DLP Mandolin - 7 - Working On The Neck

Over the past week or so I have continued working on the neck.  I want it to be set in place and glued into the body so the first ting to do was align the neck's centre line with the centre line on the body and mark out for the neck pocket and tenant slot.

As with most of my work at this stage I like to use hand tools where possible, as part of my apprenticeship!  So I carefully laid out the neck pocket and used a tenant saw to cut the edges of the slot to the required depth and then used a sharp chisel to carefully remove the rest of the material.

Once I was happy with the depth of the neck pocket I cut the tenant flush to the centre of the body as the top will be glued here for extra strength.

There is a question about the angle of the neck, I had assumed I would need to angle the neck slightly but I laid the neck out with the bridge and nut in place and used a straight edge to simulate the path of the strings and it became apparent that any angle would make the strings too low where the neck meets the body so I made the neck pocket flat.

I routed out the truss rod channel and also cut a groove into the tenant to accommodate the wires from the neck pickup.  I also sanded a slight taper into the head, not something I had done before but it is something that some manufacturers do and I liked the idea!

Next I moved onto the fret board.  I'm using mahogany again for this build, but I'm confident that a little glue in each slot will prevent the frets from pulling out and I cant imagine wear on the board been an issue for may years.

I mounted the fret board blank to a block of wood with double sided tape ensuring that one side was square to the centre line of the blank.  I was then able to use a set square to mark the position of each fret.  I also used the set square as a guide when cutting each fret slot.

I started each cut using the set square, then carried on by eye once the cut had been started down to just over 2mm depth.  I then trimmed the top and bottom of the blank and glued it to the neck been careful not to get any glue in the truss rod groove.

The truss rod could have been a little further back in the neck as the adjustment nut stands proud of the face of the head.  This can be easily corrected though with a veneer to compensate but I also ground a little from the adjustment nut before the fret board was glued on anyway.

Telecaster III - 10 - Ready For The Fret Board

Tonight I removed the clamps from the Telecaster neck and starting planing the fillet down flush with the neck.  The fillet is secure although there are a couple of small gaps, evidence of the slip with the router.

I have sanded the top of the neck smooth and flat ready for the fingerboard.  I also dropped a little filler into the gaps and over the anchor so there will be no chance of any glue seeping into the truss rod channel when I attach the fret board.

The adjustment nut is snug in it's hole but there is a tiny bit of play by design.  The adjustment nut is 10mm diameter and the hole was drilled with a 10mm bit so I enlarged it slightly.

I made sure the anchor at the end of the truss rod finished just short of where the nut will be.  I sunk the anchor into the neck and a little filler will ensure there is no play at all, although the anchor was tapped into its hole with a hammer so it is never going to move!

I put a little filler in the hole I cut for the washer, it wont be seen once the fret board is glued on and saves excess glue seeping into the end of the truss rod channel.

I'm looking forward to glueing the the fingerboard onto the neck, It is African Rosewood and should look great next to the oak neck.

Telecaster III - 9 - Installing The Truss Rod

I ended up planing another 2 pieces of wood with a concave curve so I can route the truss rod channel under the fret board rather than through the back of the neck.  There is a 1/4" drop from the end of the neck to the centre and back again.  I mounted the two pieces parallel to each other on a board and then realised my router bit was not going to reach so I added a block of wood for the neck to sit on.

I then used dowels to keep the neck in position with a little card to make everything snug.  This proves to be a problem as after the 3rd pass the card started to move meaning the neck moved a little.  This is why i wanted to route under the fret board to hide any mistakes... although I should have really practiced with a piece of scrap first.

I drilled a hole at the nut end to accommodate the anchor and stopped a couple of inches short of the body end and drilled a hole for the adjustment nut.  I then made a slot at the body end to allow me to install a washer to spread the pressure from the adjustment nut.

I fashioned a hardwood fillet to cover the truss rod slot and clamped it up to dry been careful to avoid getting any glue on the truss rod itself.  I will plane this level once the glue has dried before fitting the finger board.

Telecaster III - 8 - Jig To Cut the truss Rod Channel

Last night I started to create a pair of 'sleds' for my router to run along giving me a curve to cut a concave slot for the truss rod channel on the Telecaster neck.  I had a couple of pieces of pine with a curve already cut in them (from an old bed headboard) but the curve was not the same on each piece and the curve would have cut too deep into the neck anyway so I screwed the two pieces together and started to plane them level.

On doing some research I read the depth of the slot should be about 1/4" deeper at the centre than at the head and heel ends so I made some marks and started removing material from the centre outwards to get the curve I require.

These rails will be used to route the channel from the back of the neck so I will have to glue in a'skunk stripe'.  This is my preferred way at this stage as i will need to make a pretty accurate fillet to fin in the cavity so I may make another set of rails with a concave curve in them to allow me to route from the fretboard side of the neck.  Watch this space!

Telecaster III - Making The Truss Rod

Well I had ordered a 2 way truss rod from China and was waiting for it to arrive so I can continue with this project but it never arrived so I decided to have a go at making my own.  I decided to make a single action truss rod.

I have some threaded rod and found some furniture hardware to turn into the anchor and adjustment nut.  My metal working skills are a little rusty to say the least, I haven't really done any metal work since I was at school so the first challenge was to make an anchor.  I cut a piece from the end of the metal rod above and then tapped the hole, threaded the rod into the hole and then hammered the end into the groove to keep the rod from turning while it is been adjusted.

That was the easy bit.  Next I cut another section from the furniture rod to make the adjustment nut.  I needed to drill a hole right in the middle of the rod and then tap it to accept the threaded rod.  My first couple of attempts at holding the blank steady whilst trying to drill a hole in the dead centre failed until I filed two grooves in the vice to hold the blank in position.

Much better result, I started with a pilot hole and drilled 30mm deep before moving to a larger bit.  I then used a countersink bit to widen the hole at the top to make it easier to locate the rod.  The hole was then threaded.

It's a good job I had a few spare blanks to practice on.  Next I cut the slot in the adjusting nut.  This will give  a substantial screwdriver enough depth to maintain a good grip whilst making adjustments.  I started the cut with a hacksaw and then widened it with my Dremel before filing the slot and then polished everything using a little buffing wheel on the Dremel.

Well it look the part, Ideally this should be made of brass as brass will wear out quicker than the threads on the steel rod and is easier to replace.  Next job it to route the channel for the truss rod but that is a job for another day.