# Don't know if this will work but...



## Jim DaddyO (Mar 20, 2009)

I'm trying it anyway. I am going to buy a neck, but when I was at Lowtones he gifted me a piece of 3x3 maple about 40" long. I cut a piece off of it and put it aside for a fretboard. The rest of it I ripped into 3 pieces, put it through the planer, then laminated it with some of my 3/4" ash, the centre piece flipped. I may be able to get a couple of necks out of it. For free, I think it is worth a shot. Never carved a neck before, so it will be good expereince at the very least. Thanks Lowtones!


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## geezer (Apr 30, 2008)

One thing you have to check when laminating wood ,is that the moisture content is the same in all the pc's.


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## geezer (Apr 30, 2008)

I bought a meter from Electrophysics(near London Ont.)a few years ago and I'm satisfied with it's performance .And the're made in Canada so if your looking for one ,check out their website.


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## Jim DaddyO (Mar 20, 2009)

I think the maple is about 20 yrs. old. The ash was cut down 4 yrs. ago, cut into boards, stickered, and air dried. After that I planed it and it has been sitting in the house for a few weeks with the maple. It may work, it may not. I will be buying a neck, so I am doing this mostly for experience. If it works, that's bonus and will be unique. I have never heard of ash being used in a neck, but with the maple I think it should be OK. I've messed around with wood for 30 or so years (sheesh, I' gettin' old! lol) and have always wanted to give this a shot. I am relying on this forum and have had Melvin Hiscocks book "Make your own electric guitar" for a few years. A big thanks to everyone, I read a lot of posts!


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## Mike Potvin (Apr 30, 2009)

I think you'll quickly find that making a neck is actually a lot of fun. I actually find carving the neck profile to be almost theraputic. Don't expect your first one to turn out perfectly, but by your third, you'll be an old pro. 

Have a look at the 'workshop' section of my website. I have a build log (slide guitar) that shows how I did the neck step-by-step. If I can be of any help just let me know.

Mike


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## Jim DaddyO (Mar 20, 2009)

Mike: I went through every page of your website a couple of days ago! Nice work!


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## Lab123 (May 27, 2007)

Jim...I love to build guitars but the neck is the most satisifing part of the whole process...This is where you get the feel of the guitar...The neck is where I spend a lot of attention too, since this is the work area of the player...Get some radius templates of a favourite guitar neck and carve you neck close to this shape....Then fine tune it to your feel....Good luck,Larry


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## Mike Potvin (Apr 30, 2009)

Jim DaddyO said:


> Mike: I went through every page of your website a couple of days ago! Nice work!


Thanks Jim! I wasn't trying to plug my work at all, I hope it didn't come across that way. When I started out building there were a lot of 'mysteries' that I wished I could ask someone about. Some guys are very secretive about how they do things which I never understood. A few guys did help me out, and I like to try to keep the good karma flowing. Good luck with the build.


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## Jim DaddyO (Mar 20, 2009)

Routed the core of the body to the template yesterday. Unfortunatley, I left a bit too much wood when cutting it with the jig saw and got some tear out in a couple of spots. One was inside the cavity that will never be seen, but 2 small ones on the outer perimeter. I will be able to sand most of them out, but will have to do a bit of filling. I guess that makes up my mind about doing a sunburst. It won't show if it is black. I bought a 1/2" pattern tracing bit that is 1" long. With my 5/8" thick template I was trying to cut 3/8", but, like I said, I left too much at the rough cut. Perhaps it would have went better it the router was mounted in the table, but I just tried it with a bigger base on the router. A bunch of sanding now, rough cut the back and glueing it on next.


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## shoretyus (Jan 6, 2007)

There are someplaces on a guitar that need to be sanded close to the line. 

It really sounds like you need to build a router table as well. 


A great sanding tool for the edge is sandpaper wrapped on a 1" dowel about 18" long. Clamp the body and start with long strokes


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## geezer (Apr 30, 2008)

I find if you are routing against the grain that if you remove all of the waste(but a very light final cut) by going backwards it reduces the amount of tearout.


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## Lowtones (Mar 21, 2006)

Hey Jim, If you want you can come on down and use my spindle sander to get that tear out fixed up. I've blended in many a large tear out and you really can't ever tell unless you know.


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## Jim DaddyO (Mar 20, 2009)

Got most of it out with the armstrong method of sanding. Spent a couple of hours and the only "bad" one is inside the sealed portion of the guitar where it will never be seen unless it gets taken apart. But even that one I smoothed out. I know why spindle sanders are a popular item now! I still consider this part of the "wood work" and not part of finishing. When I cut the back and front I will cut closer to the line. I used a few high tech tools though, a piece of plywood, a 1 1/2" piece of PVC pipe, a wooden dowel. 
Mark, thanks, I will most definitley be interested in some help when it comes time to route the neck pocket and pup's in. That won't be until after the body is all together and neck is here though. That timeframe is in months I think...lol. Maybe the fretboard too, and some spagetti..lol.


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