New Jig

I had this chunk of 1 1/4" Beech laying around .. I couldn't think of a use for it till now.. so yesterday I decided that I needed a better neck carving jig than the one I've been using for the last nine years...So I pinched every decent idea that i've seen on the web, added a couple of improvements of my own and come up with this ... it's ok with or without the fretboard attached and has more positions than in Kama Sutra...Only uses finger tight clamping with the aid of just two wing nuts (No Hex Keys or other clamping needed) I mostly use it for heel and volute carving as the neck is turned on the lathe.. I've tried to show the construction so that anybody else can copy it if they want too

Looks good. Better than mine, I don't have one! I do have the same vice as yours, even the colour matches, parrot fashion.

I really like that design. Especially the block on the bottom of the fixture so the jig can be rotated around as needed.

There was a bit of the Beech left over so I made this nifty experimental fretboard clamping and gluing jig..I haven't tested it yet, and I think maybe i'll have to fit a couple of slices of shim or neoprene rubber at the ends, or even cut slots in the base to relieve any pressure on the frets when clamping...I'll see what I can come up with.

Solved the fret pressure problem ...And got the first one glued up and clamped.

I'll see how it looks in about 40 minutes.

A good use for beech. In my eyes a horrible wood but that’s because of clumsy furniture and interior trim from Sweden in the 1980’s. I have been told it’s good for display cases in museums because of low emittance of fumes - oak, spruce and birch are far worse.

Timbuck said:

Solved the fret pressure problem ...And got the first one glued up and clamped.
View attachment 111972View attachment 111973
I'll see how it looks in about 40 minutes.

Click to expand...

Left the fretboard in the jig all night..Inspected it this morning ..Still not perfectly flat, I'm talking thousandth of an inch here. checked it on a surface plate with feeler gauges it's within .003" ..so I placed the neck frets down on the plate with a sheet of 2000g abrasive paper in between..a few strokes on the 2000grit and it was soon lapped down to zero...I know it dosn't have to be this accurate co's its wood and a change in temp or humidity can reshape it any time...but it proved to me that the jig is ok to use.

Wot! No relief?

Relief it worked!
H