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I do things in a more traditional manner than John and thought you may enjoy following along as I build a pair of guitars. Both will be Sitka/EIR with mahogany necks. They will be two different sizes, one will be my GA size and the other a dread.

First thing I need is necks. I buck out my rough lumber into billets that will make three necks, so I will make all three and have one left. So I re saw the billet on my band saw and join and plane the pices to final dimension. Even though they are all Mahogany necks I still do a laminated neck. It allows me to utilize a very high percentage of my rough stock and gives me control over grain orientation. The two halves of the shaft are glued together on my bench with go bars, trued square and then the stacked heels are glued on.
While this cooks I get to joining my plates and sides. Really rough stuff is tamed on the jointer but all fnal work is by hand on my shooting board.

Pieces are then taken to the bench and plate halves are glued together. I use a pair of long tapered shims and some cauls and clamps on the edge of my bench to make quick easy work. A caul and some more go bars to keep the halves aligned and we let that simmer.
So now I can start to thickness my rims. Again this is by hand on my bench with a plane. I can work to a tolerance of about .005" by doing this, I figure that's close enough for guitars. After it is planed I scrape it with a big card scrapper with an aggressive hook. I don't go for really nice yet, this has already been picked as the inside and will get scraped and sanded again after they are bent.
This did not take me as long as most would suspect. At the end of 6 hrs I have 3 laminated neck shafts with heels, both sets of rims thicknessed from the .145" they came off the rack at to my needed .080" ,all pates halves jointed and both backs glued into plates.

Brian, Thanks for posting this project, it will be fun to watch.

Very cool. I wish I could work that fast. It isn't going to happen
Keep the pics coming.

Kevin

I'll enjoy this thread!

Brian, are you using a center piece when you laminate your necks? I don't see one.

Thanks for sharing Brian. We're all jealous you get 6 hour blocks of time in the shop :) Looking forward to seeing more.

Ben-Had wrote:Brian, are you using a center piece when you laminate your necks? I don't see one.

Not on this series of guitar, my more upscale guitars get a 7 piece laminated neck that has rock maple in the center with a V-joint head. I laminate these to increase stability against twist by controlling the grain orientation and to maximize the yield of my rough lumber. I pick through a few hundred board feet to find 12 feet of lumber I consider good enough for necks and don't want to waste any more of it than I have too.

Even though I had a busy day with other things I still managed to get a few things done. The top plates have been glued up using the same method as the backs. The backs have been cut to rough shape and the fret boards have been jointed and planed.

Before I continue with the process of the necks I would like to add some words of caution.I have been a professional woodworker my whole life, as such I have a very high level of confidence and comfort working with my hands in fairly close proximity to cutting tools and blades. If you are at all uncomfortable with my methods, STOP! and find an alternative method that suits your abilities.

Next up I cut the scarf joints for my head stocks. This is done on my miter saw with an angle block to allow me to achieve the 15 degree angle I need. The head stocks are cut the same way from a different piece of stock.

Next I glue the heads on. For this I have a fixture that I use. It works for all types of joints on all types of necks, even my V-joints. I screw it fast to my bench for use. This makes gluing the scarf joints an easy 3 clamp affair. Center lines can be quickly checked and referenced from the bench top. And here one is all clamped up. I am using titebond so I can cycle parts in and out of clamps fairly quick. I am about 8 hrs in on these total right now. Stay tuned.