Posted: Jan 21, 2016 2:09 pm
Cutting the body dovetail mortise
Well, I can't put it off any longer, it's time to cut a dovetail for the body/neck joint.
While for the many reasons stated by Bob Taylor in the video posted above it makes more sense to use a bolt on neck, I'm going the traditional route. Glued on neck in dovetail.
I'll be using a router to make the basic cuts; along the way to a finished guitar there will be some hand adjustment.
I'll mention that some folks cut the dovetail mortise in the heel block before gluing it to the sides. I imagine that's a bit less stressful, you don't have to take a router to a nearly completed body. Doing the mortise early in the process does make the alignment of the heel block with everything else more critical.
This is a good time to make sure you have a flat surface for the neck to mate to.
A bit of sandpaper on a block.
A straight edge to check.
I'll be using this jig which holds the guitar body securely and has a dovetail mortise template on it.
A few spacers near the heel make sure that the sides sit flat against the template.
The guitar locked and loaded on the jig.
The jig clamped to the workbench.
A look through the mortise. It's important to have enough free space to start the router without having the bit touch the guitar – really important.
I do a slow pass down the middle and then do the sides of the mortise, from the top of the guitar down. I think some folks like to hog out some of the bulk material with straight bit and appropriate bearing.
It's a good idea to really make sure everything that should be cut away is before removing the guitar from the jig.
And there you have it:
Well, I can't put it off any longer, it's time to cut a dovetail for the body/neck joint.
While for the many reasons stated by Bob Taylor in the video posted above it makes more sense to use a bolt on neck, I'm going the traditional route. Glued on neck in dovetail.
I'll be using a router to make the basic cuts; along the way to a finished guitar there will be some hand adjustment.
I'll mention that some folks cut the dovetail mortise in the heel block before gluing it to the sides. I imagine that's a bit less stressful, you don't have to take a router to a nearly completed body. Doing the mortise early in the process does make the alignment of the heel block with everything else more critical.
This is a good time to make sure you have a flat surface for the neck to mate to.
A bit of sandpaper on a block.
A straight edge to check.
I'll be using this jig which holds the guitar body securely and has a dovetail mortise template on it.
A few spacers near the heel make sure that the sides sit flat against the template.
The guitar locked and loaded on the jig.
The jig clamped to the workbench.
A look through the mortise. It's important to have enough free space to start the router without having the bit touch the guitar – really important.
I do a slow pass down the middle and then do the sides of the mortise, from the top of the guitar down. I think some folks like to hog out some of the bulk material with straight bit and appropriate bearing.
It's a good idea to really make sure everything that should be cut away is before removing the guitar from the jig.
And there you have it:
