Official Luthiers Forum!

Hello all,
I ordered my parts and they will be here this weekend. I am going to wait to order my neck blank and fret board for the very end because I am very scared of one thing......warping! I have two options:

(note; I do not own a planer or jointer and I live in Southwest Louisiana)

1. I can order the neck blank already planed to thickness and jointed on one side. When it (and the fretboard) gets here at roughly the same time I can start the woodworking and make the neck to the point where I can get it shaped, frets in, and sealer on it to minimize it turing into a question mark on me. Again this is Louisiana and it is about 85-100% humid all the time. My shop is my garage so no humidity control. This blank is dry but will come from up north so it will probably start sucking water the second I unwrap it.

2. I can order the blank rough sawn and let it equilize with my shop/area. Wait for about a week, contact a cabinet maker and get him to plane\joint it to my specs. Order the fretboard and then get to making a neck.

Which one do you all recomend?.....or do you have any other suggestions? I want to be safe because this is my first one and do not want to break my confidence with a warped neck to start with. I do not want to deal with warped wood right out the gate with not having tools to do so. By the way the blank is quater sawn plane maple.

I have this planned down to the number of steps I am going to take for everything but am scared to start because of this one issue!

Any advice is wanted!
Matthew

Matthew, welcome to the forum.   If the blank is going to warp, I'd much rather get it rough, let it acclimate to your shop for 6 months or so, then have it planed and jointed locally. If the blank is QS mahogany, and dry, the odds of it warping are very small anyway. But, if it's likely to warp, and it is already near finished thickness, there's no easy way to make that right. Just my opinion.

If it were me, I'd also go ahead and get the FB, unwrap it, sticker it with weight on top, and let it get used to your shop. Is the humidity in your house under control? You could just keep it stored in the house until ready to work on it, then take it to the shop. If the finished guitar is going to stay in LA most of the time, it needs to learn about it's environment before you start gluing everything together.

Ron

_________________
OLD MAN formerly (and formally) known as:

Ron Wisdom

Somewhere in the middle of Arkansas......

Matthew,
I was born and raised in Lake Charles, LA, so I know the area very well. I'll be down there visiting family for Thanksgiving this year!

I agree with Ron, get the wood now and let it get acclimated. Then when you are ready to work on the neck, have it jointed and squared. Then try to keep it in 50 or 55% humidity in the house as you build. It's okay to do operations in the garage, but just take it in the house when you are done. It should be fine. Good luck!
Tracy

_________________
Tracy
http://www.luthiersuppliers.com

Sorry for the late reply....been traveling. I live a little north of Lake Charles in Moss Bluff. My parts came in today! I will tripple check all my steps then order the qtr. maple blank in the rough. I do not know if I can wait 6 months for it to get used to its new home though. I think I will by a rough and already planed and jointed one. I will let the rough one sit for future use. When the finished one gets here I will start to work on it. When the glueing operations are done I will bring it in the house to sit between steps.

When you come for Thanksgiving I may just have a finished neck and may be a finished body to view!

Thanks for all your help!
Matthew.

Matthew, if this is your first neck I would recommend that you start with a softer wood like mahogany or walnut. They are easier to carve and make wonderful necks. Maple will make a fine neck, but for your first one out of the box, mahogany seems to alllow things to go smoother. Just a thought. Oh, and welcome aboard. This is a great place to be.

_________________
Aoibeann