Neck from one-piece or stacked heel and scarf joint?

ChuckBarnett

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I'm working up to starting my 2nd instrument, another tenor. Sides and back of Koa, top of Cedar? and mebbe Purple Heart for accents?? Thinking about Spanish Cedar for the neck or Honduran Mahogany. Wondering who does one piece necks versus scarfing and stacking. And pros and cons of either.

Bless y'all!!
 
I'm working up to starting my 2nd instrument, another tenor. Sides and back of Koa, top of Cedar? and mebbe Purple Heart for accents?? Thinking about Spanish Cedar for the neck or Honduran Mahogany. Wondering who does one piece necks versus scarfing and stacking. And pros and cons of either.

Bless y'all!!

I only ever do one piece necks. Wood is cheap.
 
I find that there is a greater timber choice (locally) if I buy thinner sticks and go the scarf, stack and glue route. I spend an inordinate amount of time going through racks of wood to find the choicest quarter sawn pieces, but the ease and economics of the exercise make it worthwhile. This method minimises carving, so it also appeals to my lazy nature. While the purists may be horrified by this approach, it saves me a fair bit of time, and if the heel stack grain orientation is done with care, can look really nice too.
 
On an ukulele I don't think it really matters. It's a little cleaner look at the heel with a one piece neck but it will be a little more expensive and it's harder to find wider stock that is vertical grained from top to bottom. The stacked heel is more visible but uses wood more efficiently. I generally use one piece necks with wings on the headstock and head plates and back plates. It's a nice clean look that minimizes the weakness of the grain runnout on the headstock. Sometimes I use a one piece heel and a scarfed headstock.
 
Chuck, you're at it again huh? If you can run your plank through a thickness sander and get both sides perfectly flat and smooth, and if you cut your stack pieces in order from the the same piece of wood, you can get joints that are almost invisible. Be sure to align the grain. You will save a lot of wood and have a perfectly nice neck. Maybe even a stronger neck. I prefer Honduran Mahogany. Spanish Cedar is extremely soft and is easy to ding.
Good luck.
 
Scarf joints are much stronger. Not such a big deal with the relatively light string tension of a uke, but still...
 
Whatever works for what you have on hand.

As Jo said, scarf joints are stronger but it isn't a thing to worry about on a uke, only a steel string guitar.

Scarf joint and a stacked heel is better for wood conservation, which regardless of wood prices, is an important consideration.
 
On guitars it matters more as large trees are not as abundant as they once were. Also a solid neck has the week point at the headstock and people have been known to break them there. A uke is a smaller instrument and you don't see too many people flailing around with them and when they do fall down when propped up against the couch the headstock does not take as much as a hit as a guitar.
 
On guitars it matters more as large trees are not as abundant as they once were. Also a solid neck has the week point at the headstock and people have been known to break them there. A uke is a smaller instrument and you don't see too many people flailing around with them and when they do fall down when propped up against the couch the headstock does not take as much as a hit as a guitar.
I've made hundreds of one piece necks and only one broke at the headstock..and that was because I stood on it :)
 
Use whatcha got (or kin git).

My first tenor ukulele neck is made up of 11 separate pieces. 3 pieces make up the main shaft, which was cut (scarf joint) and flipped to make the headstock, so there's 3 more pieces. That wasn't wide enough for the headstock shape, so another 2 pieces glued to each side to gain more width. Then a single piece headstock plate glued to the top of all that. At the other end, two more pieces make up the stacked heel. And one more piece makes 12 if you count the heel cap.

I also have made much simpler necks, but haven't yet made one from a single piece.
 
I don't think it matters for strength or sound or carving or whatever. I do stacked/scarf joints because I hate that chunk of waste wood in a one piece neck....even though that chunk can be the neck/tail blocks in your next build. Just obsessive I guess :nana:
 
I have never made a one piece neck, partly because I hate the thought of wasting so much wood but also because of the wood I have available. My necks are made from recycled mahogany bedheads which were very fashionable in the 1970's (or thereabouts) but are not these days. They were invariably made from 3/4" boards which were butt jointed. After 50 years being trapped in a bedhead and having to watch all manner of unspeakable things, the wood seems to enjoy the process of becoming part of a musical instrument. If you're a piece of mahogany, there could be no more dignified way to end one's days.
Miguel
 
After 50 years being trapped in a bedhead and having to watch all manner of unspeakable things,
Miguel

My goodness. What is it you are doing down there in New Zealand? One shudders at the thought... I do one piece necks but I do shudder at the waste. Sure, I can use the cut-off chunk as blocks, but there still is a lot of waste and since I use the best quality Honduran mahogany (Swietenia macrophyla) it costs me $$$. Also wasting beautiful wood just galls me.
 
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