Making a steel string guitar neck

 Getting the slotted headstock ready

 Square and ready to drill for the tuning post

 Now hog out the material and use a template i made to let the router clean up the inside

 An ocean of flat paper and a straightedge.... designer's fantasy.   The first task for the table was laying out the neck angle which requires a full length side view of the guitar be drawn.  This was easily accomplished with the 63" wide table.  Though i'm ready to do some fancy layouts on the table i've could a few other things to deal with first.

 looking up on the router jig you can see how i situate the body to the jig and template using adjustable screw gadgets.

 Ready to cut the pocket.

 Growing up i spent a lot of time on and around dirt roads.   From the time i could barely walk, my granddad would pick me up and take me up to pilot mountain on weekends.  At first i was too young to see over the dash of the truck so i wouldn't now where we were until i heard the whine of pavement give way to the crunch of gravel.  Nothing made me happier than that sound because i knew the world had been put on hold for a few days.   Pilot mountain was a place of wonder for a boy, playing unsupervised in the woods, creek and river i'd say it is one of the best forms of education a person can have.  It's sad how many young people these days never get to walk on a dirt road see anything that hasn't in some way been tampered with.  Just one of many ways in which the American experience is disappearing.  I LOVE DIRT ROADS AND I ALWAYS WILL!            

 Fitting the dovetail

 Sawing the cheeks of the heel before shaping

 When reproducing the look, feel, and sound of a vintage guitar it doesn't hurt to have an old neck laying around

 Slicing the ramps

 Getting the blank ready, here the bridge pin holes and saddles slot have been cut on the pyramid bridge

 Slotting the fingerboard

A les paul neck i fixed that had been dropped and completely snapped off. 

Wrapping up 3 guitars.

 Building up a slurry pore fill with danish oil and oak dust to create a smooth finish and prevent the pencil from tracking into the wood pores.

 Ready to do some drawing

 Poor neglected guitars, all three very close to completion. The 000, the CEC electric, and the circa 1910-1915 Weymann super jumbo that has been modernized with a graphite neck support and x-bracing.

Temporary home for the drafting table.

 Gluing up a scarf joint for the 000 neck, thinking to myself how to build a better neck gluing jig.  This gets the job done but it's clumsy and uglt.

 My neck routing jig i made from a recycled table top.

Finally getting around to putting some bench dog holes in the bench.  Some benches are covered in dog holes and but i'm only adding stops where i need them so as to avoid messing up my work surface. 

Back from craft study in Europe, A hand full of pics from some shop updates

custom design drafting trable, with timberframe inspired base. Made mostly with b grade cupboard oak, piss oak, and white oak, also has some white walnut and poplar, trying to get some of the usefull but non furniture grade oak out of the way.

features 10 vertical and 10 horizontal positions on a 39" by 63" top.

low vertical position is not all that practial but could be necessary at times.

high vertical position, i figure once the layout and center lines are drawn this would be great for freehand work and for standing back and contemplating the design at the end of the day.

bring it back down to mid vertical to use a straighedge or drafting tools

flips back to horizontal fairly quickly, bolt the carrier to the frame, unsrew the hinges and brace bolts and give it a twirl.

made a stop pin out of 1/2 " steel rod, polished and tapered it in the drill press with sandpaper and then made and octagonal walnut handle, works pretty well i think.

low horizontal position will probably be one of the most used positions.

the bench i made a few years back kicks butt. well worth the time investment, as will be the drafting table.

love sharp blades

? don't know yet

cherry burl measuring spoon

You can see the finished shop stool i made at the bottom of the picture, works great and i've had a few request for reproductions

good for the bicepts

working out the design, also check out the one piece mortiseing / sculpting hammer  i made from a burl end limb i found while walking. works great, puts the SMACK down

oak miters tounge and grove to the 2 ply poplar to make a bomber seat top. allows the leg mortise to be close to the edge without the risk of splitting.