both longer and wider than the neck. I taped two pieces of sandpaper on there and took it very slowly up and down the neck. when I was done it was perfectly flat and had nice sharp edges with no rounded corners.
more often than not it can be done with a little water and a scraper...you're just replacing the board, if all went well with the removal, the new FB itself may need more work than the neck.
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...and lets not forget , even after the board has been glued on, the job is not even half way done. The edges have to be trimmed and then the proper camber has to be carved into the FB. Then sanding, fine sanding, and then oiling.
Then the bridge has to be either replaced or altered to now fit the new FB.
Every thing is connected on a bass. One thing effects the other.
Let a professional do this job...trust me.
Then the bridge has to be either replaced or altered to now fit the new FB.
Every thing is connected on a bass. One thing effects the other.
Let a professional do this job...trust me.
There has to be a first time for everyone. My first bass fingerboard turned out very well, but I had done a number of smaller instruments first. If you want to do it, it is good that the first time will be on your own instrumemt, rather than someone else's. 
If you want to learn, the best way to learn is to do it...and possibly an expensive way to learn, it should be noted. Get a copy of Mr. Traeger's book, and read it carefully. If doing it yourself is really what you want, there's no doubt you can do it. There just may be some hurdles to clamber over.
Good luck with it.
If you want to learn, the best way to learn is to do it...and possibly an expensive way to learn, it should be noted. Get a copy of Mr. Traeger's book, and read it carefully. If doing it yourself is really what you want, there's no doubt you can do it. There just may be some hurdles to clamber over.
Good luck with it.
I was going to mention this route of using the scraper. If the FB has a twist in it that requires some planing
