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Well I've been working away at my first two scratch build guitars for some time. On my wenge build, I purchased a partially shaped neck blank off of the internet, and for my bubinga build I decided to give building a neck from scratch the good ol' college try. And of course, instead of keeping it simple, I decided my first attempt would be a laminated neck. (sucker for punishment I guess). Today I've finished shaping and sanding the neck and I'm extremely excited about the results, however, the laminated heel was a bit of a disappointment. The lamination went well, however, you can see the joint lines. I have nice tight joints, but the joint appears darker than the African Mahogany I used in the neck. It's really noticeable when there's nothing on the neck, but tends to disappear a bit, but not completely, when I hit it with naphtha. My question is whether or not this is common with laminated heels and whether there is anything I can do to mitigate how this looks?

And because I know you guys like pictures, I've included a bunch below of my neck, as well as some overall shots of both guitars : (I hope the photos aren't too big)



















Rob

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Rob Flindall
Flindall Guitars
http://www.flindallguitars.com
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I don't see anything abnormal with the glue lines. The biggest thing you may see when finished is the different grain patterns of the individual pieces.

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Brian

You never know what you are capable of until you actually try.

https://www.howardguitarsdelaware.com/

Your guitars are coming along very nicely. Now, questions about the approach on the neck. You have a stacked heel, which would be a typical approach for a neck with no center lamination (or perhaps on one with a center lam on the main neck shaft, although I never liked that look). Then, you have a center lamination, which often is done as part of a process of getting a full width neck blank from 1" or so stock by orienting it vertically rather than horizontally, which would give you a heel with no stacked-heel laminations. So, you have the best (or worst) of both necessities. Could you tell us a little more about the thought process behind the approach you used?

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Jim Kirby
kirby@udel.edu

not an expert, but i think youre always going to see the stack lines with that design, it is just "par for course". i suspect that when you start finishing, the darker glue won't absorb finish/stain at all, whereas the wood will, so the lines should become less apparent. that is my hunch; i could easily be wrong !
either way i think it looks fine

Rob: When not doing a solid neck I like to use a solid heel block. With good wood selection quite often you have to look closely to see it's not a solid neck. Agree with Brian,the grain is a bigger give away. Nice looking guitars going on there by the way.
Tom

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

I'd say your stacked heel block looks quite good - for a stacked heel block.

I just carved my first neck and am not a fan of the stacked heel block - at all. I don't have too many options as I don't have any stock to use a solid neck or a solid, single stacked heel either. Not too many alternatives but I'm looking for them if they exist.

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Thank You and Best To All

Brian and Larry have it, in my opinion. Don't sweat the glue joints. They look fine to me. You will see the grain orientation in the various laminations. I've got a hunch that's what you're really reacting to. Well...who cares? Just press on, and when it's finished you can tell everyone that was a conscious choice. If you decide you don't like the look, you can do the next one differently. But this neck will be just fine. You can experiment with full heel blocks or other stacked grain orientations in the future. If they are all built to this standard, I'm pretty sure they will all function very well, and each will hold some beauty that will catch the eye of some beholder. Beholders are all individuals. I've got an artist friend. He's actually pretty famous. He tells me: "I hate about half of my paintings. But someone always buys them." It's no different with guitars. Beholders have their individual tastes.

Press on!
Patrick

I'm sort of partial to a stacked heel with a shaft that has a center strip. Do it often.

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Waddy

Photobucket Build Album Library

Sound Clips of most of my guitars

Yes, that was what I was referring to as not being that much of a fan of
Although I've been impressed with a couple of examples I've seen of someone carrying the center lam right through the heel and then continuing on as the back center strip - can't remember where I've seen that.

As mainly a classical builder now, I don't even question whether heels should be stacked or not - of course they should!

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Jim Kirby
kirby@udel.edu

I'm with Waddy here, I often make a neck with a centre stripe (or two) but use a stacked heel without the stripe, I also sometimes use a different wood for the stacked heel, and if doing a V-joint on a classical, like a different sample of wood to the shaft, there is nothing wrong in the means of construction being visible.

Here's a couple of examples of what I mean.





Colin

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I don't believe in anything, I simply make use of a set of reasonable working hypotheses.

Thanks for all the feedback guys. I appreciate it. I never actually paid attention to the grain direction of the individual pieces, but now that it's been pointed out, I'll keep an eye on that in the future. I was more concerned with the fact that you can see each layer in the stack. I had it more in my mind that it would be less noticeable.

Colin and Waddy - love the heels on your necks. But I would imagine using a different type of wood for the heel would be tricky - you'd have to make sure your shaping was spot on in order to get it uniform on both sides. I love the look so I'll have to give it a try myself on an upcoming guitar.

The method I was using was from a neck jig plan I had purchased on the internet. It called for the stacked heel. The center maple strip (which, now that it's done, looks too wide to me) was my idea because I like the look of a laminate neck. I think I'll do a single piece for the heel on my next neck to see how that goes - only one glue joint to worry about and I'll leave the contrasting heel version for now until I have a few more necks under my belt.

Rob

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Rob Flindall
Flindall Guitars
http://www.flindallguitars.com
https://www.facebook.com/FlindallGuitars

For purposes of how I pay attention to grain, here is a picture of that heel when I was shaping it, before the finish went on.


An this is what's inside the guitar.

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Waddy

Photobucket Build Album Library

Sound Clips of most of my guitars