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What is the best way to prevent glue lines where the fingerboard meets the neck? I have a couple of builds where I can see the glue lines in this area. Fingerboards where glued with titebond original. Fingerboards were hit on a jointer, surfaced with a thickness sander, slotted, inlayed, and then radiused. Are there any "secrets", or tips to get a good glue line? I'd appreciate any tips you guys might have.

Thanks,
Scott

I've never been able to get a dead flat surface off a jointer or a thickness sander. I have a flat plate with sadnpaper glued on that is the final step to surfacing a neck and fingerboard prior to glue up.

Get a granite slab or a chunck of plate glass or a machined piece of steel to do your final prep and you'll be set. There are other ways to accomplish the task, this is what works for me.

Steve

I use 80 grit on glass and still have glue lines.

Bob

Use a glue which is more transparent than titebond (fish, hide, epoxy), clamp at the edges vs the middle, lots of clamps, ample pressure.

80 grit is not good surface prep for gluing. 220 grit minimum if using sandpaper, a plane is better, or scraper.

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Use more clamps.
C clamps are really strong.
First get a good fit though.

Run a scraper down the center of the neck shaft to create just and ant's dick of relief above the truss rod fillet.This will ensure that the outer edges of the FB make firm contact with the neck. Once you apply the glue, clamp the FB in place using a caul that has a tighter radius than the FB, this will also ensure positive contact for the edges of the board all but eliminating the glue line.

Cheers

Kim

One more thing, if using glue with water in it, do what Kim says and leave the clamps on over night. The water will try to cup the fingerboard and if you take the clamps off too early, the edges will pull up.

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Make sure both neck and FB are dead flat (a quality knife edge ruler is very useful) and then with a scraper or plane blade scrape just a bit of relief along the centers, which you need to do anyway prior to gluing in order to have a clean fresh surface. Then test it dry and make sure it seats in easily and gap-less. I use fish glue, bunch of clamps overnight and have no glue lines.

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I think fit is more important than pressure. I have personally over-clamped some fingerboards when I was using a slow setting epoxy, and had such complete glue squeeze out that, when the fingerboards fell off some months later, the glued (?) surfaces looked almost clean. Now I don't go to far past the point where the screws first tighten up. I don't think you need to clamp that hard.

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The neck on the one that I am about to glue up (electric guitar neck) is curly maple and has two carbon fiber rods already installed. I mated up the FB to the neck and see a few spots where I can see a tiny gap where there is a little dip where there is curl. This is when I put a little pressure on the joint to see how well they mate up. So what is the best way to ensure a tight glue joint at this point? I assume that I shouldn't plane it with the CF rods in there? ( I do have a brand spanking new LN smoothing plane that has yet to be taken out of the box for 5 months now!) Should I run it through the thickness sander to smooth it out (Which I think it was used to get to this point)? My fear of a scraper is that I will put uneven pressure somewhere and create more uneveness.

Use an appropriate radiused cawl when gluing and be sure you prep the joint . I used tiet bond , HHG and fish glue and have not problem.

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A trick to get the planer to make the board nice and flat is to send a longer board than needed through the planer, and when trimming to size cut off the waste from the back end. My planer makes great passes until the end of the board, then it gets wavy. I plane both pieces like that, then I clamp the living hell out of them. No glue lines at all, Titebond Original, oil finishes.

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If your fingerboard blank is thick enough, flatten the best side on a jointer, then run it through a thickness planer. This is the side that glues to the neck. The jointed side doesn't need to be perfect if you are putting a radius on it and are removing enough material. If the planer has two speeds, use the slower one for a better surface finish, and less chance of chipping.

Alex

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