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I've gone through all my stock and have nothing large enough for the neck block according to the plan. Since this is going to be a bolt on, I'm thinking it's not a big deal to glue up something. The sapele I have is thick enough but not tall enough so I glued extra material on. I'll keep the joint below the bolt holes and I think it will be fine. I also think this would be a good place for plywood and I may go that route someday. I'm not trying to sell anything so until that day I'm not concerned with tradition.

BTW, I have a ton of mahogany-ish wood to devote to this and hate to throw it in the fire.

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Hutch

Get the heck off the couch and go build a guitar!!!!

Hibdon Hardwood sells head and tail block material at reasonable prices. That is where I have been getting mine recently.

https://www.hibdonhardwood.com/collecti ... end-blocks

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

If shipping was free I might consider it, probably not. As I said, I have plenty of this stuff on hand, but I'll look.

I just checked shipping, $25 for 2 blocks, that aint gonna happen.

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Hutch

Get the heck off the couch and go build a guitar!!!!

I’ve glued up one as you describe and it worked fine. Usually, I cut the headblock out of (and in the same orientation of) the neck wood. I rotate the block so that I’m gluing to and bolting through side grain. If anything moves, I want the headblock and the neck to move together so the fingerboard isn’t distorted at the body/neck joint.

I usually buy 12/4 planks for my neck wood. This yields 3” wide quartersawn blanks. I cut the blocks out of the same lumber.

I personally think a laminated neck block is superior in strength and is also easier to come by. Folks stack heels all the time, so why not a neck block? Funny, I use a solid block for my heel…

Best, M

That block looks like a lot of work. I'm in, show me how

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Hutch

Get the heck off the couch and go build a guitar!!!!

What a beautiful neck block! I use a vaguely similar fingerboard attachment too (Luthier's Cool Tools, Dave Micheletti).

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Peter Havriluk

Yeah, it’s largely cut CNC.

I’m sure you could do it with a half a dozen templates and a pair of fixtures to hold the block during. I’ve likely got a PDF I could email if you want to give it a go. I’d have to find it and I’d need you to pm your email.

The block fits every model I build from my “0” through my 28” baritone fan-fret. I make a dozen blocks at a time so I just grab a block off the shelf, radius the head and trim the extension to length.

M

Thanks, I'll figure it out. Looks like a fun hand tool assignment.

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Hutch

Get the heck off the couch and go build a guitar!!!!

You’re more patient than me -

Good luck with it!

I do similar but glue the FB extension.
My UTB is wedged against the neck block "protuberance"

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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.

I do plywood/mahogany glued up end blocks for bolt on necks. Sometimes it's two layers of Baltic birch and a 1/2 inch thick piece of mahogany and sometimes a single thickness of BB and a 3/4 inch piece of mahogany. I veneer the edges with mahogany veneer and usually chamfer or round the face. I usually make up a longer piece of end block stock and then cut to the length I need for the particular instrument. It is a good way to use those odd pieces of wood that is too thick for one thing and too thin for another.

The only time I'd worry about glue in a neck block is when steaming apart a dovetail.

Good point!

Michael, I'm looking at the shallow groove on top of the extension. Is that for partial popsicle brace?

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Hutch

Get the heck off the couch and go build a guitar!!!!

It is,

It goes in before the top goes on and is trimmed after using a bottom bearing, 1/4” flush-cut bit. You can see it after trimming in the left corner of the pocket.

M

I do the same, except the UTB is glued to the extension block and the linings prior to the top going on. It helps hold the geometry where I want it.

Best, M

West Penn Hardwoods, used to advertise here. I order 4x4 and 8x4 mahogany boards for this stuff. Min order goes a long way.

Do you make your own linings Michael?

Yes

Similar to Michael, Colin and others, I glue my neck blocks up from two pieces. This helps me use up off cuts from neck blanks etc that would otherwise go in the burn pile. I’m a big fan of the stiffening effect from having the long ‘head block extension’ glued up to the UTB, and having a very strong structure under the fb extension. I glue the fb extension down, rather than bolt it.

Has anyone seen any real evidence that a neck block extension supporting the top - versus the slipper foot, which seems like it actually provides some resistance to back flattening - does anything useful in resisting the body distortion that eventually leads to the necessity of a neck reset?

Having seen enough Martins with the neck block extensions versus those without coming in for work, it seems like time between neck resets has decreased with the extensions, rather than increased. I know their extensions are not physically tied into the UTB, but I would have thought that any extension supporting the top would have been helpful.

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I figure that body distortion is not limited to the areas above the UTB, so corrective measures above the UTB can’t solve all body distortion problems. Changing things between the head block and the UTB can help (or make things worse) regarding related problems, like top cracks along the edge of the fingerboard extension. But tops will bulge, sides will shift, backs will flatten, etc., regardless of what we do in that little space under the fingerboard extension. I’m currently using a variation of the trapezoidal patch John Arnold has mentioned here on the OLF. It makes a lot of sense to me.

I've been thinking about gluing procedures for blocks. I believe the neck block should be flat and I'm not so sure my mold is perfectly flat in that area. My thought is to glue the block and clamp as much as I can so I don't change the shape of the sides as I have them pre-shaped to plan. Then open the mold, I need to make arrangements for that prior to doing it. I need to add a locater dowel and a way to add clamps to hold it together instead of screws. Then I feel confident to glue the block in and remove it from the mold and add more clamps. This way I can maintain my center lines and pre-cut the mortise and have it be exactly where it needs to be.

Am I making sense?

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Hutch

Get the heck off the couch and go build a guitar!!!!

Hi Woodie,

I’ve only got 9yrs of data with this design, hardly a long look into the future. I am still in contact with the owner of #1 which is doing great. It has only needed the seasonal TR adjustment, and is so far running the original saddle. The guitar is his main gigging and recording rig and he has beat the heck out of it. This includes wearing a hole through the top. The finish on the other hand is toast! EM6k over z-poxy. He refuses to let me fix it…

Best, M