Thursday, December 22, 2011
The next big step: Setting the Neck
Tonight I got the time and the nerve to attempt setting the neck on the guitar build. For those of you who don't know what that means, it is the process of gluing the neck into the guitar body. The intention is for it to be a permanent bond, but when the right kind of glue is used, it can be undone with some heat and moisture. It LOOKS like a straight forward process but i assure you it is nerve racking as well as a little complex. Long before I started putting color on the body I had to make sure the neck fit properly and sand it accordingly, then after color i had to mask off the area of the neck that would be glued so as to not get color or sealer on that part of the wood. Then tonight i had to measure for the exact center of the neck and mark the neck as well as the pocket so that once glued it could be aligned to be straight. once glue is applied I clamped the neck into place with 3 large clamps. I added a binding band (giant rubber band) to help hold some pressure length-wise too. Now I just have to wait at least 48 hours to let the glue cure. Once cured, I'll clean up the excess glue that expanded out of the joints in places i couldn't reach thanks to the clamps. Then it's on to lacquer clear coat. That's when the patience has to kick in... once cleared, the guitar will have to sit (or hang) completely untouched for 30 days... that's right... a MONTH. I'll post of few more updates as I get it to that point then you'll likely not hear from me for 4 weeks on this project. However, I may start a second guitar in the mean time... this is FUN!
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