Hey Phil, It's such a useful trick to thickness small parts like headstock veneers, cover plates and fretboards without the need of a big and expensive drum sander.
Hi Hugo, Thank you. It's a nice trick indeed. Sometimes you have to come up with little tricks to help you get a job done. Greetings from the Netherlands.
Hey Joe, Thank you. I feel keeping the process as simple as possible is the way to go. There is no need to over complicate things it only increases the chances of something going wrong. And keeping it simple usually also gives a clean result.
Another really interesting video. I especially like the use of the spindle sander as a thicknesses. I build a drum sander attachment for my lathe which is amazing but it’s hard to use with fretboards unless you fancy losing the end of your fingers lol. This is going be a very nice guitar!
Hi John, Thank you once again. I have seen your lathe attachment and found it really clever. About losing your finger tips... same goes for the spindle sander. That's one of the two reasons I always feed the material against the spinning direction of the sander. It pushes my fingers out instead of pulling them in. The other reason is having the fretboard pulled from my grip and being shot through the workshop.
Hey Jordan, Thank you very much for subscribing I really appreciate it. Good luck and have fun with your build. Just take it slow, keep checking your work, and keep in mind what it is you're trying to achieve and you should be fine.
Hi Richard, Thanks mate! 400 subs... isn't that something, who would have thought. I'm on the right track to hit 600 by the end of the year, so fingers crossed this actually happens. It would be amazing and I might have to come up with something special...
I don't mean to be the math police, but either the 26 mm read from the ruler was actually around 32 mm or you actually dialed in around 10 degrees when you marked off on your protractor. 31.88 mm = tan(12) * 150 or atan(26/150) = 9.8 degrees. Not sure which it was, but the trig doesn't work out for 26 mm, 150 mm and 12 degrees. Either way, a 10 degree or 12 degree break angle is good for guitars. Am I missing something?
Hi Nino, Good question. First off, I use a routing template and a router table to get the shape of my neck and headstock in a single pass. I stick the template on the 'front face' of the neck because this is the most important reference plane. If I cut the break angle before shaping the neck there won't be any material supporting the template where the headstock is, making using a router (table) impossible, or at least very, very dangerous. And secondly, I don't have a good circular saw or table saw.
Unless I am seeing it wrong, don’t you end up with short grain in the headstock area when you carve the neck from a solid block of wood? Wouldn’t you prefer a scarf joint so that you can have long grain on the entire neck?
Hi MixingGBP, My personal opinion is that with a quarter sawn multi laminated neck with a proper volute and a cap on the headstock the 'short grain' doesn't really matter in the 'strength' of the neck or headstock. Up until today I havent had any problems whatsoever and doing my necks with this method makes it it much easier.
Hi Bluegitsy, I had to think about this for a moment but... Yes it is possible, and some other builders do it like that. Why I don't do it like that?? Let me try and explain... It has mostly to do with using my router table to route the outline and accuracy (maybe). When I layout the neck outline on the neck blank to route the truss rod channel everything is drawn at the 'top'. Including the all important nut line and center line to which I can align my routing template with ease. If I would cut the break angle at this point I can't place my template on the top anymore to route the outline of the neck. There would be a chunk of wood missing underneath the headstock. I could off course stick the template to the 'bottom' of the neck blank, but that would mean I have to transfer the center line and nut line to the other side of the blank. If one of those marks is even slightly off I could end up with an unusable neck. And that is a risk I'm not willing to take if possible. Or you could use the template to route the sides of the neck and use a sander to clean up the headstock. I'm not a fan of sanding and I made a nice template to avoid that.
@@UnquendorGuitars Am I misunderstanding the question? In this video, you cut the headstock angle but you haven't shaped the neck yet so I am confused. And, thank you for this series. Very good videos and explanations. I would like to know what you do to cut and laminate your neck to begin with. Are the laminated pieces face grain to face grain or edge grain to edge grain? Have you had any issues with warping in these laminated necks? Thank you!
I absolutely love the way the multi lam neck looks (from the side) as the headstock tapers in. Makes the thin stripes look huge..... I am still planning what woods I want to use for my first build. What should I avoid? Aside from Purple Heart and Wenge!?
Hi Guitars Amps & Pedals, Besides being functional laminated necks look great indeed. About what wood types to avoid.... I'm not sure to be honest and I find it hard to say. It all depends on so many factors. For example there is nothing 'wrong' or ' difficult' about using Purple Hearth or Wenge. They require a 'different' approach. As long as you keep your tools as sharp as possible and sharpen often I think harder wood types are 'easier' to work with and are in some way more forgiving. You don't slip as easy like on softer woods like Mahogany or Limba. I made a bass guitar with a Wenge top and it worked beautifully. It polishes out real nice with a bit of oil and wax. I select my timber mostly based on what I think looks good. Maybe with the exception of the neck. Nothing beats a flamed maple laminated neck in my opinion. If you don't want to take a risk I would suggest a nice Swamp Ash body, a Maple neck and a Rosewood fretboard for a first guitar build. These are fairly easy species of wood to work with and are most likely to give a great result.
Hi Mr. Frontranger, It usually is around 50mm, give or take a few mm. I like to have as much margin for errors as possible so mistakes are easy to spot and fix in the correct way.
Using a spindle sander as a drum sander, I never would have thought of that. What an awesome idea! I’ll definitely be doing this....
Hey Phil,
It's such a useful trick to thickness small parts like headstock veneers, cover plates and fretboards without the need of a big and expensive drum sander.
Thanks for the step by step. There is a lot of waste wood on this build, thought you were going to get 2 necks out of it!!!
Appreciated!
Great trick for cutting the headstock, I learn a lot my friend, nice job, nice vídeo, a big hug from Argentine!
Hi Hugo,
Thank you.
It's a nice trick indeed. Sometimes you have to come up with little tricks to help you get a job done.
Greetings from the Netherlands.
Love the angle trick. Beautiful wood choices too.
Hey Bonehead Guitars,
It's a nice and simple trick isn't it.
And thank you for the compliment.
I love your process. Keeping it very simple.
Hey Joe,
Thank you.
I feel keeping the process as simple as possible is the way to go. There is no need to over complicate things it only increases the chances of something going wrong. And keeping it simple usually also gives a clean result.
Nice fretboard Dan, nice job.JJ
Hi JJ,
Thanks mate!!
It is a nice fretboard indeed. I like color variations in fretboards a lot and luckily my supplier has plenty to choose from.
Beautiful work my friend😜
Hey Johnny,
Thank you very much.
You have an easy to understand way of doing things. Loving these videos. Keep up the great work.
Hi Paul,
Thank you very much for the compliment. I'm glad to hear you're enjoying my videos.
Amazing content man. I love the ebony fretboard!
Hi Szymon,
Thank you very much!
Another really interesting video. I especially like the use of the spindle sander as a thicknesses. I build a drum sander attachment for my lathe which is amazing but it’s hard to use with fretboards unless you fancy losing the end of your fingers lol. This is going be a very nice guitar!
Hi John,
Thank you once again.
I have seen your lathe attachment and found it really clever.
About losing your finger tips... same goes for the spindle sander. That's one of the two reasons I always feed the material against the spinning direction of the sander. It pushes my fingers out instead of pulling them in.
The other reason is having the fretboard pulled from my grip and being shot through the workshop.
You've got a sub from me! I'm in the process of building my first neck blank and it's scary but so excited. Thanks for this information!!
Hey Jordan,
Thank you very much for subscribing I really appreciate it.
Good luck and have fun with your build. Just take it slow, keep checking your work, and keep in mind what it is you're trying to achieve and you should be fine.
Nearly 400 subs. Let's see if we can hit 600 by the end of this year. Nice work by the way
Hi Richard,
Thanks mate!
400 subs... isn't that something, who would have thought.
I'm on the right track to hit 600 by the end of the year, so fingers crossed this actually happens.
It would be amazing and I might have to come up with something special...
That's a fantastic looking piece of ebony! Very insightful and enjoyable videos, keep up the great job.
Hi The Mod Scientist,
Thank you very much for the compliment.
It's nice to hear you enjoy my videos.
Great work!
Hey David,
Thanks man!!
Wat een vakmanschap Daniel!
Hi Marten,
Heel erg bedankt voor het compliment.
I don't mean to be the math police, but either the 26 mm read from the ruler was actually around 32 mm or you actually dialed in around 10 degrees when you marked off on your protractor. 31.88 mm = tan(12) * 150 or atan(26/150) = 9.8 degrees. Not sure which it was, but the trig doesn't work out for 26 mm, 150 mm and 12 degrees. Either way, a 10 degree or 12 degree break angle is good for guitars. Am I missing something?
Hi. What is saw blade thickness when you cut fret slots and what is thickness of fret socket you use?
Hi Sami,
I use a Pax fret saw with a 0.55mm kerf and I cut my slots +/- 4mm deep in the flat fretboard (no radius yet).
Why don’t you cut the break angle of the headstock with a circolar saw before shaping it?
Hi Nino,
Good question.
First off, I use a routing template and a router table to get the shape of my neck and headstock in a single pass. I stick the template on the 'front face' of the neck because this is the most important reference plane. If I cut the break angle before shaping the neck there won't be any material supporting the template where the headstock is, making using a router (table) impossible, or at least very, very dangerous.
And secondly, I don't have a good circular saw or table saw.
Daniel what are the measures of the chunk?
Unless I am seeing it wrong, don’t you end up with short grain in the headstock area when you carve the neck from a solid block of wood? Wouldn’t you prefer a scarf joint so that you can have long grain on the entire neck?
Hi MixingGBP,
My personal opinion is that with a quarter sawn multi laminated neck with a proper volute and a cap on the headstock the 'short grain' doesn't really matter in the 'strength' of the neck or headstock.
Up until today I havent had any problems whatsoever and doing my necks with this method makes it it much easier.
@@UnquendorGuitars Ok thanks for the explanation.
Is it possible to cut the headstock angle before rough shaping neck blank to make marking and cutting out easier?
Hi Bluegitsy,
I had to think about this for a moment but... Yes it is possible, and some other builders do it like that.
Why I don't do it like that?? Let me try and explain...
It has mostly to do with using my router table to route the outline and accuracy (maybe).
When I layout the neck outline on the neck blank to route the truss rod channel everything is drawn at the 'top'. Including the all important nut line and center line to which I can align my routing template with ease.
If I would cut the break angle at this point I can't place my template on the top anymore to route the outline of the neck. There would be a chunk of wood missing underneath the headstock.
I could off course stick the template to the 'bottom' of the neck blank, but that would mean I have to transfer the center line and nut line to the other side of the blank. If one of those marks is even slightly off I could end up with an unusable neck. And that is a risk I'm not willing to take if possible.
Or you could use the template to route the sides of the neck and use a sander to clean up the headstock.
I'm not a fan of sanding and I made a nice template to avoid that.
@@UnquendorGuitars Thanks for your answer that clears that up for me.Keep the great videos coming.
@@UnquendorGuitars Am I misunderstanding the question? In this video, you cut the headstock angle but you haven't shaped the neck yet so I am confused. And, thank you for this series. Very good videos and explanations. I would like to know what you do to cut and laminate your neck to begin with. Are the laminated pieces face grain to face grain or edge grain to edge grain? Have you had any issues with warping in these laminated necks? Thank you!
I absolutely love the way the multi lam neck looks (from the side) as the headstock tapers in. Makes the thin stripes look huge..... I am still planning what woods I want to use for my first build. What should I avoid? Aside from Purple Heart and Wenge!?
Hi Guitars Amps & Pedals,
Besides being functional laminated necks look great indeed.
About what wood types to avoid.... I'm not sure to be honest and I find it hard to say.
It all depends on so many factors.
For example there is nothing 'wrong' or ' difficult' about using Purple Hearth or Wenge. They require a 'different' approach.
As long as you keep your tools as sharp as possible and sharpen often I think harder wood types are 'easier' to work with and are in some way more forgiving. You don't slip as easy like on softer woods like Mahogany or Limba.
I made a bass guitar with a Wenge top and it worked beautifully. It polishes out real nice with a bit of oil and wax.
I select my timber mostly based on what I think looks good. Maybe with the exception of the neck. Nothing beats a flamed maple laminated neck in my opinion.
If you don't want to take a risk I would suggest a nice Swamp Ash body, a Maple neck and a Rosewood fretboard for a first guitar build. These are fairly easy species of wood to work with and are most likely to give a great result.
Hi, what is the thickness of the neck blank at this stage?
Hi Mr. Frontranger,
It usually is around 50mm, give or take a few mm.
I like to have as much margin for errors as possible so mistakes are easy to spot and fix in the correct way.
Do you think you could cut the angle on the bandsaw prior to cutting out the shape?
Hi M Yerger,
Yes it is possible but there are some drawbacks.
Please see my reply to bluegitsy down below for a detailed answer.