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I don't have a table saw to use to cut the face of the headstock at a 15 degree angle from a neck billet so I came up with this jig that allows me to cut the angle accurately using my band saw and the cut is clean enough that only a little touch up with light scraping or sanding is needed before gluing on the headplate.

It's made it from two pieces of scrap wood, two threaded rods, two knobs, and a miter bar. The whole thing is 2' long. The bottom wood plate is 5/8" thick and 5 1/2" wide. I ran it through the thickness sander to get both sides flat and parallel. The top wood piece is 2" by 2 3/4" tall after running it through the thickness sander to true up the sides. It's glued flush to one edge of the lower plate. I ran the assembly through the jointer with the bottom plate against the fence and the side of the top piece over the jointer knives to get a ninety degree angle between the faces. An 18" miter bar is mounted to the underside of the base plate at a 15 degree angle to the side face of the top wood piece. I used the awesome power of math to lay out the 15 degree angle for the miter bar. The threaded rods with the knobs hold the miter bar to the wood assembly. There is a notch cut into the side face of the upper piece to accommodate the band saw blade before starting the cut.

To use, place the miter bar into the miter slot on the band saw from behind the blade and then slide the jig toward the blade until the blade is positioned in the notch in the side face of the jig. Clamp the jointed neck billet onto the jig so that the blade lines up with the cut line. Turn on the band saw and slide the jig+billet into the blade until the end of the headstock cut is reached.

I searched the forum to see if something like this is already here, but didn't find it if it is. I like this jig (fixture?) because it is trivial to set up and use, I get consistent accurate cuts with it, and the cut surface is almost good enough to use as is after the cut. Maybe this will be useful to someone else without a table saw.

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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

Nice!!! Well done Jay!!!

I like it Jay!
I have been using my table saw, but it just scares the heck out of me.
Dan

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wah
Wah-wah-wah-wah
Wah

Nice, are you using your resaw blade?

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Pat

No, it's a 1/4", 6 TPI blade. It has no problem cutting a 3" wide mahogany neck blank.

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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 don't doubt a 1/4" cuts fine. Seems like it wouldn't cut all that flat and straight as a resaw though. must be a great setup!

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Pat

Nice jig?

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Steve Sollod (pronounced sorta like "Solid")
www.swiftcreekguitars.com

...that was supposed to be an exclamation point!

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Steve Sollod (pronounced sorta like "Solid")
www.swiftcreekguitars.com

I think that the blade cuts flat and straight mainly because the jig motion is so tightly constrained by the miter bar which in this case fits the miter slot on the band saw just right with no free play. The combined surface areas of the bottom of the jig and the neck blank also make the clamped assembly sit solidly on the table. I think having the upper band saw guides positioned close to the wood also helps. I haven't seen any tendency for the blade to wander off the line. The last neck blank I cut came out basically dead flat and only needed some light sanding with a block to prep the surface for the headplate.

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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 use a very similar fixture for my bandsaw, and one for the tablesaw. Only difference is I used UHMW for the miter bar as it is what I had handy at the time.

Bob

Why did you use threaded rod and knobs instead of just screwing the bar, or a piece of wood, to the bottom of the jig? Here is a kerfed lining jig I made out of a piece of 3/4" plywood and a maple runner adjusted in width with a scraper. The runner was installed with a little Titebond and 2 screws, and is plenty rigid:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/ruby1638/ ... 606115293/

I think that even a 1/4" blade will work fine if it is sharp and you move slowly.

Ed

I used the threaded rod because the miter bar has threaded holes that match the thread on the rod. I also wanted to have the option of removing the miter bar easily in case I want to change the angle later for some reason so the knobs and threaded rod work for that. Besides, the knobs were just sitting there in the drawer crying out to be used for something.

The maple runner is a good idea and it would be cheaper than the miter bar.

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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

Nine years later (Feb 22, 2015 )…..
I built your neck headstock-from-billet jig and man is it sweet! I’ve test cut two 2x4s and they came out flat, square and near perfect. Thanks for sharing that jig.


[b] UPDATE: Cut the head stock angle on two necks from a billet. The accuracy of the cut from this jig is amazing. A couple of swipes with a block plane and the break line is as near perfect as one could expect, amazing.[\b]

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Measure Twice,

Karl Borum

A follow up thank you for the De Rocher Headstock Angle Jig. I've used it a number of times and I've used it for making jigs for building the neck.

Today I used it for a jig I'm making to guide a dozuki cut of the Martin Arrow/ Dart volute. Will use it tomorrow to cut the second jig (the side bevel) for the dart. It's a FIVE STAR jig!

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Measure Twice,

Karl Borum