ThanksDepends on who you ask I guess. If you're asking me, no. It's just a choice. Building guitars is a lot like that old saying about skinning a cat.
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Winter Build Off 2022: 5 String Fretless Neck Through
- Thread starter Gary_M
- Start date
I made some more progress this evening on the headstock. Here are the highlights. 
I attached the main outline template to the face of the headstock, then I attached this chunk to the back of the headstock. This helps me to keep the headstock roughly parallel to the band saw table while I rough cut it.
Here it is right off the band saw. (no live action shots of that)
Next, it's over to the drill press to hit it with the Robosander. This will bring it down very close to the template leaving very little material to remove at the router table.
Today I used a 1/2" pattern bit with a 1/2" shank. Those are a bit of an unusual bit, bit I feel like they flex less than the 1/4 shank. Notice how close the headstock is to the template before I start.
Here it is after the first pass. I'm only taking a little more than 1/2 the height on the first pass.
And here it is after another couple of passes. Needs sanding and the inside corners need to be cleaned out, but it looks good. Most importantly, no tearout. Small bites and multiple passes for the win.
I attached the main outline template to the face of the headstock, then I attached this chunk to the back of the headstock. This helps me to keep the headstock roughly parallel to the band saw table while I rough cut it.
Here it is right off the band saw. (no live action shots of that)
Next, it's over to the drill press to hit it with the Robosander. This will bring it down very close to the template leaving very little material to remove at the router table.
Today I used a 1/2" pattern bit with a 1/2" shank. Those are a bit of an unusual bit, bit I feel like they flex less than the 1/4 shank. Notice how close the headstock is to the template before I start.
Here it is after the first pass. I'm only taking a little more than 1/2 the height on the first pass.
And here it is after another couple of passes. Needs sanding and the inside corners need to be cleaned out, but it looks good. Most importantly, no tearout. Small bites and multiple passes for the win.
Nah, I don't think so. I mostly like the way volutes look... and the way they feel to my thumb when playing.
I assume that you're asking if you made a mistake in terms of strength? My opinion is that a properly done scarf joint is very strong and a volute wouldn't necessarily add much strength. Same goes for a multi laminate neck like I'm building. For me, it's mostly an aesthetic choice. (and if it turns out poorly, I will rasp it away like it was never part of the plan.
)
I'm a noob. Thank you guys for all of your help.Nah, I don't think so. I mostly like the way volutes look... and the way they feel to my thumb when playing.
I assume that you're asking if you made a mistake in terms of strength? My opinion is that a properly done scarf joint is very strong and a volute wouldn't necessarily add much strength. Same goes for a multi laminate neck like I'm building. For me, it's mostly an aesthetic choice. (and if it turns out poorly, I will rasp it away like it was never part of the plan.
Most of us are noobs, don't be fooled. I haven't even finished a build yet.
I've been woodworking for about 14 years, so I have a little experience there, but I would certainly consider myself a noob when it comes to guitar building.
Yes. Same here. I did one finished bass last year. But I learned from trial and mostly error. My first one isn't perfect. But it plays nice and stays in tune.
It did. It helped a lot. Thanks.
Hope that helps
What product did you use to grain/pore fill? The finish looks like glass and you can still see the color and grain of the wenge.
I first put on a seal coat of shellac. Then I used clear Aqua Coat, and then Aqua Coat again, and again, and again, and again. To be fair, both the wenge and the ziricote are extremely difficult to grain fill. But the 5x thing, it isn't an exaggeration at all. In fact, there were areas that I used even more applications. The problem that I had was that after filling everything level, very gently sanding, cleaning and blowing off with air, the Aqua Coat seemed to partially dissolve when the coats of lacquer started to be applied. In the end, the worst of the open pores got drop filled with thin CA and sanded flush between coats of lacquer.
This is the best use for those stupid AARP membership cards that get sent to me regularly.
So I think Aqua Coat can work, but you should probably have more patience than me. Expect to fill multiple times. I do like the fact that it's clear, that's a big plus especially when you have multiple species in close proximity.
Thanks.
For what I'm trying to do, I think this is my best option. The biggest hurdle would be the patience part. I'm famous for having zero when it comes to finish work and that's 99% of why I've always been terrible at it.
I'm going with all WB products, so I should be good with stuff reacting or not reacting to each other.
For what I'm trying to do, I think this is my best option. The biggest hurdle would be the patience part. I'm famous for having zero when it comes to finish work and that's 99% of why I've always been terrible at it.
I'm going with all WB products, so I should be good with stuff reacting or not reacting to each other.
That will likely work out great. I know other guys use it under nitro with no problems, so maybe it's just something in my process or in the products that I'm using that is causing the problem?
No clue. I have zero experience with lacquers and nitro. And I'll probably never have a spray rig. I've only really used big box, weekend warrior products like polyurethanes, stains and rattle can stuff. Never really used WB stuff before. Luckily, there are much better WB products now than 20 yrs ago, which should be very helpful to someone new to the instrument building scene. I feel like I might as well just settle in with them now and get used to them being the only product I buy. Seems like you can achieve just about any finish/feel and the cleanup and dry times are ideal for someone who struggles with patience and focus.
I'll grab some of that aqua coat from Rockler later and do more side experiments on scrap while I build the bass. I'm hoping that laying down a coat or 2 of the poly first might help speed up the filling process. Won't know till I try it.
I'll post progress, results and harebrain theories in my build thread.
Pardon my sidetracking amateur question, but what is the minimum size bandsaw (generally speaking) necessary to pull off some of these neck shaping cuts?
That's highly debatable. I have a ShopSmith and the band saw on that has a 6" "throat". So I can resaw up to 6" on it. I've used it for doing some neck cuts. I've used a larger Craftsman saw that has about a 7-1/2" throat. So it all depends on exactly what you are trying to do and what you are comfortable with.
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I don't have a band saw,but I use the one at work. It's a 14" and it has 6" of clearance. Plenty of clearance to do any neck work and just tall enough to resaw body wings for a neckthru.
Some saws may have more or less clearance for their size. But I think right around 6" is average for 14" saws.
That's the only one I'm familiar with.
If you only need to do neck work, you can get by with a smaller saw.
Some saws may have more or less clearance for their size. But I think right around 6" is average for 14" saws.
That's the only one I'm familiar with.
If you only need to do neck work, you can get by with a smaller saw.
Oh, and a lot of people use jigs and do a lot of their work on a table saw.
Like headstock angles.
Like headstock angles.
Luthiers buy bandsaws based on the minimum size they can get away with according to their immediate need. So for cutting body blanks to approximate shape...quite a small one will suffice. However...if you want to make long term cost savings, then you need to buy uncut lumber blanks and re-saw / resize everything yourself. Cutting down book matched tops is way cheaper than buying them already cut and thickened. It's a cost saving of around 5:1. Buy a nice figured block of wood that will easily do 5 guitars cost about the same as a single 1/4" book match top from the same supplier. To re-saw / cut the large block yourself, you require an accurate re-saw fence a wide blade that has a low TPI count, say 3-4 tpi. This requires a high blade tension and a bandsaw that has a motor that can drive that kind of blade through 20cm high stock. Generally the saws listed as hobby literally don't cut it.
I have an old perform CCBB bandsaw and I'm limited by the 1/2 hp motor and the max width of the blade (5/8 blade width...which no one makes locally...so I'm stuck with 1/2" max blades). My current bandsaw is great for general body and neck cutting duties. It's like slicing through cheese...very easy indeed. However, re-sawing is a challenge. To upgrade to a larger model...say a 1.5hp model...I'm looking at around £600 S/H and it'll weigh well over 100kgs. New, I'm looking at around £1500 minimum. It's far easier and cheaper to ask a friend who has a suitable saw and ask if you can use it for 1/2 hr.
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I have WEN 14" bandsaw. Best bang for the buck. If you don't need anything fancy. But in the near future i will look for a Old Delta.
