Winter 2017 Build Off -- The Dan-0-Backer

[Jon Clegg]

Made a tool to hold a file at to even up and chamfer the frets using a chunk of 2x4 and two 1/4" by 4 1/2" bolts:

First pass with the perpendicular

And the chamfer angle, 35 degrees off the perpendicular

Here's the chamfer

Ready to start carving the neck profile.

 

[Jon Clegg]

I plan to go the facet route to carve the neck profile; I drew out the profiles based on the dimensions at the 1st and 15th frets. I'm planning on 2 cuts; the first at 45 degrees, the second at 22.5 degrees

First cuts

Second cuts:

For lack of any better ideas, the basis of profile is simply half of an ellipse with the fretboard line at the halfway point; not sure if that makes it a "C" profile or "D" profile.

 

[Gilmourisgod]

I plan to go the facet route to carve the neck profile; I drew out the profiles based on the dimensions at the 1st and 15th frets. I'm planning on 2 cuts; the first at 45 degrees, the second at 22.5 degrees

First cuts
View attachment 1139129
Second cuts:
View attachment 1139137

For lack of any better ideas, the basis of profile is simply half of an ellipse with the fretboard line at the halfway point; not sure if that makes it a "C" profile or "D" profile.

That's exactly how I did it. I admire people who can "wing it" and come out right, but I like the control of facet method. It's pretty much foolproof if you are careful. I guess I'd call that a "D" profile. The mistiake I made at first was leaving the shoulders right below the fretboard too flat at first, I ended up going back and and working them until it felt like the radius rolled right into the fingerboard. I did the big 3/8" thick fingerboard like a standard Ric, so they are still a little chunkier than most necks, but it feels good. How much meat are you leaving under the trussrod? I shaved mine down to 3/16" rough along the centerline, figuring I'd sand off another 1/16". I was really careful not to touch that center strip until fine sanding, oh so paranoid about the rod popping out, not so good on a neck-through.

 

[Jon Clegg]

That's exactly how I did it. I admire people who can "wing it" and come out right, but I like the control of facet method. It's pretty much foolproof if you are careful. I guess I'd call that a "D" profile. The mistiake I made at first was leaving the shoulders right below the fretboard too flat at first, I ended up going back and and working them until it felt like the radius rolled right into the fingerboard. I did the big 3/8" thick fingerboard like a standard Ric, so they are still a little chunkier than most necks, but it feels good. How much meat are you leaving under the trussrod? I shaved mine down to 3/16" rough along the centerline, figuring I'd sand off another 1/16". I was really careful not to touch that center strip until fine sanding, oh so paranoid about the rod popping out, not so good on a neck-through.

I'm at around 3/16" minimum most of the neck, about 1/8" at the adjuster just before the volute. If my method of faceting sounds familiar, there might be a good reason for that

 

[Jon Clegg]

First stage of faceting:

Lotta work!

Decided to cap the evening with marking the end, which of course is conducive to a motivational shot.

 

[Jon Clegg]

More neck carving:
After a few pleasant hours' work, here I am.

Some work on the heel:

The volute:

Still need to round the profile a bit more:

But for today, time for a cold one.

 

[Jon Clegg]

Whee, several hours rasping, filing, scraping, and sanding later, I think I have the neck in shape. I did have 2 nicks where the bandsaw bit a little too deep when I was cutting the profile. I filled the nicks with veneer, hopefully they won't be too obvious, but it's better than trashing the neck.

Sanded off:

The profile is going to be more of a D profile rather than the C than I originally intended, but it feels good to me, which is what's important.
At the 1st fret:

and the 15th:

Final shots for tonight of the volute and the heel:

Thanks for watching!

 

[delta7fred]

I did have 2 nicks where the bandsaw bit a little too deep when I was cutting the profile.

Cut a few more in random places at differing angles, fill them with contrasting veneer(s) and make a feature of them. (Like the guitar tops with random paint stripes.)

 

[Jon Clegg]

Cut a few more in random places at differing angles, fill them with contrasting veneer(s) and make a feature of them. (Like the guitar tops with random paint stripes.)

Hah. What's more likely to occur is for my OCD to kick in and I carve out the last 1/64" required to make them disappear.

 

[Jon Clegg]

Baby got back:

 

[Jon Clegg]

Ready to mount the bridge pieces:

String check for bridge height, etc

Appearance check: I like it!

 

[Jon Clegg]

Decided to get on with the cutout for the pickups, first the pickguard... And I noticed (too late) that I was using the rabbeting bit rather than the flush cut :

After a few choice expletives, I decided to use the now screwed up pickguard to make a template and make a replacement out of some black picguard material I had on hand; skills that will come in handy if I decide I want to make a cream colored pickguard for this bass later on:

New pickguard:

As for the bridge pickup plate, I made my own out of some sheet aluminum, using an MDF template; as @Bruce Johnson has mentioned elsewhere, thin aluminum can be worked with the same tools used on wood, in this case, a flush-cutting router bit:

I polished out the tooling marks by wet sanding under running water with 220, 320, 400, 600, 800 and 2000 grit sand paper, using some Maas metal polish for the final shine:

Shiny objects:

That's it for now.

 

[Gilmourisgod]

To Eff up is human, to Eff up again....Divine in its Effity Effingness. I myself am Divine. Nice recovery there! I haven't tried making a whole PG yet, just a TRC. Are you going to bevel the edges? That thing looks badass.

 

[Jon Clegg]

Thanks! Yeah I plan to do a slight bevel or maybe just a round over on the pickguard.

Next step I'm focusing on is getting the pickups modded and assembled as humbuckers. I've had evil thoughts about buying a pair of black lipsticks to go in the bridge position, but sticking with chrome for now.

 

[Jon Clegg]

Unrelated, but none the less cool, a co-worker just dropped this nice 2' by 3' by 2" thick chunk of ash in my office:

Have to see what I can do with it

 

[Gilmourisgod]

I got some 1" thick x 8" wide x 48" plain sawn walnut stair treads they were about to dumpster at a construction site because the got cut too short. Amazing what gets trashed. Once people know you collect wood, it magically appears.

 

[Andyman001]

Unrelated, but none the less cool, a co-worker just dropped this nice 2' by 3' by 2" thick chunk of ash in my office:
View attachment 1153234
Have to see what I can do with it

Ill say it first.... Nice piece of ash.

 

[Jon Clegg]

Ill say it first.... Nice piece of ash.

You sayin' I got a nice ash? Why thank you.

 

[Jon Clegg]

I got some 1" thick x 8" wide x 48" plain sawn walnut stair treads they were about to dumpster at a construction site because the got cut too short. Amazing what gets trashed. Once people know you collect wood, it magically appears.

Yeah, I mentioned what I do for a hobby to one co-worker, who mentioned it to this guy who's starting a saw mill business.

 

[Root 5]

Beautiful!