shimming dovetail

[jartzh]

I messed up somehow!
I had the neck set good and tight and straight.
I removed the neck and glued on the fretboard and now the neck does not seat in the dovetail.

I assume I need to shim it to tight it up. what do I use for shims?

#2 although its too late, what did I do wrong??????

[tippie53]

you can use most anything. I like to use wood and I can run them through my sander, You can use most anything. If you don't have a way to make thin shims keep in mind a poplar plank and a good hand plane will work. The shavings can be ironed flat and making adjustments to the depth of the iron can get you different sized shims.

[jartzh]

John,
First of all, thanks for your wonderful videos.

Have you ever heard of this problem (dry fit fine until fretboard glued on). the top of the neck was tight and even with the body . and still is level with the top when the fretboard is on. If I hold it tight then all the joints and lines look good. it wont pivot up or down but easily swings left and right.

[tippie53]

very common
often the lower end of the fretboard develops a down curve this pops it up. I want to force that last .010 in into the block and use a clamp to do that.
If you used chalk to read the mate of the joint you should be fine.

HERE IS MY BEST TIP
to know how much of a shim you need use a little tape on the dovetail and see how tight it gets by placing the tape until you find the best combination. Then you know just where you need the shim. Don't shim until you are ready to glue in the neck . That is when you place the shim.

[jartzh]

Thanks John,
That did it.
I had some walnut veneer so I just glued it to the tenon and started sanding/chalking/fitting and sure enough it came down with just a touch of the veneer left. Clamped up over night and I am on to the bridge.

[tippie53]

wonderful