  Carefully
position your headstock template and double-check that it is
perfectly aligned with the neck and that the nut layout line is in
the right spot. I secured the template to the headstock with a
couple of small, recessed screws located where the tuners will be
drilled through later. Load up the router with an 1/8" high, bearing
guided bit. Make a shallow, 1/8" deep pass, lower the bit, then make
another pass. Repeat this about a dozen times until you’re almost
through. Cut through the thin piece of wood left with a utility
knife. Don’t make the final pass with the router as the bit could
catch the falling scrap and throw it somewhere (it’s just about
crotch high here). Before you remove the headstock template, drill
small, shallow pilot holes at all the tuner locations. You’ll use
these later, but you might as well establish the locations while the
template is secured. Clean up the edges of the headstock with some
60 grit sand paper.
 You’re
probably thinking that this would go a lot quicker if you roughed
out the shape on the band saw then cleaned it all up with one pass
using a 1" long bearing guided bit. You might get lucky, or your bit
might catch the grain in the wrong direction and tear your headstock
in two; lesson learned. If you recall, that was the concept used on
the body panels and it worked just fine. But the mahogany used on
the back panel is a softer wood with a less prominent grain
structure. The quilted maple used on the front body panel has such
screwed up grain that it just didn’t matter. However, the maple used
on the neck is very hard and has a strong, linear grain pattern. You
can see in the photo that the router cut the first stretch at the
bottom just fine. The bit’s rotation was combing the grain as it
went. But as I turned the corner, the rotation of the bit was
peeling back the grain. It quickly found a weak spot and grabbed it.
Then it was back to the start (with a lot of cursing along the way).
When in doubt, be patient. A dozen shallow passes takes a while, but
nowhere near the time it takes to start over again. |
Carefully
position your headstock template and double-check that it is
perfectly aligned with the neck and that the nut layout line is in
the right spot. I secured the template to the headstock with a
couple of small, recessed screws located where the tuners will be
drilled through later. Load up the router with an 1/8" high, bearing
guided bit. Make a shallow, 1/8" deep pass, lower the bit, then make
another pass. Repeat this about a dozen times until you’re almost
through. Cut through the thin piece of wood left with a utility
knife. Don’t make the final pass with the router as the bit could
catch the falling scrap and throw it somewhere (it’s just about
crotch high here). Before you remove the headstock template, drill
small, shallow pilot holes at all the tuner locations. You’ll use
these later, but you might as well establish the locations while the
template is secured. Clean up the edges of the headstock with some
60 grit sand paper.
You’re
probably thinking that this would go a lot quicker if you roughed
out the shape on the band saw then cleaned it all up with one pass
using a 1" long bearing guided bit. You might get lucky, or your bit
might catch the grain in the wrong direction and tear your headstock
in two; lesson learned. If you recall, that was the concept used on
the body panels and it worked just fine. But the mahogany used on
the back panel is a softer wood with a less prominent grain
structure. The quilted maple used on the front body panel has such
screwed up grain that it just didn’t matter. However, the maple used
on the neck is very hard and has a strong, linear grain pattern. You
can see in the photo that the router cut the first stretch at the
bottom just fine. The bit’s rotation was combing the grain as it
went. But as I turned the corner, the rotation of the bit was
peeling back the grain. It quickly found a weak spot and grabbed it.
Then it was back to the start (with a lot of cursing along the way).
When in doubt, be patient. A dozen shallow passes takes a while, but
nowhere near the time it takes to start over again.
