Shaping the Neck

A Visit with Tom Ribbecke

2 - Routing the
Truss Rod

1 - Cutting the Rough Neck

The first job is to
square up the raw
billet. LMI supplies
them with one 90
jointed edge. Tom
took this mahogany
block (WNHMH1)
and squared it up on
his portable Ryobi
planer, a tool that he
heartily recommends
for the those with
limited shop space and with limited planing requirements.
One of his tricks is to spritz a mixture of water and glycerin about 1/4" oz. glycerin (obtainable at any drug store) to 1
quart of water - on a surface which shows potential tearout
problems, such as figured maple or mahogany. (Note the
mark left by this concoction on the billet pictured below.)

Toms system is based

upon indexing from a
centerline. Here he
shows his quick and
dirty method for finding
the center point. No
math involved, only
caliper adjustment to
finer increments.
Using a square, the
center point is transferred to a centerline
and marked with heavy
pencil.

The next step is to

trace the outline of the
neck profile, using a
template, onto the billet.
Here Tom will get two
necks, better illustrated
in the photo of the
jigsaw-like bandsawed
product, lower right.

Keeping the centerline indexing system in

mind, subtract 0.125" from each side of the
line to mark the limits of the 1/4" truss rod
slot to be routed into the blank. Tom uses a
standard router table setup, but cautions to
use a single-flute straight bit, if you are
after a dead on 1/4" slot. A double-flute
bit leaves a slot .260" wide, which is fine if
epoxying in a graphite rod, but not for a
snug fitting truss rod.

Below, Tom is cutting

out the two necks.

Note: These instructions are adapted from an article by Todd

Taggert about his visit to Tom Ribbeckes shop which originally
appeared in the LMI Handabook.
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Cut the slot in at least two passes, three for maple, or any
wood thats dense, tough, or stringy. In the photo below, Tom
uses a left-over template that happens to be 3/8" thick as a
spacer for routing two more channels into which graphite
rods will be placed. The 3/8" spacer leaves a 1/8" web of
mahogany between the truss rod channel and the graphite
channels illustrated in all following photos.

The blank is supported by a heavy block of wood roughly

equal in height to the heel, and the blank is pushed through
the bandsaw. This operation is one that deserves close
attention. This is not a typical resaw procedure. (Note Toms
short finger.)
Below, same block of wood is used for supporting the blank
as the peghead-neckshaft curve is cut (using a smaller blade).

3 - Tapering the Neck

The next step is to lay out
the taper of the neck. The
tapered and seemingly extralong acrylic template, shown
here, is cleverly thought out
with two nut positions
marked on the surface. One
corresponds to an unbound
neck taper. When the other
nut position is located by
moving the template toward
the heel, the outline for a
bound fingerboard-neck is
then traced onto the blank.

4 - Shaping theNeck
Now the fun begins. A belt sander with a removable cover is
required. All surfaces of the 6" sander are used. Tom has two
vacuums hooked
up to his belt
sander, so the
operation is not as
messy as one
might think. A
foot-actuated (or
knee-actuated in
this case) startstop button is
used to give better
control over the
sander. The
results of certain
operations are
better if the work
is placed on the
belt before it
begins turning.

The peghead template is placed

on the face of the peghead. Where
the neckshaft meets the peghead
the curves are traced onto the
blank. Now is a good time to add
peghead ears, if needed, as in
this example. Its easier to
maintain symmetry before the
blank is tapered.

For certain steps of the

process (previous photo) Tom
is kneeling on a pad and
controlling the foot switch
with a knee. He needs to
eyeball the plane of the
sanding platen and the neck at
the same time. This foot-knee
switch is about a $20 item
from Sears.
Most of the work is accomplished with a 60-grit belt; any
coarser than that and the cuts become a little too aggressive.
Its important to keep the neck moving at all times and to
check thicknesses frequently with a dial caliper.
Think of shaping
the neck like you
would when carving
it. Go for primary
facets, secondary
facets, etc.

bandsawing the profile).

Note in this photo how the unsupported part of the belt is
used. Use this area of the
sander when most of the facets
have been cut and you are beginning the final smoothing
operation. The cuts here are
less vigorous, and this flexible
area is good for rounding.

One side of the heel

has been shaped on
the belt sander.
Next photo: this is
about as far as Tom
goes on the belt
sander. Very small
ridges, not visible in
the photo, are left.
These are knocked off
with a sandpaperfaced 4" X 4" piece of
jig-ply.
A tool that is useful
but not necessary to
the operation is the
Arco flexible shaft,
best used with a drill
press for speed control and unlimited
torque. Tom suggests
a minimum of a 3'
shaft. This is about a
$50 item.
Here, his vacuum is
trained on the offending dust particles. For
around $150, the oscillating spindle sander is
a great tool, but a drill
press can accomplish
the same task. Two of
the neck-shaping operations are shown here.

This method of
neck shaping is
quick, but there are a
few precautions:
dont work too
closely to the bandsawed line. Use a file
at that point. Be
aware of the peghead.
Avoid rounding an ear
or corner. Go slow
on the first few
necks.
This process lends
itself to relatively
large scale manufacture. Jean Larive, of
Larive Guitars, has
made thousands of
necks this way and
can produce a neck
in minutes.
Tom gave a demonstration in our shop
one weekend, entitled
The Five-Minute
Neck. He amazed
the crowd when he
came up with a neck
ready for final sanding within five minutes (not including

Tom recommends using a 14 dovetail bit, Eagle America

part number 134-1205 - www.eagle-merica.com/html/catalog/productGroup.asp?id=87715 . He prefers the 7 bit for
Mahogany; part number 1341215 along with the o.d.,
i.d. bearing; part number
196-1210. He suggests you
super glue or epoxy the bearing to the shaft so it rides
against the template guide.

5 - Creating the Mortis and Tenon

This photo is Toms combination dovetail, tenon template. The tenon template lies
on top of the fixture with the
dovetail template installed.
Both are adjustable for depth
(that is, for a body depth of
3" 5"+).

Here, we illustrate Toms

cool fixture for holding both
the neck and the body for
cutting a dovetail or a tenon and corresponding slots. The
neck fixture is in place in this photo. The L-shaped piece,
highlighted, one of two, is for holding the body. Mounted
on an in-out adjustment slide, the spiral, rubber-faced cam
(nautilus nut), offers a range of
adjustment of about
3
/ 4 "up and down
positioning is a
simple task. You can
also see that any
neck angle and cutting depth can be
precisely set.

The tenon has been routed.

At right is a
closeup showing
inserts placed along
centerline and pin
with 1/4" head,
which slips into the
insert and the neck.
Better illustrated with
next photo.

Neck awaits final

preparation.

Here, pin is seen

with the head fitting
snugly
into the 1/
4" truss
rod slot.

Two views of the neck

locked into position
ready for the dovetail bit
to do its work.
Dovetail bit in place.
Rubber-faced spiral cam
for adjusting the guitar
box depth (another
operation).
This windowed board
serves as a stiffener.

Another shot of the

neck. The middle channel
is for our unwrapped
truss rod (TRST), and
the channels on either
side are for graphite rods
(GRO).

Now we prepare for the

mortise. Here Tom marks the
centerline from the top,
making sure that its square
with the sides.

Below, the fixture is

set up to hold the
soundbox when cutting
the mortise. The photo
immediately below
shows the jig with the
arm that holds the body
unattached. The photo
below right shows the
arm in place.

Below is another view of the fixture. Note that the endpin

hole is sized and threaded to mate with the pin in the bottom
device. Two other shots with different angled views follow
below. The guitar Tom is working on here is now in the
Chinery Blue Guitar Collection. Of quilted maple, Sitka
spruce, and koa binding, the instrument features a porthole
in the upper treble-side bout for sound monitoringanother
Ribbecke exclusive.

Three views of the bottom

holding device. The retaining
slides are of leftover phenolic, or in some cases,
acrylic scrap. The various
knobs are available at your
local Bobs House of
Knobs.

Closeup of the bottom

device, which is adjustable
in two axis. The pin screws
into the endpin hole. The
fixture holds the body very
rigidly and securely, and
makes simple work of the
dovetailing operation. Right
bottom photo: the template
in place for mortise. There
is another view of this
template at the end of the
article. Note that this
template is Toms working
prototype, and would
normally be of one piece.

The routing begins.

The guitar body is
chucked up and is eagerly
awaiting either a straight or
dovetail mortise.
Dovetail mortise completed.

Tom locates the mortise

edge. A 3/4" cutter diameter
paired with a 3/4" bearing
allow easy alignment.

Right, the

roughed-out
neck with
dovetail tenon
rests on the
guitar body,
ready to be fitted.
(Note the soundport lined with
an ebony ring.)

The below photos show the nicely fitted dovetail, but the
work lies ahead. One has to anticipate how the fingerboard
extension will lie in order to get a proper dovetail fitwhich
is finally a result of experience and luck!

Accurately check for depth

of cut, for both body and
neck, and record them for
future use.

Tom has previously marked a

depth level on the
edge of his fixture,
a quick and easy
means for double
checking before
beginning the
routing process.

We have drawn up some simple plans for his nifty fixture.

Those of you who may have been shy about neck joints, fear
no more, the Ribbecke dovetail fixture solves any problems of
the apprehensive.
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