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Seems to me it's best to attach and trim the heel cap after fitting the neck. It's always been a little awkward to chisel it down to be flush with the heel without messing with the neck fit (or going a little to far on the cap itself).

The last few I think I finessed just right, but is there a sure fire way? Or do you glue it already flush and trim the other side?

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Pat

I final fit the neck after the heel cap goes on

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Cat-gut strings are made from kitten guts, stretched out to near breaking point and then hardened with grue saliva. As a result these give a feeling of Pain and anguish whenever played, and often end up playing themselves backwards as part of satanic rituals.

Typhoon Guitars
http://www.typhoon-guitars.com

Pat I had success fitting the neck and then gluing the heel cap with the neck in place AND waxed paper between the heel, cap, and body to prevent gluing the cap and heel to the body. The neck is removed, the cap is blended in with the heel, the guitar is finished in two pieces and then I would do a final fitting of the neck after finishing.

To glue the cap I would use Titebond original with a small area in the gluing surface without Titebond and a drop or two of medium CA. This gives me a few seconds to position the cap perfectly before the CA bites and provides the clamping for the Titebond. Ken and I were just talking about this a few weeks ago, using CA to clamp longer open glues.

Why refit the neck after finishing? Because the fit can ever so slightly change and we want a gapless, perfect fit. The final fitting rarely requires much fitting at all but since the neck joint is often looked at by folks we want it perfect. I typically would go to 220 paper for final fitting.

I attach the heelcap before final neck fit.

I use an angle finder to get the angle of the back compared to the neck block, so that the heel cap is in plane with the back. I use the angle finder to set the mitre gauge on the edge sander. Then I sand the heelcap area of the neck to the right length, then sand the angle into the edge of the heelcap that will touch the body. Then I glue the heelcap to the neck and line up the edge with a straightedge.

I thinks pics will help. Standby.

Actually I do leave the heel cap with a slight overhang on the joint side so I can final fit it when the joint is fitted... But when gluing the neck in I also (with the guitar in an unfinished state) glue the heel cheek to the body with a bit of titebond. The heel is also clamped in with a long clamp to close the gap. The bond there won't be strong enough to prevent future resets but it does help fill in any microscopic gap and springieness that the heel can sometimes have. I got no idea how factories does this but I have seen evidence that major manufacturers such as Martin also do this.

The guitar is then finished with the neck on.

When the neck needs to come off the end grain small area glue joint usually pops off when the dovetail works loose. I've had to do this on one occassion (wrong neck angle) and it works.

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Cat-gut strings are made from kitten guts, stretched out to near breaking point and then hardened with grue saliva. As a result these give a feeling of Pain and anguish whenever played, and often end up playing themselves backwards as part of satanic rituals.

Typhoon Guitars
http://www.typhoon-guitars.com

Find angle


Set mitre gauge


Sand heel down to length


Sand angle into heelcap


Line up with edge using a straight edge



Glue and tape it on


Doublecheck.

Also, I always set my necks about 1/32" forward, as it's much easier to bring them back than forward. Then during final fit, I floss out that tiny amount so it ends up where I want it.

This is exactly how I do it too.

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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 fit the neck and fine tune the angle before gluing the cap. I have a belt sander jig that I use to flatten and fine tune the length and angle. It works better than it looks. I glue the cap as a last step. Put some adhesive backed sandpaper on the area of the body it will butt against and sand any slight radius if needed before gluing. A few flosses after gluing if needed.

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It's not what you don't know that hurts you, it's what you do know that's wrong.

We're doing pretty much the same thing, except I'm horizontal, you're vertical...

I floss the neck joint first, then I set the angle at the heel to match the angle of the back, fit it loosely to the body and insert a thick enough plastic shim to leave clearance for the thickest abrasive I want to use between neck and body, then tighten the bolts (M & T).
I then floss the heel cap against the body to accommodate any curvature, and the angle, with strips of abrasive, then refit the neck to the body with greaseproof paper between, and glue the cap in place.
Trim with a chisel to fit to the heel before a final light sand of the area.
I re-floss the joint after finishing, 240 grit, and it only requires a touch up.

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The name catgut is confusing. There are two explanations for the mix up.

Catgut is an abbreviation of the word cattle gut. Gut strings are made from sheep or goat intestines, in the past even from horse, mule or donkey intestines.

Otherwise it could be from the word kitgut or kitstring. Kit meant fiddle, not kitten.

The heel cap is the very last thing I glue onto the neck. I set the neck before attaching the fretboard, then double check after the board is attached getting the neck as perfectly set as I can. Then I place some sand paper behind the neck, bolt it on and sand the heel cap to the body profile. Unbolt the neck and replace the sand paper with wax paper, then glue the heel cap on. It's a perfect fit every time.

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Wow so many brilliant ideas that I had never thought of. I usually overthink things, but this time I was way under thinking! I really appreciate all the input!

Am I right in assuming ya'll are using ca? Whenever I have used regular glue and clamp, it wants to slide forward. I like the hesh-hybrid idea, but seems like it would only be suitable on a large cap.

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Pat

I use LMI glue. I clamp it as in the photo and the clamps pull the heel cap snug against the body. There's a piece of wax paper between the neck and the body. This exact setup with these clamps might not work for small heel caps, but maybe something similar could be worked out.

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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 glue my caps on at about the last stage of neck carving. I leave the heel a bit long while carving....I found that the bottom of the heel can get dented or rounded at the edges while handling in carving, then I wouldn't have a clean joint at the edge of the cap. Usually when I switch from chisels to sanding, I cut the heel to length and glue on the cap. I fit the neck with the cap installed

I use CA to glue my cap on. Quick and easy and I don't worry about it getting into the end grain of the heel as the wood needs to have the pores filled anyway.


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My Facebook Guitar Page

"There's really no wrong way, as long as the results are what's desired." Charles Fox

"We have to constantly remind ourselves what we're doing....No Luthier is putting a man on the moon!" Harry Fleishman

"Generosity is always different in the eye of the person who didn't receive anything, but who wanted some." Waddy Thomson

Titebond for me!

Do you do some kind of clamp like Jay, to pull it back against the body?

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Pat

Nope,

Pictographically explanated above...