Since this topic was brought up recently, I thought I’d post some pictures of how I make this style of headstock / neck transition. Most of the pictures are from a “build thread” I did over on Luthier Community, where they appeared in different posts. I’ve cut and pasted together as best I could the ones I thought would be relevant for this tutorial. My apologies if things aren’t as neatly structured as they could have been... OK, here goes.
After gluing up my slip matched two piece neck blank, I surface the headstock front on the belt sander.
I mark the neck shaft / headstock transition, and sand to the line.
This will be a slothead, and I aim for a final thickness of 19 mm. I will use both front and back headstock veneers, which both will be 1.5 mm, so I need to thin the headstock to 16 mm. I mark this distance with a marking gauge.
Most of the wood wasting is done with a Safe-T planer.
The last mm or so is removed with the drum sander
The radius of the drum determines the geometry of my volute
So far so good
Bending the back veneer on the hot pipe...
...until it matches
Scraping the gluing surface. The sander has 80 grit paper which doesn’t leave the wood very smooth . I run the scraper over all gluing surfaces immediately before applying the glue as a matter of course.
Detail shot of the glue up sandwich. The back veneer has a cork lined caul which matches its curve. For good measure I jam a couple of wedges in there to make sure the back strap gets sufficient clamping pressure. The glue squeeze out is reassuring...
So, there it is, all clamped up
After shaping the headstock outline, it is time to work on the volute. I start by drafting the shape with a compass. No jigs or anything for this, so they turn out a little different each time, which is OK by me.
Removing the bulk of the wood with a sharp chisel
Rasping with the Nicholson #49 (or is it the #50?)
Some more rasping...
When I remember, I like to put in the nut when I shape the neck. It ensures a perfectly fitting nut, and keeps the fragile edges around the nut slot intact. Here I’m trimming the headstock veneer back with a guide caul.
Shaping the nut bottom to fit the headstock angle. I made this nut holder to save save my fingertips from that merciless belt sander
With the nut it place, I trace the fret position and all surrounding edges on it with a half pencil.
I then rough shape the nut around these marks on the belt sander again, before it is temporarily glued in place. The tape is there protect the headstock and fingerbaord edges.
With all the rough shaping of the neck done, I use a file and finally sandpaper to blend in all the surfaces.
Here’s my neck holding fixture, which I clamp in my bench vise.
The nut and headstock almost done
The whole thing.
Here’s a picture of a finished, but different headstock, done the same way.
That was the hand stop (or whatever you want to call it) variety. Here’s some pictures of how I recently did a more ordinary backstrap. The pictures are cut and pasted from a mandola build I’m documenting over on MIMF in their “$100 Acoustic Challenge”.
After bandsawing out the neck from a larger blank, the headstock front and fingerboard faces are trued up on the edge sander.
I’ve sliced up some pear wood for headstock back and front veneers, and I thickness them on the edge sander.
Most of the wood from the back of the headstock is removed with a Safe-T planer.
The headstock / neck transition is shaped on the idle drum end of my long belt sander.
Lastly things are smoothed out with a scraper.
The back veneer is bent on the hot pipe to conform to the headstock / neck transition curve. Finally both veneers are glued to the headstock, with registering pins and appropriately shaped cauls.
Fitting a nut before the final shaping of the neck is always a good idea. It saves the fragile edges of the neck around the nut from tear outs, plus you get a perfectly fitting nut.
Shaping the neck with a large rasp
Back of the headstock, almost done, strung up "in the white".
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