Davidprat - Posted - 02/16/2011:  13:08:48

Do you glue the fingerboard before or after to cut the neck to the proper shape ?
When I started to build instrument I do it after but on my last instrument I thought I would save time if it was done before so the neck and fingerboard it's cut at the same time, It worked well but I think that the most of the people first cut the neck then cut the fingerboard to the proper size to fit the neck and glue the 2 parts together, are there any reason to do it that way?

Zachary Hoyt - Posted - 02/16/2011:  14:16:00

I like to cut it about 1mm oversize on the sides and then trim it down on the sander after the glue is dry. Then I don't have to be quite as worried about whether it shifts when I clamp it. I have also left it square and then trimmed it after gluing, but I found that slightly less handy for me.
Zach

Randall - Posted - 02/16/2011:  14:35:29

Something else you might want to do. Rough in your neck shape first. Glue on the board. Fret it and bind it. Use the binding as your guide.

Another hint. When gluing on your fretboard, out the glue on the board and not on the neck. By doing this you will get a little built in relief bow in your neck!!

If you put the glue on the neck and place the board on the neck, you will have a backbow. Sometimes it's hard to pull that put without popping the board off.

I don't know why this works this way but it does!!

Randall - Posted - 02/17/2011:  07:22:53

Something else that might help is this. Mark your fingerboard on the plane of your neck. Cut it out about a 1/4" bigger than your fretboard lines with a band saw. Glue on your board. Fret it and bInd it.

Here is the fun part! Use your router table eith a flush cut bit with the bearing at table height. Run the neck fretboard down and let the bearing run against your binding. This will give you the perfect edges to contour your neck by!! I make be the only one who does it this way. It works and easy!!

DantheBanjoMan - Posted - 02/17/2011:  08:02:56

I've done it both ways. This time I made a mock fingerboard out of a scrap of laminate flooring and held that in place while I shaped the neck and I liked that method a lot. I've also done what Randall mentioned (using the flush cut router bit with the finsihed fingerboard as a guide) and that works pretty well, too. I sink a couple of staples part way iinto the neck then cut off the tops with side cutters so I've got some sharpened prongs sticking out of the neck, and that does a pretty good job of keeping the fingerboard from shifting while I'm gluing it in place. I also put a blank in the nut slut to act as a backstop for the fingerboard, but I removed that once the clamps are in place.

RBuddy - Posted - 02/17/2011:  08:13:18

This is another example of nearly everyone having a slightly different method. I like to get my neck 95% to final shape. I inlay and bind the fingerboard, basically everything except frets and radius is done. Then I glue it to the neck and do the last 5% of scraping and sanding. I like to get components like fingerboards, peg head covers, etc as close to finished as possible before gluing them on the neck. That way if I screw something up I don't have to take it back off.

DantheBanjoMan - Posted - 02/17/2011:  08:53:10

One more thing: When I put the fingerboard on first I cover it with blue masking tape so it doesn't get marred while I'm shaping the neck.

bordertownbrown - Posted - 02/17/2011:  09:06:55

I like to cut the neck close to finish before gluing the fingerboard, this way if the wood distorts after cutting, as it often does, you can still straighten the neck before gluing the fretboard.

After roughing out the neck on the band saw, the finished shape of the fretboard is cut on the neck using a template and router with a top bearing bit.


Next I position the fretboard while still square on the neck, attaching small blocks or wood to it with CA glue which holds it in position while gluing. Then i trace around the neck profile onto the fingerboard and saw it out rough , leaving tabs where the positioning blocks are glued.



After the fretboard is glued to the neck it is trimed with a router with a bottom bearing bit.



Like RBuddy says, "This is another example of nearly everyone having a slightly different method."
and I'm certain you will find your own solution.

Richard Brown bordertownbrown.com

RBuddy - Posted - 02/17/2011:  09:40:20

Richard

Your first sentence sums up exactly why I like to get the neck profiled before the fingerboard is glued on. That way after near final shaping I can re level the neck surface to dead flat. As you say, when you remove wood from a board it changes the stress dynamics in the wood and will likely cause it to move. Those of us who have sent thousands of boards through a saw have watched that saw kerf spread or pinch with great frequency. Glad you made that point!

edit - I also like to get a bunch of necks bandsawn to shape with tops flattened and then let them sit through a couple seasonal humidity changes to see stable they are. That can save some grief down the road by weeding out necks that have a mind of their own.

Edited by - RBuddy on 02/17/2011 09:43:53

DantheBanjoMan - Posted - 02/17/2011:  15:22:25

At this point in my banjo building career I feel pretty comfortable attaching a nearly-finished fingerboard to a nearly-finished neck, but when I first started out that woud have scared the pants off of me. RBuddy is right; the wood can move when you cut a neck to shape, but when I was a newbie builder I just flattened the fingerboard after final shapng and that took care of things. Of course, I laminate my neck blanks in such a way that I probably get less movement to begin with.

Now that I'm more confident I find it more practical to add the fingerboard later, but I wonder if I would have reached this point if I didn't have the confidence-building step of attaching the fingerboard first.

Ricahrd, thanks for the photos. I love the way your template fits into the truss rod slot. Brilliant. Also, this is a bit off-topic, but it looks like you're using a solid, non-adjustable rod or possibly a truss rod that adjusts from the heel end of the neck. Does it adjust from the heel? Do you have to remove the neck to make the adjustment, or have you found a way around that?

bordertownbrown - Posted - 02/17/2011:  16:49:57

Dan, I also use the slot to index for the dowell stick hole and cutting the heel. The truss rod is from LMI and has two way adjustment, it is adjustable from the heel and the neck must be removed.

DantheBanjoMan - Posted - 02/17/2011:  19:16:23

Richard,

Thanks for the reply!

I am going to try your trick using small blocks of wood to hold the fingerboard in place tomorrow. It was the perfect solution at the perfect time.

Davidprat - Posted - 02/27/2011:  14:29:23

How do you level the neck once you have the neck almost finished?

RBuddy - Posted - 02/27/2011:  14:58:56

David

I level the top of the neck blank when it has been shaped to within a few millimeters of final profile and prior to gluing on the FB. Done by sticking some sandpaper on a true flat surface longer than the neck and rubbing the neck back and forth. You can't do that as easily if a peghead cover is already glued on. That's one reason I don't like the "stage 4" neck blanks that come with the peghead cover glued on. A trick to knowing when you are there is to draw a series of pencil lines across the neck surface every inch or so. When the last of the pencil lines is gone by sanding, the neck blank should be flat. After the fingerboard is glued on and dried for several days I flatten the top of the FB by repeating the sanding process with the pencil lines again for reference. Hope that helps.

Brian

Davidprat - Posted - 02/27/2011:  15:20:02

Thanks Brain! Is the same way that I do it, I think that some people use a Hand planer, one of those long planer, maybe I'm wrong...

RBuddy - Posted - 02/27/2011:  15:27:56

David

For me it all depends on the wood. I'm so used to dealing with figured wood like curly maple it is just not habit to reach for a plane most often. Sandpaper is slower and safer for me. Usually by this point I'm within a few thousands of an inch so a plane would be overkill and dangerous.