I've wanted a neck jig for a while. This is the common one
Basic idea is to reproduce the neck's shape under string tension, with strings off, to enable better fret work. There's debate out there among those who love them and those who level frets in candle light with naught but a rusty spoon, but here we are. The SM one is too pricey right now with a drum sander build and other things, although I don't feel great about copying the idea.
I'm using ally extruded profile, there's a few types with their own system of fittings & widgets so you pick one and go with it. It'll be quite light and pack away to basically a stick shape that can be hung up out of the way.
So you need risers for the body, risers for the neck, and mounts for dial gauges. Also two things to act on the headstock but more of that later.
Took a while to figure out sizes and this 'n that and it's slow with a bandsaw and a drill doing it on the odd evening/spare time. Someone with a mill could shave hours off the time. Anyway here we go-
Neck risers; chunks of ally bar. Through-drilled out some tube pieces to 8mm ID. The OD is under a half inch, but by chance I have a drill bit that's undersized a hair or three, and putting the block in the oven and the riser tube in the freezer, the tube fits in if you're swift. Joy! I can use a drawbolt to pull it in as well, if it puts up a fight.
Lockdown haircut (test piece for heat/cold press fit)
Comments
Quick & dirty device to get bits all about the same length.
^ caps and some alien caterpillars
The long bar is one of the cross-bars that mount the body. They can swivel about the main beam to suit Firebirds etc.
Took a long old while to safe-edge all the blocks and cut pieces and clean up all the marks and whatnot. Found I had some small fibre discs lurking in a drawer that fit onto a drill backing/abor(?)/thing, they did it pretty well.
Nice to see someone taking on that project !
As for the swarf try to break it by plunging up and down every 1 or 2mm ( depends on speed and feed ) .
As for the clocks , I personally praise mitutoyo , but they quality and price cannot be justify in that jig for sure .
More likely any random clock would work ,as long as it isn't jamming itself going up and down
Looking forward to see it built .
I am lucky to have been given a pair of super nice Mitutoyo digi calipers but one of their dial gauges cost more than all of this together! The cheapies seem Ok for this, feel smooth etc.
The price is well justified in those applications as well
But , even for more desired luthier cost of them them would be a bit overkill
Btw , that acetal can be a bitch to machine ;
Got the riser tubes cross-drilled, they have shaft collars to nip the riser rods in position. I thought the cross-drilling might be pesky, but was easy - chuck up the tube, lower chuck, get the vice into place (it's on a plywood platform that screws to the drill table slots but can move around). Lock the vice. Tube in vice, make swarf.
Riser blocks in the oven for 10 minutes, tubes in fridge. Get them together ASAP. Nearly perfect - still needed to use a drawbolt to get them all the way in, but got 'em done.
And a hingeing mechanism which I can use on the workbench without needing a dirty great free-standing floor post or an expensive tilting vice. Looks alright inside my brain cell, but may look less good when made. It'll get there eventually.
It's light enough to move about easily, and the cross beams can swivel to nearer inline with the main beam. So it can stash away fairly well.
(formerly customkits)
(formerly customkits)