Need Instructions on Shaping Headstock...Or Pictures

[dinkyguitar]

Hi All,

I'm at the point where I need to think on how to cut out the headstock shape.

My neck is cut 2 1/4" thick, the truss rod channel is routed, the ears are glued on and sanded level. The tenon is not yet done. I also have the ebony veneer 3/32" not shaped yet either.

When do I start with the veneer, and after I trace the shape on the top of the headstock how do I cut it out so that the edges are angled? I have a table router and a drum sanded on my drill press.

If I lay the neck face down I could use my drum sanded that's on my drill press but I won't see the lines I traced on the front of the headstock. Do you guys flip the neck over to see where you are cutting?

I can also use my band saw, but it will be tricky keeping the neck face
down while sliding it to cut the headstock out.

So if anyone has pictures or suggestions, by all means...

dinky,

 

[akwusmc]

I haven't shaped a headstock in a long time, but I think a template is going to be your friend.

 

[Murkar]

The way I do it is on the router. I use double stick tape to firmly (firmly!) attach a template to the front of the headstock.

Then with the neck held so that the front of the headstock is face down on the router table, I use a pattern bit (bearing on the bottom) to route the headstock profile.

It's much better to spend a lot of time making one perfect template in MDF that gets taped to the headstock (which you then use with the router to duplicate the cut on the headstock) than to make a mistake on the neck itself by doing it with the drum sander.

I'll try to get you some pics.

 

[THEBIGOLDDIRTYBIRD]

What kind of headstock are you making? Make a template first like Murkar said. Then you use a router with a pattern bit or a "robo-sander' to duplicate the shape. The robo sander is basically a drum sander with a pattern following guide (see Stew Mac). That way the guide is seeing the template underneath and following it while you are essentially blind to the cut. I drill countersunk screw holes where the tuner holes will eventually be to index the headtock to the template with small screws. Oddly enough I was just shaping 2 headstocks today with the robo-sander today. It takes awhile (15 mins) and is not as clean cutting compared to a router but you don't have to worry about tearout. You can also just go guerilla and free hand it but that's risky on a nice piece of wood. You can shape the headstock before or after the veneer is applied but after will save you some work later. I was extra guerilla my earlier days and tried to avoid having to make templates but it is just the better way to do things.

 

[pshupe]

You need one of these!

Lots of uses. Headstock outline with top bearing on a router table, tuner hole locations, truss rod acces outline, inlay outline.

I will be making a bunch of these up, as soon as I decide what to have cut, and stop procrastinating. ;-)

Cheers Peter.

 

[Murkar]

Oooo....I like the look of that Peter haha I might have to chase you down for one of those in the future.

 

[j.six]

Mdf templates are your friend! That's what I do as well, although I'll use a drill press to hog the "hook" portion of my six in line headstock out before routing (sadly, my headstock design is a recipe for tearout so I do what I can to minimize that). I will also, at times, use my robosander in the drill press while the template is on, just to save some routing time. Granted, I could cut it closer on the bandsaw, but my bandsaw is janky at best, and I try not to get too close to the line with it.

As far as the veneer goes, I usually (but not always; sometimes I get a wild hair to add a headplate later) will glue it to the headstock before I shape it, and then bring the part of the veneer that juts over the nut area down flush. But I do the veneer a bit different, in that it doesn't usually stop where the nut starts (like on an LP, for example), which you'll see in the pix. Once the headstock is shaped, I'll drill the front and back of the tuner holes, and then cut the binding channel and then then move forward.