constructing the NST Acoustic neck..

the timbers for the neck are prepared.. Bubinga in the center and Goncalo Alves on each outer edge

the G A is split down the center

and the bubinga is cut at an angle.. why have a straight bit of wood when you can have one that follows the lines of the neck..

each piece of neck is run through the planer and then planed by hand to give a perfect joint..

everything ready including the flamed maple veneers

and it's glued..

once dry the excess is trimmed off on the bandsaw

and then the whole thing is run over the planer to true up the edges

a vision of the future.. the very near future..

pretty..

the truss rod cavity is routed out

and then the fun begins.. making jigs and templates can be fun.. or infuriating.. still a good jig makes for a much more unifirm job in the end.

first off I rout around the edges with a standard flat bit to save digging in with the mitre bit

and end up with this..

bandsaw the excess off

and rout the joint in the body

a good place to be.. though the neck is a bit fat at this point

next up she is roughed to shape on the bandsaw

on all axis

and then planed to the finished size

the headstock face is flattened off

and the rough carving begins.. a long dusty process..

but we end up with something akin to a guitar neck..

the bobbin sander is used to get the correct curve at this end

and we end the day by glueing pieces of Bubinga and Padauk on to the headstock to achieve the desired width.. much prettier than your standard fare?

after cutting the excess timber off the tuner positions are marked out and double-checked.. if I'm going to go to the trouble of designing a headstock with straight string pull I can't let myself mess up at the last stage.. as my old master said .. 'measure, measure... cut'.. the only good thing he ever taught me!!

rough cut on the bandsaw

and then finely profiled using the bobbin sander

the neck is partially carved..

and then the final shape is rasped etc.. though doing this without a fingerboard on does cause some headscratching

but we end up with something which should be incredibly comfortable..

neck joint is tested out to see how the carve will affect the shape of the back..

and then the straightness of the neck is checked using the ruler down the center-line.

while the neck is clamped and glued I start work on the fingerboard.. carefully marked out

cut on the bandsaw and then fine planed by hand to size

measure measure cut.... ..

the fingerboard radius is planed.. in this case a slightly concave but still flattish curve.. for comfort..

next up this lovely little tool, made by a good friend of mine, is used to mark out the purfling

a sharp knife is used to make the scores deeper and then they are recessed using a very small chisel

the inlays are glued in..

and after sanding they are looking pretty good

the fret slots are marked and cut

and each fret glued in place.. makes for a much more stable neck in the end.. it's the smallest things that seem to make the biggest difference in this craft