Official Luthiers Forum!

I wonder what caused it to lock up like that.

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Hutch

Get the heck off the couch and go build a guitar!!!!

Speaking of cutting binding, here is something I posted here years ago that has served me well for cutting binding to length with a razor saw. Easy to make for custom widths. Just superglue two pieces of wood to a thin piece of plywood the proper width apart for a snug fit of the binding and cut a slot for an Xacto razor saw at 90 degrees. I use that little Xacto miter box to cut the slot.

image-13_med by Terence Kennedy, on Flickr

image-14_med by Terence Kennedy, on Flickr

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

Sweet!

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Hutch

Get the heck off the couch and go build a guitar!!!!

Well, I used 2 of the tips yesterday. Using a dummy piece of plastic binding when gluing the purfling in separately from the binding. I have struggled in the past with taping the purfling tightly. I was like, "Why didn't I think of this?"

The other is cleaning out the inside corner of the binding channel with a razor knife blade. I might add that using a 3-corner file also helps to smooth out the routing edges and back cut the inside corner at the same time. It will work on everything but the inside curves, like the waist or a cut a way. I still take the inside corner off the binding. Old habits.......

I also use a small 6" flexible metal ruler, with self adhesive sand paper to clean up the channel and smooth the routing lines. Bending it lets you work the inside curves. You can smooth the sides and the bottoms of the channel with it.

Here's a simple little trick. When you want to protect the FB edge or head stock when filing a nut (always a good idea imho) you reach something like a ruler under the strings, stick tape to it, then feed it back through.

Nice suggestion. Sure beats pushing on a piece of tape. Thanks.

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Peter Havriluk

My tip of the day is for married guys. So if you’re married make sure your wife either has her own closet or at least has her own side. Well then you acquire as many coveralls and overalls as you can then hang in such way you have no folds and the legs touch the floor. This makes an excellent place to hide new guitars behind until you can gently introduce them into your rotation!

You stole my thunder. I was gonna take a picture and post it this afternoon....

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"Act your age, not your shoe size" - Prince

I'm running out of space for wood, any suggestions?

Turn your excess wood into guitars, then hide them behind your coveralls. . .

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Bryan Bear PMoMC

Take care of your feet, and your feet will take care of you.

Funny you should ask I actually have some some spruce & walnut stashed behind my wife’s piano! Also don’t forget most dressers have more room under them than you realize especially the ones that have the decorative trim along the bottom

do they make coveralls large enough to conceal woodworking machinery?

I like to use four blocks to locate the fingerboard onto the neck blank, I find it easier than the pins pins I used to use. I wax the side of the block that goes against the fingerboard making them easy to remove, and just a light dab of glue.

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Jim Watts
http://jameswattsguitars.com

Wow, that is exactly what I do right down to the wax! I use offcuts of my wood binding so it is not as tall as the fretboard. As I am setting the neck and checking for centerline alignment, I can lay the straightedge along the fretboard sides without the binding scraps getting in the way.

I do the rough neck set before the fretboard is attached. It is simple to just slide the board in and out of place because of the taper.

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Bryan Bear PMoMC

Take care of your feet, and your feet will take care of you.

I'm curious about the sequence of steps you use. It appears that you would cut the excess width off the neck after gluing the fretboard on. If so, how do you deal with the radiused surface of the fretboard? Are the blocks taller than the fretboard and all the same thickness so that they provide level support and keep the neck from rocking side to side while running the neck through the bandsaw? Or is something else going on?

I've always cut the excess off before gluing the fretboard on mainly because the top surface of the neck is flat without the fretboard on which makes for accurate cutting on the bandsaw.

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Once in a while you get shown the light in the strangest of places if you look at it right - Robert Hunter

I can’t speak for Jim, but cut the neck to the fretboard shape with various hand tools. Once it is close, I use a chisel resting on the fretboard edge to cut/pare the rest of the neck wood flush. The. The neck gets carved from there.

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Bryan Bear PMoMC

Take care of your feet, and your feet will take care of you.

For the last 14 or so years I have been positioning a fretboard surrogate that has dowel pins to key in the truss rod slot and marking the edges cutting close on the band saw.

IMG_1158 by Terence Kennedy, on Flickr

After the fretboard is glued on (I use a locating system of two 1/8" dowels into holes drilled with a jig that keys into the truss rod slot and can be flipped over to drill the holes in the fretboard) I put several layers of binding tape on the board so it will sit flat in spite of the radius and tape in a surrogate slightly oversized nut.

IMG_2239 by Terence Kennedy, on Flickr

IMG_2238 by Terence Kennedy, on Flickr

Then flip it upside down and trim the excess on the router table with a template bit indexing off the fretboard.

IMG_2240 by Terence Kennedy, on Flickr

It's a little scary but I have done it for years and fingers crossed, no disasters yet. I use a standard feed with light passes for most of it but climb cut at the ends. You get a nice flush surface quickly.

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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 cut the excess off on my band saw, but the fingerboard is facing up so there's no issue with a fingerboard with a radius. It's a little tricky as the neck is blocked up off the table due the heel height and peghead.
I just cut it close and use the fingerboard as a guide when shaping the neck.

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Jim Watts
http://jameswattsguitars.com

I see Terence just post this too. He's got pictures! That's how I trim the neck too, only I skip the router trim at the end.

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Jim Watts
http://jameswattsguitars.com

I had an error filing up to the binding on my bound fretboard, I thought I was being so careful. The router seems like a good idea to me. I'll try it on my next one.

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Hutch

Get the heck off the couch and go build a guitar!!!!

Several options for gluing on fretboards, here’s mine.

1/16” stainless pins to locate the board. Masking tape makes it easier to pull the pins.



Then I use clamps, radius or fretted doesn’t matter

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Steve Smith
"Music is what feelings sound like"

I guess the radius of the fretboard doesn't present a problem for getting an even cut, or do you do something to keep the neck from rocking side-to-side on the fretboard?

I may give that a try on my next neck. It's basically the same thing I do to cut the fretboard taper:

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Once in a while you get shown the light in the strangest of places if you look at it right - Robert Hunter

That's a slick way to trim it, I still do it by hand.

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Steve Smith
"Music is what feelings sound like"

A hand plane makes quick work of that. I don't see any reason to use a router. I'll try it anyway and see for myself.

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Hutch

Get the heck off the couch and go build a guitar!!!!

On my original post I show using several layers of binding tape to compensate for the radius. That seems to work well to prevent rocking.

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