Official Luthiers Forum!

Man this is an active forum and some of the nicest people....seems to be a common trend with wood workers in general. That being said I hope I don't wear you down with too many newbie questions.

I am still working out plans for a laminated neck AGB design with some unique features and plan on using the CFG rods under the fingerboard.

Q1 Would it be a bad idea to use laminates that match the width of the CFG rods to save some routing time and just pre cut the laminates under the rods to accomodate?

It would save a little time and reduce some possibility of a router mishap (Murphy and all).

Q2 While I am asking about the neck construction can you point me to any FAQ or information about the process of attaching the fingerboard to the neck face other than the obvious glue up and clamping? I am guessing you want something in the construction to physically prevent the fingerboard from shifting while the glue dries under the clamping pressure.

What's CFG stand for?

Phil

Q1 - sure I dont see why not - you are going to want ot use polyurethane or epoxy with the CF.

Q2 - I use 1/16 inch drill bits as location pins - drill 2 each thru the 3rd and 12th frets, then heat up and pull them out once the FB glue is dry.

_________________
Tony Karol
www.karol-guitars.com
"let my passion .. fulfill yours"

Scooter you can cut the trussrod groove before layup, but I would bet that the rate of rejects due to shifting would be high.
I cut each lamination slightly larger than finished size, and lay up a 2 neck block. next I use my joiner tocarefully square up the block, then bandsaw the blanks.
Next step I use a router table with a fence to carefully cut the trussrod groove into the center lamination. Be sure thet your cut direction forces the neck into the fence, not away from it. I generally cut my trussrod groove in 3-4 passes.
I don't use carbon fiber rod in my necks, instead I make my center lamination 3/8" or wider, then use epoxy saturated carbon fiber cloth between layers of wood in the layup. This gives you a full lamination of CF from the fretboard to the back of the neck, and also makes a nice narrow black accent line between lams.

Good luck with your project

Al

[QUOTE=Phil Marino] What's CFG stand for?

Phil[/QUOTE]
He is taking about carbon fiber rods.Michael Shaw38906.6600347222

Q1: Potential for a gap between your wood laminate and your cf rod, or else making that laminate wider than the rest and cross clamping. But the cf rod may still not end up just where you want it. I used to rout; now I cut the slots on a table saw with a blade that takes a 1/8" kerf; the rods are 1/8" wide. Use a blade with a raker tooth for a flat bottomed slot. Takes seconds to cut and less chance for the cut to wander than with a router.

Q2: I use 2 or 3 brads through the fret slots; a variation on what Tony does. I think most of us do something along these lines.

_________________
Howard Klepper
http://www.klepperguitars.com

When all else fails, clean the shop.

[QUOTE=Phil Marino] What's CFG stand for?

Phil[/QUOTE]

Carbon Fibre Graphite? Seems to be a bit of confusion about these terms.

[QUOTE=Scooter B] I am guessing you want something in the
construction to physically prevent the fingerboard from shifting while the
glue dries under the clamping pressure.

[/QUOTE]

Brads are the answer as suggested by others in this thread. I line up
fretboard and then clamp. I then drill 1.0 mm holes through fretoard at
ast and 11th fret slots. 1.25mm panel pins get knocked in untill the pins
are penetrating about 5mm into the neck. I then nip off heads and
remove fretboard for glue up. When you glue up make sure you use a
clamping caul of same length and width as fretboard and drill 10mm
holes in the caul to clear the location pins youve knocked in.

Once everyhting is glued up gently pull out location pins with nippers
making sure you dont damage fretboard with the nipper jaws.

For more detailed explanation and pictures see Campiano's book.

Cheers

The problem that come to my mind with leaving a laminated slot is the glue sqeeze out in the slot will cause you problems, along with the obvious concerns for ensuring that your laminations don't shift while glueing up your neck. I just yesterday installed two long 1/8 x 3/8 CF rods into a yamaha bass neck that was on the 'floppy' side. I used an 1/8' router bit. It went very well, just take careful measurements. I like Howards idea of a sawblade slot for new construction. On retros you are pretty much going to need to rout it.

Good luck!

Shane

_________________
Canada

"I used to rout; now I cut the slots on a table saw with a blade that takes a 1/8" kerf; the rods are 1/8" wide. Use a blade with a raker tooth for a flat bottomed slot."

Is that one of those adjustable twin blades for cutting rabits etc? I have seen a Frued set that comes with two blades and spacers for cutting various width grooves.

"What's CFG stand for? "

Carbon Fiber Graphite but I may not be using the correct term.

" don't use carbon fiber rod in my necks, instead I make my center lamination 3/8" or wider, then use epoxy saturated carbon fiber cloth between layers of wood in the layup. This gives you a full lamination of CF from the fretboard to the back of the neck, and also makes a nice narrow black accent line between lams.

"

That sounds interesting I dont think I have seen fiber cloth but the thin black layers between laminates sounds cool. Would that work as well as the rods in preventing dead spots?

Single blade. Use the rip fence while the neck is square and parallel to cut first one side and then the other.

_________________
Howard Klepper
http://www.klepperguitars.com

When all else fails, clean the shop.