Erik's Hjørne: NECK AND SIDE ASSEMBLY

Well, I think I've been stalling long enough with this and it's time to get a move on. A decision has been made and there is no turning back now; The sides are going on the neck first. It has taken me a long time to figure out a way to do this that made sense to me but more on that later.

FITTING IT ALL
The side and neck fitting was pretty straight forward. I started by setting the sliding bevel to the correct angle for the heel block. Then the distance between the bottom of the slots and the heel block was measured and transferred to the linings. As the linings were glued on 'by eye' and the sliding bevel was resting against them, I wasn't sure it was all that accurate and allowed a millimeter or two for inaccuracies and final fitting. Each side was done with separate measurements.

Once the linings were marked, I cut them with a dovetail saw a pared away the waste with a chisel. The two processes were a little cumbersome as it was difficult for me to clamp the work down properly. I ended up making a little caul with a slightly curved face that fitted in between the top and bottom linings and clamped the side down to the bench with a bar clamp. In retrospect I think it would have been better to use a vise. Maybe next time.

With all the waste gone, I fitted the sides into the slots and started trimming the linings with a little bullnose rabbet plane until they were seated fully into the slots. I had to hold the plane at a slight angle to compensate for the curvature of the sides and the fact that they don't enter the neck at an right angle. The plane did tear a little where the individual kerfed blocks got cut down to thin segments, even though the blade freshly sharpened and set to a fine cut. Thinking back, I wonder if I would have been better off using a small sanding stick instead. However, be it a sanding stick or a plane, using a tool that was able to rest against one of the lining while cutting the other, insured straight cuts that otherwise would have been difficult to achieve, had each lining been cut individually.

The bullnose plane is a wonderful little tool. It's made by Lee Valley and I must confess that I'm really impressed with their planes. The level of precision, thought and intelligence that have gone into their designs, makes them a joy to use. I cannot speak highly enough of them.

Once the sides were seated well into the neck, I started trimming the linings to allow for the end block. This was done the same way, apart form the marking, which was done with a machinist square instead of the bevel. Also, I did most of the final trimming with the chisel to avoid some of the tearing mentioned above, and saved the very final touches for the plane.

During the final dry fitting it became clear that the curvature of the end block needed to be increased slightly. This was done by rubbing it back and forth on a sanding board, Cumpiano style. The sides were also thinned slightly by sanding in order to enter the slots with ease.

I made a clamping caul out of 1/2" Baltic Birch plywood lined with 1/8" cork. Two kerfs were cut leaving about 2mm of solid wood, enabling the caul to be bent slightly and conform to the profile of the end block.

GLUING THE END BLOCK
Once everything was fitted it was time for the end block to be glued. It soon became clear that this all became a little bit of a challenge; It didn't make sense to clamp end block down in position on the solera, without adding glue to it first because the sides were already in place. And, I couldn't use the end block clamping caul without having to get rid of the support block on the solera that insured the sides were perfectly square in the first place. Confused?....

I ended up with a somewhat half arsed approach by mixing two schools of methods into a one, Cumpiano and Courtnall representing one and Sloan and Bogdanovich the other, but, the end block did get glued on.

First step was to place some wax paper on the support block and bottom of solera adjacent to the glue-up and then slip the whole assembly down into position on the solera. Then glue was added to the end block and pushed into place, up against the sides as hard as I could and clamped down in place, square to the solera, with a big Bessey bar clamp. Next the solera support block behind the heel block was removed, and replaced with the clamping caul. Once the support block was gone the end block went a little out of squareness and I had to adjust the position of the bottom of the bar clamp to get it square again. Finally the end block was clamped to the sides with four small bar clamps. A MDF caul was used on the end block itself.

The glue clean-up was a little unwieldy as all the clamps and cauls were in the way, but I managed to get most of it off with a chisel. I left it to dry over night and did the final cleaning the next day.

GLUING SIDES INTO NECK SLOTS - WHAT A PAIN IN THE NECK!!!
Gluing the sides into the neck slots was no less than a nightmare and it nearly ruined the whole build. I kind of expected it be a challenging process, but I didn't fully realize what trouble was lying ahead of me.

I started by carefully coating the slots with glue, using a little stick to rub it on with and placed the neck on my work bench fingerboard side down. I carefully pulled the side assembly apart and inserted the sides into their slot sideways. But, the glue started to grab before they were fully seated and I had to yank it all apart as quickly as I could without damage anything. I have never been a big adrenaline junkie and this episode was no exception. I did not like it.

I cleaned the whole thing up and tried my luck again a second time. Well, why not? There was still some wet glue in the slots I could use. Dare I say that I wasn't particularly successful the second time around either - I'll leave it at that!

Third time lucky! Now it became a matter of pride. I was determined to get the sucker to obey. The whole thing was cleaned up again. During the clean up I noticed some small saw marks in the slots and I began to wonder if that had been the source of the problem, or at least partly so. I carefully thinned the sides a little more, rounded their edges to ease the insertion, added glue sparsely and they finally went in, albeit with a little bit of play that hadn't been there before.

The whole assembly was then placed back in the solera. The neck was lined up with two bar clamps and the sides were held in place, suspended on the little soundboard shims, with spool clamps.

I hindsight I wonder if gluing the side into the slots is such a good idea after all. There seems to be to schools of thought on this one too. Cumpiano and Courtnall both make this joint without the use of glue, whereas Sloan and Bogdanovich do them with glue. I my case, the joint was definitely a tighter one when it was dry fitted; A very snug fit that went together with a firm, but gentle hand. Whether it would have been a stronger one, I'll never know.

SETTING THE HEEL BLOCK BEVEL