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I have been working on a number of banjo necks and I thought I should post some pics of my quick and dirty peg head beveling techniques.

I always place my nuts on the fingerboard surface but this methoid could work for nuts on the peg head face too.

First, I prep my neck blanks with my #7 and #8 planes, square them up, route for truss rods, glue on headstock ears if needed etc.

Then I pick out my veneer of choice and rough it into square on the belt sander.

Then I pull out "The Peg Head Edge Beveller Mk. I"



It's just a square block of maple with 80 grit paper stuck to one side and some blue tape to protect the neck blank.

Used like so it fine tunes the edge of the peg head veneer to match the angle of the headstock so your wind up with a seamless transition to the nut with very little work down the line.



For glue up time I use a piece of 3/8" acrylic clamped to my neck blank to index the veneer.


Glue and clamp and your off to the races!



When I glue up my fingerboards I use an acrylic nut spacer to get the fingerboard in the right place.

I'll shoot some pics of that set up when I get to it.

Enjoy!

Louis

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- Louis Freilicher

Oh No! Not another learning experience!

Nice techniques. I love the big Mk.I. I would guess the size makes it work very well, and the acrylic for the gluing guide looks to make alignment a no brainer. Cool.

I like it too.

For me, since I peg the fretboard to the neck with 1/16th inch aluminum rod through a fret slot, I'd just use the fretboard instead of the acrylic thingy.

Someone showed a thicknessed nut in position to get the distance for the headplate.

The major improvement to technique for me would be your jig for sanding perfection.

Thanks for the idea Louis, that works on banjos and guitars.   

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http://www.dickeyguitars.com

Thanks guys. I rough in the angle on the belt sander too so the hand work is minimal, just touching it up with my block really.

The alignment block (I call it my "fingerboard spacer") makes glue up a breeze and with an acrylic caul over the head veneer I can keep an eye on the edge and make sure it doesn’t creep out of alignment when I put the clamps to it.

Louis

_________________
- Louis Freilicher

Oh No! Not another learning experience!