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A question about necks...
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Author:  Sam Price [ Thu Dec 14, 2006 7:37 am ]
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I have prepared my cherry neck blank, the customary size and thickness, and I am yet to prepare the scarfe joint and the heel block, because I want to ask a question about the viability of this neck...

It is warped six inches along, and I was wondering whether it should be firewood. Bearing in mind that I will be installing a truss rod and two carbon rods either side of the rod, could I still use this piece?



My dovetail saw is poised, ready for your advice....

(I kinda know what the answer'll be...but am hoping for the best... )Sam Price39065.6674537037
Author:  Kim [ Thu Dec 14, 2006 7:57 am ]
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Sam,

If it were me, but bare in mind I am least qualified to comment, I would want a perfectly straight bit of wood considering the investment of time and effort that will be required to completely finish a neck. It can make or break the playability of a guitar.

Cheers

Kim
Author:  Wayne Clark [ Thu Dec 14, 2006 8:06 am ]
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Sam,

Is the piece thick enough to plane off the warp? If you can get it straight and flat before you start, its probably worth trying.
Author:  peterm [ Thu Dec 14, 2006 8:18 am ]
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Sam,
allmost all my mahogany blanks after I rough saw them seem to warp a bit as they now have less material to fight and get acclimatized to my shop. I let them sit for couple of weeks and then plane them back straight with my jointer. It does the trick but you got to expect that before you cut them so you allow extra room to plane off later.
Author:  Sam Price [ Thu Dec 14, 2006 8:21 am ]
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Sorry to be so vague. It's a forward bow. The thickness of the plank is 7/8ths, the very thinnest I feel I could go with.
Author:  Steve Saville [ Thu Dec 14, 2006 8:29 am ]
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Could you plane it straight/flat and laminate a piece on top to bring the thickness back into spec?
Author:  Sam Price [ Thu Dec 14, 2006 8:40 am ]
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Good thinking, Steve, thanks.... Although I could afford to order a new neck blank, it'll be interesting to see how that technique works.
Author:  Wade Sylvester [ Thu Dec 14, 2006 9:01 am ]
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Ya, lamination can do wonders. One of my most stable necks had a laminate layer under the fret board.
Although cutting it into 2 pieces and laminating through the center can help stablize it also.
If I'm reading this right?

Wade
Author:  Colin S [ Thu Dec 14, 2006 9:46 am ]
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Sam, if it's that near to the end, can you saw that bit off for the stacked heel? Don't forget that your going to take the nut end down to about 13mm.

Colin
Author:  Steve Kinnaird [ Thu Dec 14, 2006 3:10 pm ]
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Sam, we're all working blind here, as we can't see your neck blank, but at 7/8's, you've still got a lot of room to work that piece flat. I like Colin's idea, and I wouldn't toss that cherry into the fire just yet.

Steve
Author:  Alan Carruth [ Fri Dec 15, 2006 5:47 am ]
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All wood has some built-in stress. I've got some lovely straight, vertical grained cedro that warps sideways as soon as you cut a piece off it, owing to it's having more than the usual tension in the outside layers of the tree. It's going for kerfing, alas.

If the change in shape is not too great, though, you can use it. Just dress it down a bit at a time, making it straight as you go. The less material you remove , the less it should move. This will present problems if you do all of your shaping at the end, but taking off the corners on the back of the neck shaft should relieve most of the stress.
Author:  Sam Price [ Sat Dec 16, 2006 8:21 am ]
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Thank you all.

I think the neck is salvageable. I am now looking at a well-planed 3/4 inch cherry neck blank, and I'm a bit worried that this may be too thin to use.

I know that this can be the barest minimum thickness for a neck blank and it still can be used, but could I sound you all out for advice? If any of you have done a stacked heel/scarfe joint neck, could you please tell me what neck blank thickness you started out with?

I swear I was a "do first, ask questions later" person, but that has changed since I took up guitar building!!
Author:  pharmboycu [ Sat Dec 16, 2006 8:48 am ]
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I'm not an experienced luthier *at all*, but I would say give it a whirl. A couple of carbon fiber rods in addition to the truss rod would seem to hold it. After all, one of the most famous guitars in the world (Tony Rice's D-28) has a neck about that same thickness.
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