First kit- 000-28

[jread]

great fix, love the inlay too. Thanks for sharing the story. It's gonna be one sweet guitar.

[MaineGeezer]

Excellent!

[Stray Feathers]

Nicely done! After you corrected the twist by sanding the top of the neck, did you have to correct the shape of the back of the neck? Bruce W.

[Slowpicker]

Yes, after twisting the neck in the mortise, I had to take a little off the base side of the heel to re-center it. Thankfully there was enough material. The lesson here is to ensure the peghead is coplanar to the fretboard surface (all the way to the end), and that they are then coplanar to the body before working on any of the other angles. If the peghead and fretboard are coplanar to begin with and you square and screw the neck block to the form, most of that will be taken care of without issue. And final shaping of the heel is probably best saved for last.

I'm sure this neck was straight at some point and the natural tendency of the wood twisted a few degrees after rough shaping and routing the truss rod. There's not a lot of wood left in the neck after all of that. If it had been twisted towards the treble side, I might have left it. I've forgotten the brand, but I think there was an electric guitar company in the 90s who built necks with a longitudinal twist towards the treble side to aid in fingering. Not sure if there was anything to it or if it was just a gimmick.

[Diane Kauffmds]

You're build looks great. Good job.

[Slowpicker]

Back to it ,and it's coming to life. After getting the neck set, the to-do list was down to lots of sanding and then finishing. Being intimidated about the finishing process, I took a break before deciding how to proceed. I decided to go with Tru Oil for the simplicity. I also really like a more satin/rubbed finish.

I also spent time debating whether to glue the neck on before or after finishing. Because I went with Tru Oil and not a lacquer, I decided to go ahead and glue the neck on. I had a bit of squeeze-out that then got rubbed into the wood, so I spent a lot of time sanding the last 1/4" of body and neck along the seam. It's still not perfect, but it'll have to do.

I am using a very loose oiling technique combining what I've seen in videos of Robbie O'Brien, Eric Schaeffer, and a great YouTube from Dave Bagwill. I basically use a circular motion to rub the oil in and spread it, then wipe with a paper towel folded in quarter and wrapped around a 4"x2" piece of 3M sanding foam pad. I wipe with the grain to smooth the final finish. Seems to be working okay so far.

3 coats down...not sure how many I'll do. 10 maybe? Then buff with 0000 and maybe a paste wax if needed.

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Notes for future me:

• If you're going to glue the neck on first, dry fit it and tape the outside of the joint to catch the squeeze-out. Also, use less or no glue on the neck cheeks.

• Don't get so rushed to put the finish on. Complete your sanding and clean the shop up.

[Diane Kauffmds]

You're doing great!

[Slowpicker]

Finished! Well, you know, for now. Still needs a little fine tuning of the setup, but it plays and sounds as good as anything else I’ve got.

The finishing went smoothly. I used Tru-oil and probably have 10-12 coats. It was very forgiving, and not difficult. I haven’t buffed it, and probably won’t. In fact, I may knock the shine off of the sides and back with steel wool. We’ll see. As forgiving as this was, spraying lacquer would be quicker and easier.

Thanks to you all for the tips, support, and outlet to vent. And special thanks to John Hall for the excellent kit and his help along the way. Now, what to build next…

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[Stray Feathers]

Beautiful - a guitar to be proud of!

[Diane Kauffmds]

Very, very, nice job!