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This is a lot more work than I anticipated ha:
But isn’t that how it goes:)



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Looking good!

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http://www.Harvestmoonguitars.com

Just the ramping, or everything about slot heads?

If it’s the ramping, I have a nice round rasp (like a rat tail file, but it’s a rasp, not a file), and that makes it go pretty fast.

Slot heads in general are more work, but I love them. That’s all I want to build right now.

That looks like wonderful work. Thanks for sharing.

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Peter Havriluk

It’s sooo hard to get Everything flat in there ha. Will be interested to see how it turns out.
If someone was doing a lot of these I could TOTally see getting one of those routing jigs:)


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)ust make the routing jig. It isn’t hard.

A lot of work but they do look good. I drill my tuner holes before I cut the slots, makes it less likely to blowout the holes in the slot, I think.

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Steve Smith
"Music is what feelings sound like"

I do as well. Might want to wedge a block of wood in the slot and drill through it to make sure. Nice work though!

And that's why I turn down orders for slot heads!

Hand made slotted head stocks are like an etude for an aspiring guitar player. One little mistake and master whips your hand and says try again!!!!

I've never done one to my liking, there is always a discrepancy from one side to the other. Fortunately the people who buy guitars from me actually like the hand made look

One thing I learned with the luthier tool jig (great jig btw) is that your router bit is never perfectly centered in the guide collet. You have to pay attention to what side faces out so the distance between the slot and edge of the headstock is the same on both sides.

Getting the ramps symmetrical is always tough. Not a bad idea to cut the slots before final thicknessing of the headstock as well. That way any little dings on the bottom can be sanded away.

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It's not what you don't know that hurts you, it's what you do know that's wrong.

I use a morticing attachment on my drill press to cut the slots for pegheads before I attach the pegheads to the neck shaft. It makes square ended slots so I generally do flat ramps to go along with them.
I don't do that many slotted pegheads - they are more work and many people find them a PITA for doing string changes.

In addition to the idea of wedging wood in the slots before you drill the side holes, let me add four tips:

1. Be super careful about the depth of the pilot holes for the tuner screws. Too deep means you will go through to the inside of the slots.

2. Be super careful to pick a drill bit for the pilot holes that matches the size of the screw bodies minus the threads.

3. Clamp the headstock front to back in a vise while you are driving the screws, or else the screws can act as wedges and crack the headstock.

4. After you start each screw, back it out and clip off the pointy end to make it shorter. Otherwise, you can go through to the slots.

Regarding string changes, slot heads are way easier if you don’t try to loop the excess under the first wrap, the way you would with paddle heads. Stick the string in the hole, kink it in both directions, take it out and clip off the excess beyond the furthest kink. Reinsert in the hole and tighten. With enough wraps, it holds fine. And you don’t hurt yourself trying to get the strings off when it is time to restring.

You could try something like this in curly maple that I saw yesterday in a cool blog. http://schreinerlutesandguitars.blogspot.com/2015/ An 1834 Panormo copy. That looks like trouble waiting to happen. It has to look perfect.

I drill the cross holes in my violin heads before cutting the mortise for them too. More as a guide to know how deep the mortise has to go. Never did a slot head guitar.

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Why be normal?

+1. I copied the newer LMI concept and it's pretty quick and accurate. I thought this style of headstock would be more difficult, but once I realized that the angle of the headstock is just a distraction from the fact that you are cutting two identical slots parallel to the sides, it was a lightbulb moment.

I made a jig out of 1/4" plexiglass for one slot. I drill the tuner holes using a home made jig with hardened drill guides.I drill out most of the waste from the slots with a brad point or forstner bit. I then carefully double stick tape the template down and rout the slots on the table with a pattern bit. Move the template to the other side, rout and done. Round rasp and bastard cut rat tail file for the ramps. For the few I do, it works well. I was also lucky to get the 12 string drilling block from Stew Macs that they used to sell for the Golden age tuners. It was very handy for the one 12 string slothead I built.

I, use a dremal with a small sanding drum attachment.
Carefully mark the H.S. veneer with lay out lines so that you can see them.
Be careful of angle of tool .
ALWAYS drill thee tuner holes first.

Mike

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Mike Collins

This router guide clamps to the neck shaft. The screw hole at the tip allows more security. The screw goes into part of the head that will be cut off. I drill a hole anywhere in the slot to provide a starting point for the router bit and use a 1/2” deep followed by a 1” deep pattern cutting router bits to step down through the slothead 1/4” at a time until the slots are cut. There are sometimes trace lines from the steps, but sanding takes care of those. I drill the tuner holes before I cut the slots so there is no breakout. To drill them, I clamp the head and the guides perpendicular to the bit in the drill press. This guide is starting to show some wear, so I will probably make another.

If you plan on making more slot heads the luthier tool jig is great. One tool to drill the tuner holes and slot the headstock, can switch out bearings for classical or steel string tuners, and it's self aligning so you don't have to worry about your tuner holes being half a mil off on each side. Makes my life much easier!