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Would any of you care to share how and when you trim the headstock veneer to fit the nut? On my neck, the nut sits on the angled part of the headstock so the bottom of the nut will need to be sanded at an angle so the side of the nut will be flush with the end of the fretboard. So it appears the end of the headstock veneer will also need an angle to sit flush with the other side of the nut. I left the headstock veneer slightly long when I glued it onto the headstock so I will need to trim it to fit the width of the nut. In hindsite, maybe I should have sanded the angle in the bottom of the nut, cut the appopriate angle in the headstock veneer, and used the nut as a spacer while gluing the veneer to the headstock. I didn't so what is the best approch now?

Thanks!

PS I've thought about using a little nut compensation but completely forgot to trim the fretboard before glueing it to the neck. Any chance there is an easy way to trim/sand the end of the fretboard while it's glued in place on the neck? I've wondered if this could be done on old guitars that didn't quite have enough compensation from the factory........add nut compensation by trimming the end of the fretboard and use and fit a wider nut. So I'm curious if there is an simple method of trimming the fretboard while it's glued to the neck.

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Formerly known as Adaboy.......

Darryl: I cut the 15 degree angle on the headplate before installing. Clamp it in place on the headstock making sure the cut end is 90 degrees to the centre line of the neck and the cut is right on the break point of neck.Drill two registration holes for pins in the waste for headstock and then glue. I find this much easier than trying to cut it later.
Tom

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

I cut it later using a razor saw. I use the nut as a guide. It's a bit fussy but it still takes only a minute or two and it works well.

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Steve Smith
"Music is what feelings sound like"

Thanks for the replies and suggestions. These should work nice for the next build.

On this build, I already have the fingerboard and headstock veneer glued to the neck. The headstock veneer is slightly longer than it needs to be so protrudes a little into the area the nut will occupy. Any tips on cutting the headstock veneer at the appropriate angle? Steve's suggestion is similar to what I was thinking of doing.......but I don't want the nut slot width to be the width of the nut plus the width of the kerf of the blade used to trim the headstock veneer so I'm thinking I need to use something beside the nut as the spacer. Maybe I need to make a "dummy nut" with width equal to the Nut width minus the kerf of my trim saw. Thoughts?

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Formerly known as Adaboy.......

That's what i'd do. Just use a smaller spacer than the nut and cut the veneer to allow for the kerf on the saw used.

I would cut a piece of scrap at the correct angle, put the nut and scrap in place, clamp the scrap, slide out the nut, and then use the scrap as a guide to make the cut.

Might do it myself this way next time since this would give me better control on the vertical angle of the cut if I used a piece of 3/4" scrap.

Lot's of ways to do it, just pick one you're comfortable with and take your time.

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Steve Smith
"Music is what feelings sound like"

The original StewMac kit video from the 90's showed how to make a saw guide by cutting the angle you want into a 1/2" piece of something like MDF or Baltic Birch, sticking the nut against the end of the fretboard and butting the cutting guide up against it and clamping in place. Then remove the nut and use the caul as a saw guide to cut the veneer.
I made a sanding jig to sand to angle into the veneer that works well. I use the same jig to sand the angle into the bottom of the nut.

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

I also trim the veneer after it has been glued on. Have a fixture made from an old radius sanding block that butts up against the end of the fretboard. Gives me plenty of bearing surface to keep the razor saw straight. The job is easier if you place a piece of tape the same size as your nut under the veneer when gluing it on. When your saw hits the tape you can pop the trimmed piece off.

Tim

That's exactly how I do it.

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Dave
Milton, ON

Me too, sometimes. Go real slow, or you might accidentally saw into the neck wood. Not that I have ever done that, of course...

But ususally, I do it more or less like Terrence shows in his picture.

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Rian Gitar og Mandolin

Thanks for the input everyone. Those are good and simple methods even I can follow <smile>. Now if I can just keep the saw out of the neck as Arnt suggests.........

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Formerly known as Adaboy.......

I glue the headplate on so that there is definitely some overhang into the area the nut would sit. I don't worry at this point over allignment at all, other than to make sure there is some overhang. My caul for headplate clamping also has one end cut at the headstock angle rather than square to the caul's face. After the headplate glue-up is dry, I square the caul to the neck centerline, with the end lined up where I want the cut, clamp it to the headplate, and use it as a saw guide. I put the nut on the neck side of the neck/headplate break angle, so the cut lines up right where the break angle is located.

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Jim Kirby
kirby@udel.edu

I put the neck face down on a 3/4" piece of MDF. Then I creep up on the cut I want with the table saw. Gives me a cut square to the neck for my nut to sit against. It's best to stop short, leaving a little to snap off or hand saw / file out. Seems like the table saw has two settings, "almost through," and "a bit too deep." I haven't had trouble with tearout, but clamping a bit of scrap to the face would be a good idea.

The neck tenon and heel then gets mad based off the nut as a reference point, so the location of the cut isn't critical.

Mike

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Mike Lindstrom

My nut goes on the neck shaft, not the headstock. Makes things a lot easier. Having said that, I leave my veneers long and trim them back using the table saw with a flush trim sled. This is done before attaching the fingerboard though. Maybe you can jig something up in a similar fashion. In building, just about every straight cut gets done on the table saw.

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Randy Muth
RS Muth Guitars Website
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I just clamp mine in place proud of the head, then plane it using the neck blank as the rest for the plane. Then I glue it in the right location, and clean up with a file and a chisel, if I need to. Usually, it doesn't require any clean up. I do taper mine slightly, about 0.1-0.2 mm to allow for a tapered nut.

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Waddy

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Lot of good advice here.......sure appreciate the responses!

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Formerly known as Adaboy.......

Tapered nut? Can you explain? Do you mean your headstock veneer is farther from the fretboard at one E than the other? Why? To wedge the nut in place? I did that on my first steel string. I thought that was a "custom design feature."

Mike

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Mike Lindstrom

That is correct, sir! I taper wide at the bass side to narrow at the treble side. Doesn't take much for a nice tight fit. Not glue necessary. Tap it out with a hammer and a piece of wood. Solid as a rock and won't fall out. Simple to do. Here is the nut, still in rough form on #5, fit to the taper. It isn't much taper, and really does not show unless you are really looking for it.

Here it is on the finished guitar. Focus is on the headstock, not the nut!

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Waddy

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