Shaping and drilling a headstock

usedtobe

I've bought a paddle-head guitar neck, for a bitsa project. I'm going 3 a side tuners, as the body shape, and pickup configuration 'go' better with a 3 a side. 
I've settled on a shape, which is similar to the PRS shape, and I've roughly plotted where the tuner holes will go. 

Before I blunder in, and potentially make some schoolboy error, is there anything I need to know first. Shape first/drill second? Vice versa? Does it even matter? Holes in a straight line, I guess. I noticed that PRS puts them at varying distances from the edge, which was freaking me, slightly, but if it's good enough for them... I'm probably over-thinking the whole thing, here.. Typical!  I just like to get things straight in my head, before I start things...

Cheers, dears!

TTony

Mark out the shape you want on the paddle.

Cut as close to the marked line on your bandsaw / tool-of-choice as you feel comfortable doing, then sand the rest away to the line.  

I've done this job with a bearing guided router around a template, but it can be tricky balancing the router on the paddle as you cut it (or the template if you cut the other way up), unless you're using a table router - in which case your fingers can get a little close to that whirring sharp thing.

Measure to the centre of the tuner holes and mark with a pencil.  Then measure again.  Now mark the centres with a bradawl.  Drill using a pillar drill (to make sure that the holes are at 90degrees to the face of the headstock making sure that the drill bit centres into the bradawl mark.  Put a piece of scrap at the rear of the hole and drill through into that to minimise tear out on the back of the headstock.  Always drill from front to rear just in case you still get some tear out.

axisus

I'd go the template/router route personally, and use it for the hole placement as well. I made a simple jig that was two wooden rails Screwed onto a bit of hardboard, and the router rested along the rails with the neck in the middle. I also used a bit of hardboard about 30cm x 20cm stuck onto the base of the router with double sided tape to give sufficient movement on the rails.

octatonic

TTony said:

Mark out the shape you want on the paddle.

Cut as close to the marked line on your bandsaw / tool-of-choice as you feel comfortable doing, then sand the rest away to the line.  

I've done this job with a bearing guided router around a template, but it can be tricky balancing the router on the paddle as you cut it (or the template if you cut the other way up), unless you're using a table router - in which case your fingers can get a little close to that whirring sharp thing.

Measure to the centre of the tuner holes and mark with a pencil.  Then measure again.  Now mark the centres with a bradawl.  Drill using a pillar drill (to make sure that the holes are at 90degrees to the face of the headstock making sure that the drill bit centres into the bradawl mark.  Put a piece of scrap at the rear of the hole and drill through into that to minimise tear out on the back of the headstock.  Always drill from front to rear just in case you still get some tear out.

This is my process, except I use a Herdim rasp to get most of the way then finish off with abrasive paper.

Roland

... and I use the same process, but tidy up with bobbin sander and then sandpaper. I find it easier if I glue the sandpaper to the block, rather than just wrap it around. Assuming that you will have concave profiles on each side of the 3 a side headstock I'd consider making a convex sanding block out of scrap wood or mdf.

CasperCaster

I once did this using the bearing guided router and template method, but I also made up a board from scrap material which looked like an oversized 'negative' of my template. I first rough cut the headstock so the router was just doing the final work. I then clamped the neck face down with the template stuck to it such that the router ran on the template. The 'negative' was mounted flush with the template, using whatever scrap material I had available to support it at the correct height. The 'negative' surrounds the template, but with a gap of maybe two inches between them, and acts as a platform to support the router in addition to the template. This stops the router wobbling around since the router is supported on both sides. I have used a similar method for making small plastic covers and the like, and also when routing a binding channel  since there is very little guitar to balance a router on around the cutaways/ neck joint area.

Whether you can be bothered with the process I have described, or not (it is fiddly and time consuming - I wouldn't do it again for a single neck), making a template in ply or MDF is still a helpful process, since you can make your mistakes with the template, and not with your neck! Things often look different when they are 'real' rather than on a piece of paper. Additionally you can mount the tuners to the template and ensure everything looks and feels right; confirm that the buttons don't bind against the headstock or each other in operation; and ensure you have sufficient room between the tuners to use them comfortably. This should at least give you confidence that your design is right.

ArchtopDave

As above = make sure the Tuners are positioned such that there's clearance for the Tuner Buttons to turn.