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That is too cool. I am rubbing my sore, flat forehead from the smack I gave it!

Great pic by the way. Really helps see what you meant.

Way to go Hesh!!

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Peter M.
Cornerstone Guitars
http://www.cornerstoneukes.com

Hesh: When I sand, I leave the rims in the mold and use my dish from the top to sand. It looks like you have the dish on the bottom when sanding, which means you move the rims on a stationary dish. I wonder if it makes any difference which way it is done? Thanks for pursuing this problem. The guitar I am working on now is the first one that I have used a Watkins neck on, so I will probably run into the same problem as you. Tom

When I'm sanding to profile in the dish, basically it's ONLY the blocks I'm sanding to height and radius.

Before bending, I only shape the back profile with the template so that I can more accurately register the sides in the bender. But, after I have bent the sides I use my paper template to mark the top's profile and cut and plane that as well. The templates as you know are made from the dishes, so the fit is nearly perfect.

I know the maximum size I have to make my blocks (remember I use a Spanish heel and a top extension, so they project well into the domes) After they are glued in, I use the sanding dishes on top of the rims in the mould to just bring the blocks to the side profile. Glue in the linings then sand them to profile as well. Job done, or as they say Robert's your mother's brother.

ColinColin S39078.7585069444

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I don't believe in anything, I simply make use of a set of reasonable working hypotheses.

This discussion raises the question in my mind, why use a bolt on neck with the holes pre-drilled and threaded? Seems like there should be a procedure so things line up w/o having to remove inserts, plug and redrill. Maybe Hesh is on the right track with the shims which helps with the dish sanding.

I have a Watkins neck here and I measure a .11" difference from the top of the neck where the fingerboard goes to the top ledge of the neck block. Perhaps this should be accounted for in the shimming.

CrowDuck

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Chris Nielsen
Soquel, CA.

Hesh,

Another point, doesn't the shimming make the neck & tail block sit even higher than the rim on the back side? Seems like this would just make sanding the back profile more difficult. Do you do anything to reduce the blocks b4 sanding?

CrowDuck

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Chris Nielsen
Soquel, CA.

i also use the dish on top of the rim in the mold. removing the rim and sanding it on top of the dish would result in too much flexing of the rim for my taste.

i just let the dish sit on the rim held in the mold and rotate it in an ocillating manner. i've never sanded off 1/4" of block ever.

i am aware that some prefer to move the work over the sanding dish, i just find it much easier to move the dish over the work.

but once bent, trimmed to length and placed in the mold i try to ensure that my sides do not come out of the mold until the box is closed. meaning that the woodwork is done with the rim in the mold, i.e., preliminary trimming to profile of the sides, blocks glued in, linings glued in, final radiusing of rim assembly, plates glued on.

like colin, i avoid sanding huge amounts off the blocks by trimming them close to size and gluing them in the correct place. the amount needing to be sanded is only the amount of "drop" over the width of the block. i find that for me, it makes things much simpler to do it this way.