Classical Guitar Neck Joint
Source: Guitar Building Articles, The Guitar Neck
Tools & Materials Needed
Woodworkers Square
Marking Knife
Back Saw or Dovetail Saw
Band Saw
Japanese Pull Saw
Chisel
Narrow Sanding Stick
Preparation:
Layout of this joint is probably the most important step in the whole processes of making it. I use a medium tipped felt-tip or Sharpie for these marks as I want to clearly see my layouts. There is a lot of cutting and cutting at compound angles involved, so you don’t want to second guess your layout lines.
You should follow your Guitar Construction Plan very carefully here as the junction of the sides to the neck assembly is key for the success of your guitar building project.
For your convenience I have provided drawings below indicated the most important areas to be concerned about in the neck building process. I am assuming that you have already assembled the neck, cut the Scarf Joint and Glued the Heel Blocks in place already.
Complete Layout of Head Blocks, Foot, Heel:
Lay out the heel contour on both sides of the stacked heel blocks. Lay out the contour of the foot, head block and top cutout contours as well – note you can do this layout with a medium tipped dry-mark for clarity sake.
Flip the neck over with the fingerboard face down on the work bench. Mark the foot contour, the Neck “Let-In” channels for the sides and the heel contour.
Flip the neck fingerboard facing up. Mark the contour of the top of the head block, neck contour and the side “Let-In” channels at the top of the head block/neck.
Finally mark the head block angle on the end of the neck as it tapers from the foot to the top of the head block, just below the guitar soundboard.
Top of Classical Guitar Neck
Source: Guitar Building Articles, The Guitar neck
The First Cuts:
Your first cut will be the angled head block and foot. Set the table angle on the band saw to match the angle of the head block cut. By the way that is a 5 degree angle where the head block slope from the foot outward 5 degrees to the top of the head block.
Flip the neck around and cut the opposing side of the head block/foot. Lay out the contour of the foot and head block on this cut surface.
Tip: Set a stop block on the table of the band saw to keep from sawing too far, or beyond the faces of the side slots.
Your second cuts are made by laying the neck on the side and cutting the Heel contour on the band saw. Leave about 1/8″ or so of wood beyond your layout mark for shaping purposes.
Next, with the guitar neck still on its side, cut the contour of the foot and head block. Make these cuts as smooth as you can, so use a slow feed rate. The smoother you make them the less time will be spent with finish sanding.
Tip: If you would like to save yourself some neck carving time you can lay your neck against the miter gauge of the table saw and rough-cut the heel contour using blade width cuts with a 10″ Circular Saw Blade . Looking at the Heel Diagram – this cut is represented by the dashed red lines.
The Side “Let-In” Cuts:
These are possibly one of the hardest saw cuts to make on the neck. I use a Japanese Pull Saw to make the cut easier. Even though this channel would be slightly curved in the strictest terms, you will make a straight, angled cut. Be sure to use a saw with a pretty good set on the blade to make a fairly wide cut.
The first cut will not be wide enough to fit the guitar sides into. You will have to widen the slots a bit. To widen the channels use a chunk of steel hand saw blade or scraper blade and adhere some self-stick garnet sandpaper to one or both sides. Use careful even strokes you can easily widen the channel to accept the sides.
Note: If you wish to download Free PDF drawings of the above diagrams just visit our Plan Shop. Scroll all the way to the bottom and select the appropriately described item(s) in the free plans section. Also check back to this location often as I will be dumping a lot of free little details, plans, jigs etc. in this section.
Tags: classical guitar neck joint, guitar foot joint, guitar neck, how to make a guitar, how to make a guitar neck
