A more-or-less copy of a Martin OM

[MaineGeezer]

It's approximately as shown below. It would be adventageous if the piece on the right leading up to the handle (2-1/4") could be made a bit longer by borrowing a bit of length from other sections. As constructed, there is plenty of clearance, at least for the bracing scheme in my guitar, and one could modify the bends to tighten up clearances slightly and leave more for the final vertical. But this works. It's perfectly functional as shown.

wrench.jpg

[Diane Kauffmds]

It's approximately as shown below. It would be adventageous if the piece on the right leading up to the handle (2-1/4") could be made a bit longer by borrowing a bit of length from other sections. As constructed, there is plenty of clearance, at least for the bracing scheme in my guitar, and one could modify the bends to tighten up clearances slightly and leave more for the final vertical. But this works. It's perfectly functional as shown.

wrench.jpg

Thanks Steve. I think it's a really good idea. I'll have to see how much of a reach I need for my 00 build, then find an allen wrench that's long enough to accommodate the adaptation.

[MaineGeezer]

You should be able to find those Eklind wrenches in any big hardware store...or even a small hardware store.

[Diane Kauffmds]

You should be able to find those Eklind wrenches in any big hardware store...or even a small hardware store.

Thanks for the brand name; it helps a lot.

[MaineGeezer]

Unless Carter finds a reason to object, I'm declaring the neck profiling to be complete.

I made some Delrin pins, visible in the photos, to fill the tuner shaft holes to keep the finish out of them. I hope that's a good idea....

[johnnparchem]

Nice looking neck and head stock profile, having the slots not go through really looks cool.

[MaineGeezer]

I've been spending the last few days fitting the neck dovetail joint. Carter is of the "cut it slightly loose then shim it for final alignment" school of thought. Two 0.017" shims seem to be about right to get it tight, and I'm adjusting the back of the heel to get full contact with the body. Once that is done I may need slightly thicker shims, I suppose. Anyway, it's very close. The joint snugs up pretty well, and heel-to-body contact is approaching full.

I couldn't resist jury-rigging a string on the guitar to get some kind of sound out of it. It's not much of a sound, but volume and sustain seem fairly good.

The string is hitched to the end pin, goes over a bit of aluminum angle to protect the corner of the top and side, over the bridge that is sitting on the top, to a single tuner. Though the neck joing might stay together on its own, I added a clamp for security.

[ruby@magpage.com]

I was curious about this a month ago as I finished a rebuilding of a damaged guitar. I put the neck in its dovetail with no glue, added a 1/8 X 1/8" piece of cherry for a saddle, put a small nail in the joint which I later removed, and then took it to pitch and played it for a week with no problems before gluing it. I think the glue is just there to keep it from being bumped apart. When you think of it, there are no normal stresses tending to separate the joint:







https://www.flickr.com/photos/ruby1638/ ... 344222304/

This allowed me to check my work - never having adjusted a dovetail before - and allowed everything to settle in before gluing. Mine was a little different in that I had removed part of the fretboard, but I see no reason why it would not work for any dovetail. This gave me the confidence to use a minimum amount of glue to hold things together - just a small bit down low on the cheeks of the dovetail, and if the fretboard were still full length, just a small spot under the extension on the body.

Try it, you'll like it

Ed

[Diane Kauffmds]

Both of you have good ideas for testing neck angles and saddle. I'll give it a try when I build my 00.

[MaineGeezer]

Status: I think I've got the neck joint pretty much correct. The saddle now needs to be about 3/16" to 1/4" high and there is full contact between the back of the heel and the guitar sides. When seated, there is no wiggle or rocking in the joint. I'll get Carter's stamp of approval (I hope!) the next time I see him (the 27th).

For the next week or so I'm going to experiment with finishes and grain filling. The current plan is to use "Aqua Coat Clear Filler" from LMI followed by French polishing. Another possibility is Tru-Oil. at least on the neck.