Well the top is done, the back is done, and the rims are notched. What is left to do but sign the top, take some pictures and then dive into gluing the back to the rims. I got my go bar deck all set up for the glue up, checked the fit and got to work gluing it up. It went quite well. Everything fit nicely and the glue up was uneventful. Once that was all clamped up and drying I turned my attention to the neck blank I glued up yesterday. I unclamped it, and ran the blank through the thickness sander to clean up the glue and level out all of the wood edges. It turned out nicely. I am very happy with how it looks. Next up on the agenda was to cut the scarf joint. I dug out my scarf cutting jig, blew the inch of dust off of it and got the blank all clamped in place. This was a little different than the other necks I have made because everything needed to be cut very square so the center strips line up. I ran it through, flipped the pieces and put them together to see how I did. It turned out pretty well. I had to run the long blank through my jointer because one side of the mahogany was a touch wider than the other so flipping the pieces made the center strip move off center. The jointer made it easy to correct. I need to clean up the joint a touch as the line isn't perfectly straight. I have learned however that this actual joint line doesn't actually need to be perfectly straight because one side gets hidden by the fingerboard, nut, or headplate, and the back side gets carved into a curve which can easily repair any minor irregularities. What is important however is the joint line on the edge. It has to be perfect as that joint is very visible on the finished instrument.
Tomorrow my plan is to glue the scarf joint and glue the top to the rims.
Here is the neck blank after I pulled it from the clamps and ran it through the thickness sander.
The top with the completed bracing. It has a really nice tap tone. A very long ring but some nice deep tones also.
Another shot of the top showing the depth of the brace scallops.
And yet another angle.
This is the back bracing.
The neck blank in my scarf joint cutting jig.
Here is the scarf joint on the back side. This is the side that will be seen so it is very important to get that center strip lined up perfectly.
Well, I thought I took a picture of the back and rim glue up but I guess I forgot to take the picture. I will get one before I pull it out of the go bar deck.
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