Winter Build Off 2026 - Evolutionary Pair

[Dave Higham]

You know that paper doesn't like water...

I print parts of my plan and stick them down to bits of wood all the time. I use this stuff.

3M 7043 Spray Mount Spray Adhesive for Successive Assembly 400 ml : Amazon.fr: DIY & Tools

3M 7043 Spray Mount Spray Adhesive for Successive Assembly 400 ml : Amazon.fr: DIY & Tools

www.amazon.fr

 

[13ghosts]

I print parts of my plan and stick them down to bits of wood all the time. I use this stuff.

Merci beaucoup! I'll try that

 

[13ghosts]

Okay, if you're not feeling well, you should be careful when using power tools. I wanted to roughly cut out the fretboard with the band saw. Coughing and sneezing at the same time led to some loss of control... Next fretboard, please...

And here we go:

The process is going smoothly, and I can really recommend the jig for sawing the slots.

Then I started with the neck. It's roasted maple, which is quite brittle and tends to chip out when milling (but I like the color). Fortunately, it's not much and can all be sanded down.

Now it's on hold for a week, before I can continue working on it.

 

[13ghosts]

Some progress. First, I cut and fitted veneer strips to cover the carbon rods.

Then I started puzzling over the order in which I would work on the headstock... It's a bit more complex because I want to add a D-extension and a recess in the lower part of the headstock.

First I needed another template so that I could do it with my limited set of routing bits. I used the fretboard, which I unfortunately ruined.

The recess in the lower part of the headstock turned out to be a bit too shallow. But it's not too bad, as is.

 

[definenredefine]

I love your headstock design...

 

[13ghosts]

I still need to think about how to proceed with the neck. So, a brief detour: body planing and routing.

It is swamp ash. This piece of wood has a flaw in the region of the lower horn. That is why the template is not centered. But I deliberately chose this piece of wood because it will definitely have a positive effect on the sound: rotated tonewood!

So, full protective gear.

And now it almost looks like it could end up becoming a bass.

 

[Flamingo21]

rotated tonewood!

 

[13ghosts]

Perhaps a subliminal flanging effect that acts like a natural sustainer.

 

[13ghosts]

Some progress!

My original plan was to use Brucebars, but I forgot about it and then the carbon rods got in the way. I had seen a somewhat similar solution (kind of Brucebars light) in a thread by @rojo412 using drive-in nuts somewhere. I like the idea, so I tried it. The pressure distribution across the carbon rods shouldn't hurt (but it probably doesn't make any difference at all). Anyway, I was pretty scared because there isn't too much space left at the edge... Next time I'll measure first and try to find ones with a smaller diameter.

First, I pre-drilled with the Forstner drill bit, then made a pilot hole so that I knew where to drill from the bottom, then drilled the hole for the shaft of the nuts with a 7.5 mm / 0.29 in drill bit, and finally drilled the 6 mm / 0.235 in hole from the bottom.

Next, I filed down the carbon rods a little where they collided with the nuts and then made wooden caps out of veneer to cover all up.

Next I wanted to drill the holes for the tuners. Luckily, I had another look. My plan is to install Graph Tech Ratio tuners. But their axle is over 2 mm / 0.08 in smaller in diameter than the Schaller tuners I have used so far and on the basis of which I determined the position of the holes. So back to square one - aka Inkscape.

After 5 minutes of shock-induced paralysis, I took the fretboard to the router, at least for the contours. Fortunately, this worked without anything splintering. Very gently and carefully. Roasted maple is scarily brittle.

 

[Flying B]

Nice work. I'm going to go down the same route with the T-nuts, but what are the little caps for? It all gets covered up by the fretboard anyway....

 

[13ghosts]

Thanks!
I want to glue the carbon rods and nuts with epoxy resin, but use wood glue for the fretboard. So these caps ensure a good connection—wood to wood instead of wood to epoxy.

 

[13ghosts]

The fretboard now has a radius (9.5 in) and the sides of the fretboard are the same thickness/height along its entire length. To achieve this, the fretboard needs to be milled down more in the area of the nut than at the end of the neck.

To achieve this, I built a new base that allows me to vary the angle using washers under the square steel tubes on which the radius jig slides.

The following illustration shows the height differences on the fretboard side from the nut to the widest point of the fretboard. For the current fretboard, the difference without an angle would be 1.35 mm / 0.053 in.

That wood is annoying—did I mention that already? It always chips a little and I had to remove some more material. I'm already scared to fret it. Maybe I'll do that once the neck is completely finished and I've soaked the fretboard heavily in wipe-on poly... What router bits do you use for this job and at what rpm? What definitely helps is a very slow feed rate.

Then I reworked the fret slots.

The new base plate for the pickups has also arrived. This time I made it a little thicker at 3 mm / 0.12 in.

 

[Phil Mastro]

Mine's basically the same but slightly less sophisticated (Allen key and high-tech depth stop on the saw blade). Three big magnets but there's not much drag. I rub a bit of candle wax on the guide now and again. (I also do that to the soles of hand planes).View attachment 7414786

I just remembered this picture with the piece of wood attached to the blade of your saw. I presume you glued it with epoxy? How did you avoid making a mess? Asking for a friend

 

[Dave Higham]

I presume you glued it with epoxy? How did you avoid making a mess? Asking for a friend

Nope. Double sided tape.

 

[Phil Mastro]

Nope. Double sided tape.

Oooooooh

Also removable, genius, thanks