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Do you guys know if this tool is accurate for such a job?

https://www.stewmac.com/Luthier_Tools/T ... uitar.html

In particular the 1935 Martin 000-18.

Does anyone know how thick the neck is at the nut and 10th fret? I cannot seem to find these dimensions online and would appreciate if anyone has it.

At this point I'm wondering what thickness to make the neck blank. I'm thinking 3/4in but not sure.

Regards.

I have a ‘36 000-18s shade top on the bench. I’ll check the dimensions tomorrow.


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Mountain Song Guitars www.mountainsongguitars.com

Great! Thanks Ken.

So I got that Stewmac template... Is the neck at the 12th fret really .93in thick not including the fretboard? With a .9in fretboard that's well over an inch thick, a baseball bat.

John Hall are you out there?

Sorry, this slipped my mind. I checked the one we have, and it’s .834” at the 1st and 1.062 at the 10th. The fretboard doesn’t appear to have been leveled/thinned when it was refretted by TJ Thompson ten years ago.


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That pretty much matches the template too. Does if feel like a baseball bat neck?

Thanks for doing that.

No, I think it feels great. It’s got a bit of a V profile, so only that peak is that thick, with the shoulders falling away comfortably. It’s less than .100” thicker than I tend to make my necks, so not too baseball-batty.


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John Arnold has said "Most modern Martin fretboards are around 1/4" in the center. The old Martins are usually no more than 0.225". Many of them are thinner..."

So the neck is a bit thicker and the fingerboard a bit thinner, which might be a consideration preparing the blank. I don't know if this affects what you're doing or not. And didn't the original OMs have bar frets and an ebony rod thrown into the mix to further complicate things? That could well be the reason for the extra thickness you're musing about.

cheers

ok
pre war fretboards are thinned than modern . They were final shaped by hand and there is some variance but not much.
A fretboards are .187 on the edge and about 205 in the center.
they also go from about 18 in radius to 20 that came from shaping buy hand on a belt sander
B the are about the same as today but are compression fretted
C Necks had a little variation I have 3 in the shop
I will measure them later today.
so question
what year? they changed in late 39

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John Hall
blues creek guitars
Authorized CF Martin Repair
Co President of ASIA
You Don't know what you don't know until you know it

Thank you John! Client used to own a '34 so that's what he's going for.

Regards.