Official Luthiers Forum!

I really like the idea that Mr. Robbie does on his "making classical guitar" DVD where you use a table saw tilted at a slight angle, but I see that only works if your channel is even thickness from top to bottom.

I use a Spanish Heel slot that is 16mm from center at the top and 10mm from center at the bottom. Now, I've thought of building some type of sled that angles the neck to allow me an even and symmetrical cut, but I don't have the vision on how that would work, so I continue to do the saw/scraper blade/saw/scraper blade etc. When all said and done, I'm left with cuts that are not even (making it difficult to fit the sides flush and even) and the cuts are hardly symmetrical or flat.

I see that Waddy uses a larger slot and then uses wedges (ala Romanos).

Any help would be appreciated.


btw - I really like the sled/table saw idea. I just can't get my arms around the geometry. Time to pull out scrap 2x4's and cut, cut, cut.

Here's a jig I made of the type we used at the Romanillos course.

The neck is clamped face down along the centerline. The angled faces at the end guide a special saw to make even and matching 4 degree cuts.

The saw is then flipped over to make the 10 mm wide cut used for the double wedge arrangement.
The edges of the guide are pre-set to produce a cut which tapers from 30mm at the top to 5mm at the heel.

What I do is to make sure the neck and block are very well squared prior to gluing them up. Then I clamp two oak blocks left and right of the pencil mark. I clamp the first, place the saw, clamp the second block tight against it (or at least enough to let it run). The saw works as tight as in a fret slot cutting jig. Of course I waste some time fitting and clamping the blocks 4 times but it's one of those parts that I enjoy.

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Build log

I use the wedge method. If you aren't quite bang on symmetrical it allows you to adjust. A quicker hand method is to laminate 2 saws together and use guide blocks. Hopefully the laminated saws will give you the correct Kerf. I''ve just epoxied 2 together but had to stone each side. At the moment it's just a trial but it might be an easy solution.

I use a Spanish Heel on all my ukuleles. Cut on the tablesaw.

Mine have a 5 degree slot cut into the heel with a blade that makes a 2 mm kerf. It's easy to do if you have a uniform / square piece to start with. No ears glued onto the peg head.

I've got a Jet Super Saw with the sliding table and very large miter gauge that can be attached to either end of the sliding table, so I make a cut with the fret board side of the neck against the fence, then move the miter gauge to the other end of the sliding table and flip the neck over and make the the cut on the other side.

Sorry, don't have any pictures of the process.

Glue wings onto headstock afterwards and proceed as usual.

Alsp the slots are cut at 90 degrees to the fret board surface. The very small amount of back set is easily accomplished by shimming the nut end of the neck and allowing the sides to flair out a tiny bit. It's so little that you will never be able to notice it.

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Allen R. McFarlen
Barron River Guitars & Ukuleles
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Cairns, Australia

I go the route of Allen above pretty much.

I use a sled with two ninety degree sides. You hold the fretboard-side against one side to do one cut and against the other side for the other cut. The three degree angle is created by a block mounted 12" from the cut (the tangent of three degrees). A fin in the miter-slot sets the cut. Build the sled too long and cut it off in place so that the end of the sled is saw cut.

I am too much of a luddite to post a picture.

Bob