Les Paul Build - Part 2

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.