So, weekend again after going to the awesome US v. Jamaica World Cup qualifier yesterday. I got to work on the neck some more, concentrating on routing for the truss rod, making the truss rod, and shaping the neck a little. I cut some scrap maple to make ears for my headstock to accommodate the PRS design. After gluing them on, I took the leftover pieces of the neck, doubled them up and glued them to the end of the neck to make the heel.
The truss rod was my first attempt at using a die to cut threads, but I didn't run into too much trouble. The important part is to file down the end and give it a little bevel so it can accommodate the die better. It was more difficult than I expected but I took my time. Once threaded, I put on a barrel nut to secure in the body-side of the neck and hammered the excess threads down to lock it in place.
As this is my first one and a practice one, rather than spend a load on a single piece of mahogany for the body, I got a 1x8 plank 8 feet long and cut it into 2 ft segments to edge glue them together, then double them up to get a solid body.
Routed the truss rod channel, roughly cut the neck to shape with the band saw, put my belt sander in the shop vise and sanded the first, rough shape of the neck.
The one part I was dreading was drilling the well for the washer and nut at the top of the neck for the truss rod. Didn't have any kind of jig, so I attempted to jury rig one. I'm sure Ryobi does not recommend this method:
Unfortunately, had some tear out and the forstner bit jogged off the neck scratching everything.
So, I tried it by hand with the drill. Worse results.
So.... finished it up with a hand chisel and will have to repair the tear out. I'm having a hard time finding something to use for the 'washer' part of the truss rod. I have an acorn nut to use for the top, but don't want to have to order some stupid half-moon truss rod washer from Stew Mac for tons of shipping costs when I could find something in house. Enough for today and time to watch Michigan football!
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The truss rod was my first attempt at using a die to cut threads, but I didn't run into too much trouble. The important part is to file down the end and give it a little bevel so it can accommodate the die better. It was more difficult than I expected but I took my time. Once threaded, I put on a barrel nut to secure in the body-side of the neck and hammered the excess threads down to lock it in place.
As this is my first one and a practice one, rather than spend a load on a single piece of mahogany for the body, I got a 1x8 plank 8 feet long and cut it into 2 ft segments to edge glue them together, then double them up to get a solid body.
Routed the truss rod channel, roughly cut the neck to shape with the band saw, put my belt sander in the shop vise and sanded the first, rough shape of the neck.
The one part I was dreading was drilling the well for the washer and nut at the top of the neck for the truss rod. Didn't have any kind of jig, so I attempted to jury rig one. I'm sure Ryobi does not recommend this method:
Unfortunately, had some tear out and the forstner bit jogged off the neck scratching everything.
So, I tried it by hand with the drill. Worse results.
So.... finished it up with a hand chisel and will have to repair the tear out. I'm having a hard time finding something to use for the 'washer' part of the truss rod. I have an acorn nut to use for the top, but don't want to have to order some stupid half-moon truss rod washer from Stew Mac for tons of shipping costs when I could find something in house. Enough for today and time to watch Michigan football!
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