2012 TDPRI Tele Build Challenge - gluing fretboard and cutting headstock

Over the weekend I worked on gluing the fretboard to the neck, shaping the fretboard to the profile of the neck and shaping the headstock.

In order to help properly glue the fretboard to the neck I used a technique that involved drilling small holes in fret slots and using straight pins. The line on the left of the is the position of the zero fret. In order to line this up properly I drilled two small holes in the zero fret slot. Pushed the straight pins through, lined them up on the line on the neck, then drilled tow small holes there as well. I repeated this process at the twelfth. I checked the placing of the straight pins, measured their distance to make certain thy all matched up.

I removed the fretboard and pins and covered the neck with Titebond glue (removed the masking tape that protected the truss-rod.) I then carefully placed the fretboard over the neck lining up all of the straight pins. This was followed by my somewhat obsessive clamping process (this is actually fewer camps than I used on previous necks.) I allowed this to dry for about an hour, then removed the clamps. I then called it a night.

The next day I used my table router to clean up the edges of the fretboard and cut it flush to the neck. I followed this by sanding the headstock smooth to 120 grit and cut it's shape.

2012 TDPRI Tele Build Challenge Day 2

Very productive day in the basement today. I have made great progress on the neck today. First I cut the head stock down to slightly larger than 1/2" removing excess wood. Late I will use a router to plane this to a thickness of about 1/2".

After  drawing the basic shape of the neck, I cut to just outside the lines.

I used double stick tape to secure my jig to the neck blank. And then used a table router to clean up the sides.

Next I used a curved router bit to shape the space where the headstock will meet the fretboard. After routing I taped a metal scraper to the head stock and moved on to a sanding bit on the drill press.

This gives me a nice curve from the headstock to the face of the neck.



























Next up, I glued extra wood to the edges of the headstock to help it take shape. I used Titebond and several clamps to hold the wood in place. I used clamped both the neck and the extra wood to the table in order to ensure that the wood be flat across the back.

After the glue cures overnight, I will be able to cut the shape, plane the surface and drill holes for the tuners. I've also prepped a miter box for the fret board which I hope to work on this week. I am surprised at how quickly this has progressed, I have spent less than 8 hours over two days this weekend working on the neck.