Official Luthiers Forum!

Hey guys,
I finished closing up the box on my LMI Parlor but I have a problem that I need some help and advice on.

A couple of weeks ago I made a post asking about the heel block and the radius that was put on it when I sanded it in the radius dish when I did my sides. Well I think it has come back to bite me... When I was sanding it I had some concern that the top side of the heel block should not be sanded much since it is a pre-slotted block for a tennon joint.

I just found out I was correct because now when I put the neck on and bolt it in the top of the joint on the neck sticks up .025" above the soundboard (no fretboard). I tried taping the neck down with the heel of my hand but it is bottomed out on the bolts. I know it can be fixed in a couple of ways but I am not sure which is the best one. i.e. elongate the holes in the neck block, shaving the neck top down or shimming the fretboard.

Currently if I place a straight edge down the neck I have a gap of 1/32" where the front of my bridge will be located. That is with no trimming of the heel. I think that is a bit low but know it can be adjusted out when I set the neck angle. Before gluing the top on and putting the UTB and the Popsicle brace on I sanded some of the radius off of the heel block and then radiused my UTB to the 28' radius of the top but just flattened out the center of the brace about 3" of the center. My Popsicle brace was made a a bit thicker than the .09" it called for on the plans and I made it about 1/8" think and sanded in the radius dish until about 3" of each end had a radius. That gave me a flat surface where the fretboard extension will go.

I gave you the last info about taking the radius off the heel block and UTB because I am not sure if that contributed to only having 1/32" at the bridge. I don't think the amount I took off the heel block contributed to the issue since I only took off the very top of the radius on the side away from the edge (I was careful not to take any more off than necessary since I already had a concern about it.

Any help and advice would be most welcome.

Cheers,
Bob

I'd elongate the holes in the neck block. But I'm lazy.

Plug the neck block holes and re drill, you might also have to trim the tenon to allow it to drop down.

Fred

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Fred Tellier
http://www.fetellierguitars.com
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For .025" I would just enlarge the holes. If you are getting 1/32" at the bridge and the neck is proud .025" and neck and fretboard extension area on top are parallel, you will end up needing a wedge under the fretboard extension.
Tom

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A person who has never made a mistake has never made anything!!!

Ream the holes; that's all you need to do...

And buzz the edges of the bolt heads as well. If you're using furniture bolts that is, and not hangar bolts.

You need for the bolts to be able to slide downwards in the larger recessed holes, so you need to make the bolt head smaller by the amount you need it to go down.

Thank you guys, It didn't take much to elongate the holes and shave a bit off the bottom of the tenon to get it to sit flush. And I guess I lost all of my knowledge about neck resets to realize that I hadn't relieved the cheeks on the heel or even put the correct angle on it...

It now sits flush with the upper bout and I have 3/32" at the bridge. All I have to do is a slight adjustment to align it and I will be in good shape.

Hey this thing is starting to look like a guitar now...

Thanks,
Bob

@meddlingfool

Actually this is a pre carved neck with the heel block and the bolts are not recessed. They are allen head bolts with washers so all I had to do was use a round file and elongate the holes by the .025 it was sticking up above the soundboard.

I love it when a plan comes together!