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There’s a nut that goes on the guitar. The bottom of said nut is flat. The end of the fingerboard is perpendicular to said nut base. Cool.
Headstock is 15deg.
I have a HELL of a time getting that headstock veneer cut so that the angle is parallel to the finger board end and the nut fits just right.

Ive tried holding the saw to the correct angle, but it’s seems impossible for me to eyeball.

Shouldn’t be this hard ha
What am I missing here


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Make a small wooden miter box.

I use a disk sander with an adjustable table.

So you sand the angle before attaching the veneer?


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I just drag the headplate on sandpaper freehand to create the 15 degree angle (check on the neck until you've got it right).

Stick the fingerboard on with position pins, a nut spacer, and push the headplate up against it.

And if it ends up not quite parallel to the fingerboard end for whatever reason, a safe edged rectangular needle file will make quick work of fixing it.

I know some people use a router for this operation. A Japanese pull saw is easier on the nerves.
Piece of 3/4” (19mm) plywood with end cut on table saw at 15°, clamped square on top of headstock and used as saw guide, using two fingers to press pullsaw against guide surface. Use X-acto knife to complete the cut before saw hits neck shaft.





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Plane on the angle before fitting the headstock facing...



then butt it to a dummy fretboard (for want of a better expression)...a piece of perspex with a squared end located off the truss rod groove.



The nut sits on a ledge on the end of the fretboard, with the end closed by the headstock facing, which now makes the ledge into a groove for the nut. It means you don't have to glue the nut in; handy if you want to change the nut compensation.

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I set my band saw table to 15 deg and cut the headplate before gluing it onto the headstock. Fast and accurate. Always comes out parallel to the face of the fretboard end.

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Once in a while you get shown the light in the strangest of places if you look at it right - Robert Hunter

I hold the veneer at about 15 degrees against my belt sander. I've got a dummy nut on the front of the fretboard, I just check the angle against it. If its not perfect, back to the belt sander.

When I glue it on I push it up against the dummy nut, then clamp it. That little 15 degree bevel is what actually locates the whole veneer on the head

I use the table saw (if I’m understanding what we are talking about )



The jig is just two 1/4” dowels that slip into the truss rod slot to keep things square.


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Why do I get the feelings by there will be 101 different ways to do this poster but the time I wake up in the morning?

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Bryan Bear PMoMC

Take care of your feet, and your feet will take care of you.

I do it like Brad, but seeing some of the other approaches I think maybe I’m bringing a gun to a knife fight.


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I use a chop saw. set the angle and cut it.

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Shooting board at 15 degrees before fitting, butt it up to a set square against the squared off neck "blank".
Drill locating holes for dowels in waste area, glue.
Then use a nut to locate the FB, and remove it before glue gets a grip on it.

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The name catgut is confusing. There are two explanations for the mix up.

Catgut is an abbreviation of the word cattle gut. Gut strings are made from sheep or goat intestines, in the past even from horse, mule or donkey intestines.

Otherwise it could be from the word kitgut or kitstring. Kit meant fiddle, not kitten.

Clamp a guide block on the headstock and cut with a razor saw.

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Steve Smith
"Music is what feelings sound like"

Before gluing on the head plate, I use a disk sander with angle adjustment to get the angle. I then glue the head plate on, against the nut I intend to use. I will use locating pins to keep it in position and then insure that the nut isn't glued on in the process... Like so many different aspects of building, there seems there are always many ways to accomplish things...

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Steve Sollod (pronounced sorta like "Solid")
www.swiftcreekguitars.com

We precut the 15 degree angle on the head plate. After a clean/square cut, the finished fretboard is clamped in position, a few brass brads are hammered into cut-off areas of the head stock and then nipped off (forming nice, tiny alignment/anti-skate pins), and a nut-thickness spacer is used to get the head plate on with the proper spacing. Once the plate is glued and clamped up, the board and spacer are removed and any squeeze-out in the nut channel is removed. Any cleanup is done with a shop-made safe-edge file and nut seating file.

Where the damage is already done, we use a guide similar to Mr. Mullin's...score the plate with a marking knife run flush against the guide and relieve the cut on the waste side with a sharp chisel will help with making a clean cut a sure thing. Stop the cut short of the head stock veneer and finish with chisel and file.

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I preshape my angle too with a belt sander jig. Otherwise just like Woody.

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It's not what you don't know that hurts you, it's what you do know that's wrong.

About halfway down this page in the KMG instructions shows a simple way to cut the correct angle in the headplate after its been glued on.

Look for the "More multi-tasking for the fingerboard caul"

http://harvestmoonguitars.com/kennethmichaelguitars/neckprepandassembly.html

Pretty cool to see so many different ways to do this.

I'm in the Woodie camp, with minor differences.

I position the actual fingerboard on the neck and use locating pins in the fret slots to lock it in place. I'll use them again later when I glue the board down.

Next comes the actual nut I am planning to use, pushed hard up against the finderboard

Then I place the already cut 15 degree edge of the oversized headplate (cut on table saw with a fine crosscut blade), firmly against the nut. I use two pins in the tuner areas to hold it in place. Once the headplate is set with the locating pins, I pull it off, glue and clamp it back in place.

No jigs, accurate, nice and simple.

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Joe Beaver
Maker of Sawdust

Another option is to just get the headstock veneer and the fingerboard as good as you can with a reasonable effort and hand fit the nut to the slot..... It helps if you make sure the slot you make is a bit smaller than the nut blank - so you have adequate stock on your nut blank for hand fitting.... An appropriately sized home made sandpaper stick can be invaluable to this operation to make sure the surfaces are reasonably trued up...

A last "Cheater" method is to trim and square up the headstock veneer and the end of the fretboard as well as you can. Glue down the fretboard in place. Once that's well dried and everything is good - set your pre-shaped nut blank in it's place and dry-fit the headstock veneer to it... Once it's all dry fitted - glue the headstock veneer in place using the nut as a guide... The only thing I don't like about this is that if the next finished nut is a bit thinner - you have a mess... I would prefer to ensure your slot is intentionally sized a bit smaller than what shows up mailorder so you don't end up with a gap... Easy to sand a bit off... Hard to put it back on...

Awesome! Next time I’ll have a plan!


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Compound mitre saw is bang on every time and takes about 30 seconds. I guess that's if you own one. It's one of the few power tools I wouldn't want to be without for ANY woodworking.

Ok. Given the tools I have available and the suggestions... I think what I’ll do for next time is use an extension over the fretboard, slotted for the frets. Hang that out over the headstock the correct distance and use it for a guide.
The plan is to make it a magnetic saw guide on the end so that it is a bit easier to keep the angle.



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