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My first mistake was cutting the scarf joint for the pegboard in the wrong direction.  In other words, I measured the correct distance for the head then angled my 15 degree cut toward the heel block end and not the other way.  I guess I can build a ukelele one day. 

Anyway, I received my new neck blank and cut it perfectly.  But, when I glued the scarf joint it was a little crooked.  I heated it and separated the joint then reglued it.  It looks great to me.

Without thinking, I glued the heel block before I planed the head stock to the 18 mm thickness recommended.  Then, I decided to plane the head stock on my jointer but the table was a little off so one corner was planed to about 17.5 mm while the rest is a little over 18 mm. 

In planing the head stock, I also moved the intersection of the headstock/neck joint relative to the heel block.  So then, I removed the heel block, shaped up the neck and now I've reglued the heel block despite the headstock being a little off as described above.

My next task will be to trim the heel block to be the width of the neck and the neck board to end at the heel block.  I'll do that tomorrow. 

Questions:  Is it really a problem that the head stock is slightly thinner in one corner?  I actually think the thin corner will  eventually be cut off cause the head is about 8 inches long from the intersection of the head and neck. 

Second question: In planing the heel to the same width as the neck, I was going to run it over the jointer.  The neck is currently 3 and 3/16 inches wide.  Will it hurt to trim that width ever so slightly so the neck and heel block are perfectly aligned? 

Final question:  Am I being overly concerned about these tiny differences in measurements?  I'm a beginner and most of my equipment is beginner equipment (Sears jointer $200 for example).  I can tune it pretty well but not perfectly.

Thanks

Rodney

Welcome aboard sailor. A luthier will be along shortly to answer all your questions. I'm just the greeter tonight.   

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http://www.dickeyguitars.com

Please hold while I transfer you......................................................... ..............






You guys are cruel. But it does remind me of the old OLF.

Ron

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OLD MAN formerly (and formally) known as:

Ron Wisdom

Somewhere in the middle of Arkansas......

[QUOTE=Sailor025]

Questions:  Is it really a problem that the head stock is slightly thinner in one corner?  I actually think the thin corner will  eventually be cut off cause the head is about 8 inches long from the intersection of the head and neck. 

][/QUOTE]

You are probably right, the thinnest portion will get cut away. If not, the bound headstock should take care of it.   

[QUOTE=Sailor025]

Second question: In planing the heel to the same width as the neck, I was going to run it over the jointer. The neck is currently 3 and 3/16 inches wide. Will it hurt to trim that width ever so slightly so the neck and heel block are perfectly aligned?

][/QUOTE]

I don't understand the question really. I think your heel block should align with the neck. It's usually way thinner than 3 inches at the neck/body join, so you have a lot of room to work with here. Still okay.

[QUOTE=Sailor025]

Final question: Am I being overly concerned about these tiny differences in measurements? I'm a beginner and most of my equipment is beginner equipment (Sears jointer $200 for example). I can tune it pretty well but not perfectly.

[QUOTE]

The term is "anal retentive" and no, you aren't being overly concerned. Everything matters. Just make the errors tolerable, or you'll hate yourself later.

You can do pretty good work with minimal tools. You should see some of the South American luthiers and their tooling.

Tuning, funny you should mention it.... Comes up just about every day here. Learn to compensate your saddle and get it placed correctly. We all struggle to get it perfect. So, welcome and, join the club.

I've been so nice I hate to be mean here at the last.    The first thing you have to learn on the OLF is people will love it if you post pictures. Borrow or steal someone's digital camera and post pictures darn it!   

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Tuning, hmmmm, were you talking about tuning your jointer?   

Forget the part about compensation if you were......

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http://www.dickeyguitars.com

Hey Rodney, tell us a bit about yourself. We do better on these luthier questions before dusk and liquor on a Saturday night....

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Bruce, I've followed everything you've said........ tomorrow morning not so much LOL

Welcome Rodney.

Peter

Okay, I'm an attorney, actually a bankruptcy trustee to be specific.  That just means that I administer bankruptcy cases for those who file.  Anyway, I've always watched my Dad build--he currently builds guns--beautiful rifles from scratch.  He gets the stock and barrel blanks and carves them into stocks and barrels.  I get my desire to build things from his genetic pool.

Anyway, I've wanted to build a guitar for several years.  I started the research, then about 2 or 3 Christmases ago I ordered a kit from LMI.  It sat until this year when I started working on it.  It's been fun and challenging, especially since I don't have a lot of woodworking experience.

I'm building a classical, flamenco guitar.  I chose it because I like to play classical guitars (not necessarily classical music).  I have a couple of dark colored classicals and the flamenco kit was blond.  I don't have a blond guitar. 

I guess my favorite hobby is scuba diving but I live in The Woodlands, Texas and to dive I have to drive 1 and 1/2 hours to the coast then take a boat 2-4 hours offshore.  We can't go if the seas are rough and they've been really bad this year.

I'm an outdoor enthusiast so sailing, kayaking, and anything else outdoors is fun to me.

Building guitars is my equivalent to my Dad's building guns.  I want to do it and i want to do it well.  I hope to be able to retire one day, if I can ever get my kids out of college.  In that instance, it would be nice to be able to have the skills to make a really high quality guitar.  I expect that all the guitars I build will be acoustic and mostly classical. 

I had to "tune"  my jointer because the infeed table was crooked.  It was an easy adjustment. 

Regarding pictures, I've been keeping a photo journal of my guitar building efforts.  I'll try to get some pictures posted of me and my guitar neck!  I don't have much experience uploading photos.  I have to learn to reduce them from the camera size to a reasonable size to post, which I will do. 

I'm a self taught guitarist and have always played at home, watching tv with my wife.  It shows in my lack of skill.  When I started this guitar I was determined to get input from others all along the way and I learned about this forum and it fit my needs perfectly.

Finally a question.  Do I need to get the jig for drilling peg holes on a classical guitar?  I have a drill press and thought it might work fine if I can get the head set up correctly for a straight drill.  That would make the jig unnecessary.  I think I would be better off spending that money on the really nice bending iron that LMI sells.

Now, was that too long?

Sailor

Welcome to the forum Rodney. Dont feel too foolish about cutting your neck scarf joint the wrong way..I did it twice in a row on one guitar. The miscut necks hang on my wall as a reminder so I dont do it again (but I probably will)

For drilling machine head roller holes on my classicals I use a cheap dowelling jig and a hand drill. The jig clamps on the headstock and the handrill gives me more control while drilling the holes. Dont forget to flag the drillbit so you dont drill too deep. Dont have any pics ofthe jig or process as Im currently a long way from my workshop (off the coast of W Australia on an oil rig).

Cheers Martin

Rodney,

google stanley Doweling jig, you can make one out of a hardwood, the stanley has metal bushing to guide the drill bit ( it will last longer)

Peter

Sailor,

I think the drill press might just work if you do nice layout and use a brad point bit.

Now the pictures is easy if you are on a Windows PC. Go to Microsoft.com and look for Powertoys downloads. In that area is a free software offered as a windows add-on.

It's cool, it's from Microsoft.

So, Look for the tool called Resizer or Photo Resizer. Download it and bingo, you're in business. You can even batch resize a bunch in the same folder at once.

Now don't be like me and look all over for the Resizer program, you won't find it. Because, it's part of windows, simply go to the folder, find the picture you want to resize, right click on it and hey, where'd that come from? The Resizer tool is part of windows now, just like copy, and paste. Works great..

The new photo will be one of four sizes offered, I usually go with small which is pretty large, but web-ready. 600 by 480 or something like that. File size is about 38KB not 2MB.

I'll forever be grateful to Lance for sharing that with me. Thanks Lance.

Good luck in your building. and don't forget some pics.

PS You're in good company, we have another lawyer or two around here. Sylvan comes to mind, and I'm unsure of a couple others, but have vague memories that there are more.

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http://www.dickeyguitars.com

Welcome Rodney.  I'm a first time builder, and a classical builder too.  There are some classical builders on the OLF, and the information is really good here, regardless of who gives it.  Most of these guys are steel string builders, but so much of this stuff is cross-over in use, and everyone is truly interested in your progress.  It really pumps up your confidence and your desire to excel at your build.  Oh, they have all already made every mistake you can possibly make.  Some, maybe, more than once.

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Waddy

Photobucket Build Album Library

Sound Clips of most of my guitars

[QUOTE=psl53]

Rodney,

google stanley Doweling jig, you can make one out of a hardwood, the stanley has metal bushing to guide the drill bit ( it will last longer)

Peter

[/QUOTE]

 

I cannot believe it.  I have tools handed down to me from my uncle who died a couple of years ago.  I went out to the shop, searched around and found the Stanley jig.  In addition there is a general revolving turret Doweling Jig.  Cool.  I don't have to buy anything.

Rodney

Welcome to the OLF Rodney and good luck with your build.

Rodney,

Welcome to the fold! Love that title -- the first one really is an adventure. Keep us posted!

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now known around here as Pat Foster
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http://www.patfosterguitars.com