Continues...
This
was out first
meeting for members only and was held at
the Erickson Guitars. Gary started his lecture series with the
statement that
guitar construction was always a "matter of trade-offs", now he was
proving it with clear precise questions as to choice of woods, type of
neck,
scale length, headstock angle, neck heel and oh, so many others. Many
members
were getting hands on experience with saws and routers for the first
time. Gary
The meeting started without the usual new member introductions, but instead we met Mr. Router, Mr. Bandsaw, and Mr. Fordom Flexshaft.
The meeting started without the usual new member introductions, but instead we met Mr. Router, Mr. Bandsaw, and Mr. Fordom Flexshaft.
Thickness of the headstock is dimensioned to the type of Machine Head used. .55"- .60" is average for most hardware available. |
 Hole sizes will vary with hardwarerequirements. Hole should be about .025" larger to accommodate spray finish and wood expansion or contraction. |
 The
large belt sander makes a good tool for sanding and blending the shape
of the nut to headstock contour. It also works well in blending the
back of the neck to the neck heel. Gary uses a dual action sander to
smooth out the blended area further. He also uses the DA sander to
final shape the back of the neck. Care must be taken not to shave to
much wood off. A caliper is a good way to check thickness at various
frets. A contour gage works well to maintain a uniform shape. It can
easily show if there is a high spot or uneven contour. |
 Drum
sanding the small radius curves,can be done with a drill motor and various sized sanding drums. Next a small flap sanding drum should be used to keep control of the shape. Final finish sanding should be done by hand but care must be take not to hand sand to much or the softer grains will sand away leaving a ripple surface.  |
 The
stationary belt sander can be used to surface the fingerboard to the
desired radius. Neck bow can be added to the fingerboard by adjusting
the truss rod prior to sanding the fingerboard level along it's
longitudinal plane. When the tension is released the fingerboard will
have a slight relief bow. The resulting forward bow will compensate for
the fret installation which has a tendency to add back bow to the neck. |
 A
final refining of the radius can be hand sanded into the fingerboard
using a radius block. This consists of a block of soft wood about 1/3
th length of the Fingerboard which has a convex contour at the desired
radius and of which has sandpaper around it and is run up and down the
fingerboard. |
Here are the subjects that were covered in the meeting:
Neck heels, neck to body joints, angles and fit.
Headstock shapes styles and string post positions
fingerboard scales
Truss Rod routing, fitting, and controlling neck bow
Wood and sound
More building techniques