Rookie Mistake, Need Advice

I was band sawing the headstock on one of 4 necks I had laminated up and didn't check my saw before I got started, because it was working fine the last time I used it. Of coarse it probably was something 3/4" thick. Now I am doing 5" re-saw for this headstock. Long story short by the time I belt sand the lowest saw mark out where the headstock meets neck is about 1/4" thick. I hate to just whack the head off and glue a slab on. The head is walnut and persimmon. Has anybody out there know any way to save this. I feel this too weak to be a 3 stringer, much less the 4 I had it laid out for. Somebody rescue a ding-a-ling., I know nobody has done this, but I am sure you have thought about it. (;- ( )

Too Thin Neck.jpg

Replies

Bama Hound March 7, 2015 at 9:01am

I was tired and aggravated when I made this post. Until Ron mentioned it, I didn't realize that I hadn't put what my concern was. My concern was that the area where neck turns into head was so thin it would break or flex making it a bear to keep in tune. I make my laminate layups 30' that way I have a piece that grain matches for the piece that goes on bottom of neck next to box as I use hanger bolt and fender washer to mount to box.

I have slept on it and I am going to take the piece that was the off fall from the original cut and see if I can beltsand it flat enough to get a good glue surface, then rotate the piece 180 degrees,to compensate for the taper in the piece. Kind of like your Grandpa said Wayfinder., except the mating piece is already waiting for me in the trash.. Then going with a piece of made to fit inside corner molding like I understand Wayfinder is talking about. P.S. The other necks came out O.K. I usually glue them up 2 at a time.
Dane Donato March 7, 2015 at 7:26am

I'd say just consider this a learning experience and a source for scrap wood. In the bow making world, we say if you ain't breaking them, you ain't making them. This applies to many pursuits.
The Phrygian Kid March 7, 2015 at 5:27am

Cut it off and scarf join it back on, you'll probably have to sacrifice an inch and a half of scale length, if you already slotted a fingerboard lose the first fret.

It's really for the best you're going to struggle to build this back up and get nice joins.
Ron "Oily" Sprague March 7, 2015 at 1:33am

Hmmmm. Is your worry that the joint where the neck meets the headstock will snap when you string it up? First thing, you have a laminate that looks to be pretty strong. I don't think it'll snap under string tension, maybe only if you dropped it on the headstock, or it received an otherwise sharp blow. But let's say it breaks. How would you fix that? You'd have to shape a new headstock, maybe from laminates again, and attach it with a scarf joint. Yes, it would be a pain to get the scarf just so.

Or maybe, you go headless, and put your tuners down at the other end.

Another way would be to carve a wedge strut to support that area that takes all the angles into account, and glue that in, maybe fancy it up with a carved volute...

Or you could even install a turnbuckle, for a different look ( although that might interfere with some first fret fingering).

There's four different ways that don't involve slapping a slab on the back. Some of them might even work >:-E
darryl kernaghan March 6, 2015 at 10:40pm

Bama,what happens if you just reduce your intended scale length enough to gain the thickness you want?hope this makes sense to ya
- darryl kernaghan > darryl kernaghan March 6, 2015 at 10:43pm
  
  sorry,can that,didn't realise you'd glued it,maybe you could shape and sand a nice fillet to bolster it,like a web going from neck thickness tapering to a rounded point