Step 1 - The Neck

The neck is the first starting place for the build.

Getting the basic shape

The cedrela wood, which is about a metre in length, is cut first into two parts - the part for the neck and the rest to be built up into the heel and foot. 

The neck plank is planed to a good flat and squared-off shape, down to 2cm thick then cut diagonally at an angle of about 14 degrees at the point the fingerboard turns into the head. The cut faces are planed and sanded to ensure they are completely flat and then glued to form the angled head.

14 deg angle, and then planed and sanded using a sanding board

Tightbond wood glue and a whole load of clamps - the join needs to be perfect so you only see a hairline on the finished guitar

The glued neck - the face needs further sanding before gluing the veneer

Ebony veneer glued on

The rest of the 1 metre plank is cut into 3 (110mm, 110mm, 140mm)  and sanded perfectly flat on the sanding board

and glued together to form the basic shape of the heel and foot

Shaping the Head - preparation

The template is copied out of the plan in the book and marked out on the ebony veneer. Also important to establish a centre line on the neck to work with. This line is useful when checking the template markings and the drill holes using calipers.

The veneer is cut at the point the neck bends

Add a centre line on the neck

Template marked out and checked with calipers. Drill holes for the ends of the slots are marked with a compass point

Shaping the Head - drilling

The outline of the head is roughly cut (this would normally be done later but I wanted to crack on and it was too late to use the noisy drill!) and the sides of the head planed to the right angle and up to the template mark. You need to remove some of the neck width at the join to allow the plane access.

4 holes drilled (14mm here, varies according to the plan) ready for the slots to be cut

Using a template for the machine head holes is vital as they must be accurately drilled. Also important is the location of the template before drilling - to ensure the machine heads look symmetrical plus have the right space top and bottom of the slot. When drilling the holes, the drill must be a perfect right angles to the side of the head - pillar drill with an adjustable bed is idea - mine was set to 5 degrees to get the holes right.

Before cutting the slots, drill the machine head holes. This needs a template such as the wooden one here. It is screwed down to stop it moving, but the screws must not go too deep or they will show on the inside of the slot.

Once the machine head holes are drilled, the slots can be cut out.

Using scraper blades to prevent the saw from wandering  

Cutting the slot

Shaping the Head - finishing off

the slots have been cleaned up with a chisel and sanded with a sanding stick. The clamped on  scraper blades were used to act as a guide (not shown)

The head is shaped more closely with  a chisel. Clamping the head flat to the bench helps (but the bench suffers !)

Scraping, chiselling and sanding produces the final shape.

Finally, shaping the heel and foot:

Cutting the ramps for the strings, using a scraper  blade to avoid a nasty  slip

Finished! Now to set aside until later. The neck shaping is completed once the guitar is assembled, so this should be all I need to do for now.