Unfortunately, I need to sleep occasionally, but I eventually made it back into the shop to keep working on the neck. I laid out the top view on the neck and taped a straight piece of plywood right on the line. I used the plywood as a template to flush trim the tapered sides on the neck. After finishing both tapers, I attached the headstock template and flush trimmed that as well. There were a few spots on the headstock where the rough cut went too far (doh!), so I had to do some touch-up sanding with a sanding drum. The headstock ended up being a little narrower than planned, but it shouldn't be an issue.

Neck Taper and Headstock Trimmed

Now for the 2nd most dreaded part of the build...the shaping of the back of the neck. The shape of the back of the neck varies between make and model of guitars, and as well as by player preferences. Since the neck tapers, the profile must taper as well. To do this, I first cut a profile near the headstock and one near the heel. The next step will be blending the 2 profiles.

Before I started, I made sure I had a good center line as a guide not to cross or file away since the thickness has already been dimensioned. I also want to file right up to, but not over the edge where the fretboard will be secured.

I started cutting the profile with a rasp, but it ended up being too coarse and I didn't want to risk chipping out an edge. I ended up using a half-round double-cut bastard file. I didn't need the half-round portion yet, but it will come in handy later. After getting very close to the template with the file, I smoothed and blended the profile with a card scraper. This worked extremely well to get rid of any tool marks left by the file.

Neck Profile Near Heel

Once I had the 2 profiles defined, I grabbed a surform and a file and blended the neck between the profiles.

Neck Shaped Between Profiles

Next, I blended the heel and headstock. I followed the bottom view layout line from the plans, but this doesn't tell the whole story. The key is to make a smooth transition from the neck profile to the heel and headstock. I used my Epiphone Sheraton as a reference several times, but after starting it, everything became clear and I figured it out.

After checking my progress with a straight edge, I realized that I didn't blend the 2 profiles completely, so I had to keep working at it. This was fairly tedius. I would check for and mark the high spots, file and scrape, check again...etc.. The neck ended up being a little thinner than planned (I think it is less than 1/32" too thin), but this should not be noticable.

To finish smoothing and blending, I used a half sheet of 150 grit sandpaper that had duct tape on the back (tip from a luthier forum I came across). The duct tape added stiffness to the paper, which made it much easier to hand sand and prevented the paper from wrinkling. I used a "shoe-shine" motion up and down the neck. This took care of the last high spots. Overall, the shaping of the neck wasn't too difficult.

Neck is Shaped!!!!

Now for the most dreaded part of the process. The fretboard inlays.

I decided to use mother of pearl inlays in the Gibson Les Paul Custom layout. These are basically block inlays on the odd frets (except the 11th and 13th is skipped and the 12th in inlaid). The blocks are all differents widths and heights. I was pleasantly surprised that the pre-cut inlays from Stew Mac were all cut within 1/1000 of an inch to the size listed on their website. Most of the dimensions were actually right on according to my caliper.

I took some time to layout the exact position for each one. Then one by one, I taped the inlay to the fretboard, scribed around the inlay with a knife, routed the waste and cleaned up the edges with a chisel.

Since I bought a pre-radiused fretboard, I made a quick jig for the router to slide on. This ends up cutting a flat bottomed recess for the inlay. After the inlays are installed, I will radius them flush to the fretboard. I used an 1/8" router bit to route the waste. After the practicing on the first few blocks, I was actually able to route to the scribe line. This save a lot of time chiseling. This also helped prevent me from driving a chisel through the thin piece of wood between the inlay recess and fret-slot.

Router Jig for Cutting Inlay Recess

I made sure that I honed my chisels every other block or so, and the whole process went pretty smoothly. Since the fretboard was radiused and the inlay was flat, it was a little difficult holding the inlay in place for scribing, especially as I got to the long, narrow inlays. If (when) I do this again, I will need to figure out a better way to secure them for scribing.

Inlay Recesses

Inlays Dry-Fitted

As was the case when shaping the neck, this wasn't nearly as difficult as I expected. I also didn't think it would go this quickly. I thought I would spend several weekends doing the inlays, but it only took a few hours. I will need to glue them in and sand them flush, but that can wait until next time.

Well, I was able to get back into the shop and get more work done on my Les Paul. I wasn't able to cut the wiring channel when I did the rest of the body cavities because I needed a new router bit.

Body with wire channel

This is the last step I can do on the body before I get the maple top. I purchased the maple from eBay and the seller has yet to ship it (it been almost 2 weeks). If it doesn't ship soon, I will be getting my money back and purchasing elsewhere. Hopefully it won't come to that, because the price was right.


Back to the neck...

My next step on the neck was to plane the headstock flush to the neck. I removed the bulk of the wood with a handplane, and then took one final pass on the jointer to ensure I had a square breakpoint for the headstock angle. I also added a small taper, per the plans, to the back of the headstock. I did this with a benchtop belt sander. It isn't perfect, but I'll dial it in when I start the finish sanding process.

Headstock Trimmed Flush

After marking the location and layout of the tenon, I made the 85.6deg miter cut for the tenon shoulders on the table saw. Then I mounted the neck in my tenoning jig to cut the tenon cheeks. My jig is configured to run in the left miter slot, but due to the size of the workpiece, I had to use it on the right miter slot, so I ran it backwards (I made extra sure that the jig would clear the top of the blade.

Neck in Tenoning Jig

At its maximum capacity, the jig made the tenon 0.015" too big. I added a few peices of masking tape (double thickness) to each side and re-ran it.

Added Tape to Nudge the Neck Over in the Jig

As you can see in the next picture, the tape worked pretty well. I was going for 1.5". The height of the tablesaw blade was not enough to cut the cheek off completely, so I had to finish up with a handsaw and chisel to pare it flush.

1.5" as Planned!!!

Next, I cut a channel for the truss rod. I'm using a Hot Rod truss rod from Stew Mac. I choose the one that has an 1/8" allen head for adjusting. The slot was cut on the tablesaw per the instructions from Stew Mac, with the additional clearance needed for the allen head side being cut on the router table.

Neck with Truss Rod

After the truss rod channel was done, I laid out the heel curve, headstock curve, and approximate thickness, and cut and sanded to the line.

Neck Side Profile Cut

Due to the height (or lack thereof) of my sanding drums, I had to clean up the middle by hand. It's not perfect, but it will do for now.

Neck Profile Complete

Finally, I cut the rough shape of the headstock and neck width. I used a coping saw for the headstock and a bandsaw for the rough width. I checked and double checked my layout marks for the width, and the marks on the neck actually lined up with the headstock layout!!!

Neck Roughed Out

That's it for now...check back later for more.

My plan is to build a Les Paul based on plans from Stew Mac. After reading about the plans elsewhere, I've heard that it may be better to use the Stew Mac plans for the neck, and the plans from MIMF for the body. The plan is to make the body and neck from mahogany, the top from quilted or curly maple, and the fretboard from rosewood. I will probably use a clear natural finish, as this is my #1 choice for the furniture I build. The wood usually stands out on its own, so why add (too much) color.

I say "too much" because after receiving a mahogany body blank from Stew Mac, I might have to color the mahogany slightly for the body and neck to match. The body was very very light in color. I have a little bit of mahogany left over from other projects that I am using for the neck, and it is pretty dark. The piece for the neck just happens to be the perfect size and it is nearly quartersawn, so I didn't want to spend extra money buying a neck blank.

My first step is to create a template for the body and then cut and shape the body to the template.

Template on body blank

Rough cut on bandsaw


Trim to final shape on the router table with a pattern and flush trim bit

There are a few burned spots that will sand out. I want to make sure I didn't hear any tearout, especially around the horn. I'm happy to say that I did not :-)

I did have a lesson learned though. I secured the template to the body blank with hot glue (I was out of double sided tape), and since I wanted to make sure the template didn't move, I used too much glue and had some trouble separating it from the body. I had to use a putty knife and heat gun to remove it.

I also learned that it helps to mark a line about 1/8" from the template to actually follow when rough cutting on the bandsaw. I did this by putting my pencil in a small washer and following the perimeter of the template. Since my rough cut was so close, the router didn't have to work as hard, to carve out big chunks. This is one of the main reasons I didn't get tearout. It also helped that my bits were brand new and sharp.

Since I haven't received the maple for the top, I started on the neck. I milled the blank to 7/8" and cut a scarf joint on the table saw. I also cut and planed one end so I could glue it on for the heel. Since the piece was short, I attached to longer pieces of scrap wood to the edges and ran it through the planer. I've known about this trick for awhile, but this is the first time I've used it. It worked great, and now the heel is 1 1/2", which is the exact size I'm using for the neck tenon.

Gluing neck


Close up of scarf joint (16 degrees)

I've also decided that I will cut my own control and switch cavity covers, so I made the templates for those as well. I still need to make the control cavity routing template. The covers will probably be walnut, that I will ebonize with india ink.

Body with control and switch cavity cover templates

More later....as if that wasn't enough.

Hey...I've finally decided (was given permission) to combine all three of my expensive hobbies into one. I've been woodworking for nearly 5 years and I've always wanted to build a guitar. Well, here goes.

We are currently in the process of trying to move across the state (probably to the next state) and I've been traveling to work every week. Since I'm not home much, its been difficult to start any new woodworking projects. Since I'm constantly thinking about new plans and designs, it is driving me crazy that I can't really start anything big. I can work on a few small projects, but they don't hold my interest for too long. I'm usually not satisfied unless I get into something big and tedious, like building 6 dining chairs at once (note to self...never do that again). So, I decided that I'm finally going to build a guitar.

Of course, I could go the recommended route and build a Telecaster or Stratocaster as my first one, but I already own a Strat and have no interest in spending the money on hardware for another one. Since I started playing guitar about 16 years ago, I wanted a Les Paul. Although not as difficult to build as an archtop or acoustic, it is still not generally recommended at a first guitar, mainly due to the carved top and set neck. "Not recommended for a beginner"...perfect.

So, if you've bothered to read this far (or skipped ahead as I normally do), you are probably wondering why I mentioned that this combines 3 hobbies. Well, I'm going to try to take pictures along the way to document my progress. I've always wanted to document my projects, but once I get going, I don't like to stop and take pictures. Since it's hard (and dangerous) to hold a camera while operating machinery, I will probably only have pictures showing after a cut, not before or during.

That's all for now...I will be posting again shortly.