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Birkonium/OLF Kickoff Sale! Necks!
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Author:  Andy Birko [ Fri Oct 02, 2015 8:02 am ]
Post subject:  Birkonium/OLF Kickoff Sale! Necks!
To kick off the Birkonium sponsorship of the OLF, I'm holding a special sale for OLF members!

I have a stock of standard Martin sized necks that I will offer OLF members at reduced pricing while supplies last. Once they're gone, the sale is over! Please keep in mind that if you build with non-standard neck dimensions, I'm happy to make custom CNC necks for you.

While supplies last, you can get a Birkonium Martin size neck, Fretboard, Martin OEM Trussrod, threaded inserts and heel block for a steal! (price list to follow)

Price list:

Mahogany Neck, Ebony Fretboard, Martin OEM Trussrod and heel block: Normally a $280 value for $225+Shipping

Mahogany Neck, EIR Fretboard, Martin OEM Trussrod and heel block: $215+Shipping

Neck Only: $179+Shipping

No heel block: - $5
No Truss Rod: -$15

All necks are dimensioned as shown in this drawing:

Drawing shows a diamond volute but the non-diamond voluted necks are similarly dimensioned. Please note that the width dimensions are at the nut and the 12th fret and have +.040" added to them for manufacturing tolerances.

All fretboards have locating holes on the back side to align to the neck. In addition to the fretboards shown, I have a stock of nice EIR and Ebony from our friends at RC tonewoods and can make additional fretboards.

To buy a neck, please post to this thread with which neck and/or fretboard you'd like and I'll contact you through PM to get additional information, the transaction will be completed via standard e-mail/PayPal etc.

If you'd like me to drill and install the threaded inserts, just let me know. Heel block comes un-drilled
Author:  Andy Birko [ Fri Oct 02, 2015 8:05 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Birkonium/OLF Kickoff Sale! Necks!
Batch 1 - Martin sized necks for Martin Trussrods

Necks 1 ~ 4 Diamond Volute with a smooth transition from barrel to the sides of the headstock
Necks 5&6 - Headstock for binding or traditional transition

Please note that necks 2 and 3 already have the threaded inserts installed
Author:  Andy Birko [ Fri Oct 02, 2015 8:06 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Birkonium/OLF Kickoff Sale! Necks!
Batch 2 - Martin Sized necks for Martin Trussrods

7&8 - Deep Smiley volute
9&10 - Plain Transition
Author:  Andy Birko [ Fri Oct 02, 2015 8:08 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Birkonium/OLF Kickoff Sale! Necks!
Batch 3 - Martin Sized necks for straight Trussrods. These necks have a straight trussrod slot with a flat bottom, .250" wide and .4" deep. These necks work with LMI and Allied type of rods.
Author:  Andy Birko [ Fri Oct 02, 2015 8:17 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Birkonium/OLF Kickoff Sale! Necks!
Fretboards!

These Fretboards are Faux-Bound and have either a 16" straight radius or a 12" nut radius/compound radius.

Fret slots are .025" wide and .085" in depth. The bottom of the slot follows the curvature of the fretboard meaning there's more meat under the fret tang in the center of the board than at the edges. These fretboards are noticeably stiffer than standard single depth non faux-bound fretboards.

Please follow this link for more information about the compound radius boards: http://www.birkonium.com/what-the-heck-is-auto-radius/


If these sell out, I'm willing to make more while the necks last.
Author:  Andy Birko [ Fri Oct 02, 2015 8:26 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Birkonium/OLF Kickoff Sale! Necks!
Blems - from time to time things go wrong but, one person's blemish is another one's character!

B-15 - knot on back of headstock - this would be a perfect neck for those who laminate a plate on the back of the headstock...it pains me to sell this one at a reduced price! Straight trussrod slot: $150+shipping

B-16 - Very slight check in the tenon. Should be just fine if stabilized with CA glue. Straight trussrod Slot: $125 + Shipping

B-17 - Has a worm hole on the bass side between the 3rd and 4th frets. Martin style trussrod slot $125 + Shipping
Author:  Ken McKay [ Thu Oct 08, 2015 7:11 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Birkonium/OLF Kickoff Sale! Necks!
That's good stuff right there!
Author:  SteveSmith [ Fri Oct 09, 2015 9:12 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Birkonium/OLF Kickoff Sale! Necks!
Andy, I've got one I need to get out quickly so this is a good opportunity to try your product. I like neck 2 and Fretboard 6. Assuming 25.34 scale, 14 fret neck join and "newer style" Martin double-action truss rod then I'm in.
Author:  Andy Birko [ Fri Oct 09, 2015 9:20 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Birkonium/OLF Kickoff Sale! Necks!
PM sent!
Author:  Don Williams [ Sat Oct 10, 2015 8:59 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Birkonium/OLF Kickoff Sale! Necks!
Looking GREAT Andy! The student has surpassed his teacher...

[:Y:]
Author:  rlrhett [ Sat Oct 10, 2015 1:06 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Birkonium/OLF Kickoff Sale! Necks!
Just out of curiosity, I don't see any evidence of a scarfed joint at the headstock or stacked heels. Nor do I see evidence of a laminated neck. Are the glue joints that well hidden, or are you cutting these out of huge 30 x 3 x 6 blocks of mahogany?
Author:  Andy Birko [ Sat Oct 10, 2015 4:07 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Birkonium/OLF Kickoff Sale! Necks!
These necks do not use a scarf joint but that's something I'd like to add in the future. Using a scarf joint is kind of tough in conjunction with a CNC machine - There's a video on how Taylor does it which is pretty cool.

These necks are all made from a standard sized 24x4x3" blank from Hibdon Hardwoods. No need for laminations for these sizes. I have made necks from laminations and have no problem with working with laminated blanks from customers so long as they meet these guidelines: http://www.birkonium.com/customer-supplied-neck-wood/
Author:  SteveSmith [ Thu Oct 15, 2015 8:51 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Birkonium/OLF Kickoff Sale! Necks!
Andy, neck and fretboard set arrived. Fast, very well packed and excellent quality. Gonna save me a ton of time. I don't build fast but I expect to come back for more. Thanks [:Y:] [:Y:]
Author:  tomgerner [ Tue Oct 20, 2015 4:24 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Birkonium/OLF Kickoff Sale! Necks!
Hey Andy, I already know I really like your necks so I think we'd like necks 1,3,5 & 6 and fretboards 1,2,3 & 5. I won't need the neck blocks but will need the truss rods. I will also need the threaded insets installed if possible. Thanks, Tom Gerner
Author:  Andy Birko [ Tue Oct 20, 2015 6:59 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Birkonium/OLF Kickoff Sale! Necks!
Message sent!
Author:  rlrhett [ Thu Oct 22, 2015 10:06 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Birkonium/OLF Kickoff Sale! Necks!
Wow, that is a ton of wood getting hogged away! The tree-hugger in me weeps a little, but I can see how as a business it makes perfect sense. Just put the blank down on the machine, rout the top with some holes for locating pins, flip it over and... bob's your uncle!

Of course, that is after the 1000's of hours you probably spent putting your machine together, modeling necks in whatever CAD program you use, developing tool paths, figuring out how to index and hold the stock, cutting dozens of practice necks that probably had tear out, or took hours to carve, or had the tool crash into the heel or..., cursing gaah (that is a required part of tooling with CNC!), going back to the drawing board, spending thousands on the machine only to find you need thousands more for upgrades, bleeding money on "test" pieces, etc...

Yep, CNC is EASY laughing6-hehe laughing6-hehe
Author:  Andy Birko [ Thu Oct 22, 2015 10:19 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Birkonium/OLF Kickoff Sale! Necks!
rlrhett wrote:
Wow, that is a ton of wood getting hogged away! The tree-hugger in me weeps a little,


Well, the good news is that I actually get two necks out of each 24x3x4 neck blank. I actually cut away most of the bulk on a band saw to save time and have a ton of parallelogram shaped scraps I which I could get rid of!

Quote:

Of course, that is after the 1000's of hours you probably spent putting your machine together, modeling necks in whatever CAD program you use, developing tool paths, figuring out how to index and hold the stock, cutting dozens of practice necks that probably had tear out, or took hours to carve, or had the tool crash into the heel or..., cursing gaah (that is a required part of tooling with CNC!), going back to the drawing board, spending thousands on the machine only to find you need thousands more for upgrades, bleeding money on "test" pieces, etc...

Yep, CNC is EASY laughing6-hehe laughing6-hehe


You pretty much nailed it!
Author:  Glenn LaSalle [ Mon Nov 02, 2015 10:55 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Birkonium/OLF Kickoff Sale! Necks!
Hi Andy,

I will take the following:

- B-17
- threaded inserts done
- neck block drilled assuming .110 top (I can fine tune from there)
- truss rod
- ebony fb, 16 radius

I will PM my address etc.

Thanks!!

Glenn
Author:  GustavBuhund [ Thu Nov 19, 2015 9:29 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Birkonium/OLF Kickoff Sale! Necks!
I have used 3 of Andy's necks and they are of the utmost quality! Highly recommended.
Author:  Stuart Gort [ Fri Nov 20, 2015 11:59 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Birkonium/OLF Kickoff Sale! Necks!
Go Andy B!!!
Author:  Hesh [ Sun Nov 22, 2015 7:58 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Birkonium/OLF Kickoff Sale! Necks!
We got to see three necks from Andy yesterday and some very cool bridges too and his stuff is super nice in all respects!!!!
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