Veneer on Headstock

Jerryc41

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I'd like to add veneer to the headstock of this tennis uke. A couple of years ago, I used a piece of veneer from Stew-Mac, but I don't want to spend $10. Instead, I'm going to use the same wood that I used for the top - cedar from Stew-Mac. That will cover up the mess from trying to saw the angle from two sides.

What's the relationship between the fretboard, nut, and veneer? Does the veneer go right up to the fretboard, or do I leave a gap for the nut?

Leaving a gap doesn't sound practical. but with the veneer right up against the fretboard, the nut would be too high. Maybe sanding down the veneer to the level of the neck would allow room for the nut.

Typing this has forced me to think. :)
 
I would go up to the nut, which would leave a nice slot to fit it in
 
Jerry, everyone has their own way of doing this but I like to leave a little room for error. Here in the UK most commercially available nut blanks are around 6mm thick so I have a faux nut made of scrap maple around 5mm thick. I place this at the end of the fretboard at the nut position and butt the veneer up to this and clamp it in position before drilling 4 location pin holes in the corners, but before I do this I angle the end of the veneer so that it will be perpendicular to the actual plane of the fretboard.
I do this with a block plane sat on the neck before the fretboard is glued on, with the veneer clamped onto the headstock so there is enough extended so as to be shaved by the plane. I learnt this from Pete Howlett, so if you read this Pete and can explain it better, please chip in.
Of course, when all is done I have a 5mm nut slot but then sand down the 6mm nut to fit. I find this is better that having a loose fitting nut. Hope this makes sense.
Mike
 
(I PM'd this to Jerry earlier when the forum wouldn't accept any posts from me. Now that things are working again, I'm posting it here in case anyone else is interested.)

This is what I did. Glue on the fret board. Put the nut blank (at its final thickness) up against the end of the fret board and mark the other side of the nut's location. Glue on the peghead veneer so it slightly overlaps where the nut will be. Put the nut back again in place and now mark its location in the peghead veneer with a marking knife. If it's a standard thin veneer, you can even cut right through it with a knife, using the nut as a guide. Otherwise, chisel or saw cut up to your mark. Install the nut in the perfectly-sized spot you've created.

EDIT: I kind of also like the suggestion, posted above, of using a sized piece of scrap (or maybe the nut blank itself) as a spacer when clamping the veneer. I might try that next time.
 
I kind of also like the suggestion, posted above, of using a sized piece of scrap (or maybe the nut blank itself) as a spacer when clamping the veneer. I might try that next time.

That is what I do. Just use the nut as a spacer. No final cutting of headstock veneer involved. Then the nut slips into the slot. Generally it is so tight that gluing the nut is not needed. Then you can take it in and out if you want to play with your nuts.
 
That is what I do. Just use the nut as a spacer. No final cutting of headstock veneer involved. Then the nut slips into the slot. Generally it is so tight that gluing the nut is not needed. Then you can take it in and out if you want to play with your nuts.

I imagine that you pull the nut out after clamping to make sure it doesn't get glued in accidentally?
 
As I was putting the fretboard in place, checking the fit, I realized that the surface under it wasn't perfectly level. I'll have to build it up a bit before I glue it in place. I don't want hills and valleys in the fretboard.
 
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