To taper the neck, you first need to make a sled which will hold the
neck firmly at an angle. A simple jig with a few hold-downs is all
you need. Using the jig is easy. First make sure your neck is cut
exactly to the length your layout dictates. The neck on my guitar
runs continuous from the headstock all the way into the body and
almost out the other end of the body. Yours may be different, but
this concept will still apply. From your drawings, note the width of
the neck at the end of the headstock and the width at the body end.
Divide the difference by two, which indicates the amount to taper
off each side. Rip a small piece of wood to that exact dimension and
cut two short pieces about 5mm longer than the height of your neck
block. These will act as spacers. Place one of these spacers on the
headstock end of the neck between the neck and the sled’s side rail
(see the middle photo above). Clamp the neck block down. Now set
your table saw fence to the exact dimension of the thickest end of
the neck making sure to add the width of the sled’s side which will
be riding against the fence. Crank up your saw blade as high as it
will go and make the cut. It will be slow with some burning; just
take your time and use a steady pace which won’t bogging down your
saw.
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