Neck Builds (Now With Truss Rod Jig Plans: Page 3)

Talk about modding or building your own guitar from scratch.
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CROSS_guitars
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Re: Neck Builds

Post by CROSS_guitars » Thu Mar 29, 2012 10:57 pm

The Jig's up!

I had to make some adjustments. took me hours to line the thing up to rout in the centre.
Should work okay now. the router doesn't wobble at all.

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Re: Neck Builds

Post by noisepunk » Thu Mar 29, 2012 11:08 pm

Nice jig man, I'm inspired.

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Re: Neck Builds

Post by Strider13 » Fri Mar 30, 2012 6:23 am

Nice jig CROSS, simple but effective. What are you using to stop the router, so it doesn't go too far?

Oh, and to avoid confusion, when I say sled, I mean the piece of wood the neck goes into, with the metal angles on the sides and heel of the neck. The entire thing slides into the truss rod jig and is clamped down for routing. By having it as a separate piece I can use it for other things, like holding the neck while drilling the truss rod nut hole or thinning the headstock down.
www.factionguitars.com

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Re: Neck Builds

Post by CROSS_guitars » Fri Mar 30, 2012 6:58 am

Strider13 wrote:Nice jig CROSS, simple but effective. What are you using to stop the router, so it doesn't go too far?
I was just planning on being able to see where I need to rout to but now that you mention it, I will probably just clamp two bits of wood at both ends.

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Truss Rod Jig Plans

Post by Strider13 » Fri Mar 30, 2012 8:39 am

Here's a link to some basic plans to build your own truss rod channel routing jig. It shows the dimensions for a Jaguar/Mustang jig, as well as a Strat/Tele/Jazzmaster jig. Between this PDF and the photos earlier in the thread it should hopefully be pretty easy to figure out how to build it. I built mine out of poplar from Lowes, using the actual dimensions of lumber to my advantage. (For example, a 1 x 4 actually measures .75" x 3.5") All of the pieces (except the sled) were glued and screwed together. Make sure to predrill the holes in the wood so that you don't split it when fastening everything together.

This jig is set up to work with a Porter Cable 690 router, which has a 5.75" width base. If your router base is smaller, you can make an adapter base that is 5.75" wide out of metal or some other smooth, thin, strong material. If your router base is wider, then you'll have to adapt the plans to have a wider bottom and sled, and move the side walls/rails out accordingly.

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/66506205/Truss% ... %20Jig.pdf
www.factionguitars.com

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Re: Neck Builds (Now With Truss Rod Jig Plans: Page 3)

Post by CROSS_guitars » Fri Mar 30, 2012 7:49 pm

Cool.
With the swoop bit, can you tell us how deep the swoop is? if ya know what I mean? the depth of the radius for the channel rout.

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Re: Neck Builds (Now With Truss Rod Jig Plans: Page 3)

Post by Strider13 » Fri Mar 30, 2012 8:28 pm

CROSS_guitars wrote:Cool.
With the swoop bit, can you tell us how deep the swoop is? if ya know what I mean? the depth of the radius for the channel rout.
From the top flat part of the inner rails, the radius is 3/4"" deep at the deepest. This makes it 1/2" deep from where the actual arc starts. (Where the curve starts at the corner on the headstock side.) The rails are 1/4" above the neck at the deepest point, so by extending the router bit out 3/4" for the last pass the channel created is 1/2" deep at its deepest.

Printing the diagram out at full size should make it easier to look at and understand, but I'll try to edit the file and put more of the dimensions on the plans. If you have any more questions let me know.
www.factionguitars.com

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Re: Neck Builds (Now With Truss Rod Jig Plans: Page 3)

Post by brianjdc » Fri Mar 30, 2012 9:46 pm

out of curiosity. whats the difference between routing a straight truss channel to a swooped channel? is there a difference in functinality?

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Re: Neck Builds (Now With Truss Rod Jig Plans: Page 3)

Post by Strider13 » Sat Mar 31, 2012 6:50 am

brianjdc wrote:out of curiosity. whats the difference between routing a straight truss channel to a swooped channel? is there a difference in functinality?
With a Fender style one way truss rod, it needs the curved channel to help straighten the neck. The string tension pulls the neck into an upbow, and the channel curve goes in the opposite direction. When you tighten the nut it pushes on the rod and causes the neck to straighten against this tension. When you loosen the nut it allows the rod to relax and the strings pull the rod toward an upbow again.

With a two way truss rod, the channel is straight. This is because the rod is actually made of two rods threaded together by metal pieces. When you tighten or loosen the nut, the rod flexes upwards or downwards, moving the neck with it.

There's another style of single action rod that uses a rod inside of a metal U-channel. This requires a flat channel, and was used traditionally on Martin guitars.

I'm building my necks with single action truss rods because of tradition, and economics. It only costs me a couple bucks or so to build a truss rod, compared to buying them for ~$5-$6 online. The only parts I can't source locally are the truss rod nuts, which I'd end up swapping out for anyways if I bought my rods. I prefer the classic Fender cross slotted nut to one adjusted with a hex wrench.

Here's a picture I found on Google showing the main types of rods:

Image
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Re: Neck Builds (Now With Truss Rod Jig Plans: Page 3)

Post by brianjdc » Sat Mar 31, 2012 6:59 am

cool! thanks for the info

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Truss Rod Jig Plans - Smaller Overlaid Grid

Post by Strider13 » Sat Mar 31, 2012 7:08 am

Here's a slightly different version of my plans, with a 1/4" grid overlaid on top of the images. This should make it easier to figure out some of the dimensions.

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/66506205/Truss% ... 20Grid.pdf
www.factionguitars.com

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Re: Neck Builds (Now With Truss Rod Jig Plans: Page 3)

Post by ludobag1 » Sat Mar 31, 2012 7:13 am

nice ;)
for my taste i prefer modern 2 way truss rod cause if after fretting you have back bow you can compensed it ,but on one way it is impossible then to make a fretdressing it can be trouble ;)

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Re: Neck Builds (Now With Truss Rod Jig Plans: Page 3)

Post by andrewdoeshair » Sun Apr 01, 2012 11:21 am

Hey, what are the deets on the tap and die you use? Can I get them at home depot? How about the rod itself- can it be found at home depot?
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Re: Neck Builds (Now With Truss Rod Jig Plans: Page 3)

Post by chnlone » Sun Apr 01, 2012 11:24 am

andrewdoeshair wrote:Hey, what are the deets on the tap and die you use? Can I get them at home depot? How about the rod itself- can it be found at home depot?
Not sure about the tap & die, but you can get 1/4" rods at home depot.

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Re: Neck Builds (Now With Truss Rod Jig Plans: Page 3)

Post by Strider13 » Sun Apr 01, 2012 1:47 pm

andrewdoeshair wrote:Hey, what are the deets on the tap and die you use? Can I get them at home depot? How about the rod itself- can it be found at home depot?
The tap and dies are both threaded 10-32, and I got the tap at Lowes. I'm sure Home Depot has them too. The tap comes with the correct sized drill bit, and was made by Kobalt. Here's a link to the one I have:

http://www.lowes.com/pd_232570-1083-358 ... facetInfo=

The die I'm using is from a Craftsmen set, but you can buy a 10-32 die individually from StewMac. StewMac is also where I get my truss rod nuts from, for about $3 apiece.

http://www.stewmac.com/shop/Tools/Speci ... &xsr=10577

http://www.stewmac.com/shop/Truss_rods/ ... 3&xsr=1416

I have a die holder, but you can use a crescent wrench or monkey wrench to hold the die as you thread the rod. The die holder does make it a bit easier to keep the weight and pressure centered when cutting threads.

As for the rods themselves, they're just 3/16" cold rolled steel rods 3' long that I get from either Lowes or Home Depot. The anchors are made from 1/8" thick 1/2" bar steel, also 3' long I believe.
www.factionguitars.com

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