Final Thicknessing - Neck

I needed to do a little more sanding here - using the 12" sanding block again. This time I was measuring in multiple spots along the length of the neck. I 'evened up' the thickness along the length, and took it down to just under 1" thick.
Ready for inlays.....

Routing the cavities..... DISASTER!!!! (almost)

Ok. Here is where inexperience can really suck. I certainly couldn't see this one coming.
The body template I was using is 1/4" thick. In order to rout the control cavity, I extended the router bit all the way out so that the flush trim bearing could ride on the template. This cause the bit to descend deep into the body.... and I commenced to rout. Then I heard the most awful crack you can imagine and the router was suddenly silenced.... It had kicked because of the amount of material I was trying to cut - and it basically burst out of control, eating a chunk out of the cavity in an area I was not planning to rout. The noise startled everyone in the workshop. All eyes on me. It looked ugly. I thought I was going to cry..... like a big sook.

Then I realized that the tele control plate will actually cover this eyesore..... In reality, I did have to do a minor repair to the bottom side, which actually looks great the pic isn't posted yet).

To solve the problem, I made another body template - this time using 1/2" MDF. I sandwiched the new one to the original 1'4" template (actually screwed them together).
This gave me the necessary height to be able to rout the cavities in multiple passes, extending the router with each pass....

Moral of this story? Always remove a little material at a time.....

Shaping The Body....

First, I needed to trim the maple top - it was wider than the body blank.
After drawing the outline, it was time to cut it out on the bandsaw.
Then I need to rout the sides.... It needed a pass on the top side as well as the bottom side - the router bit isn't long enough to do this in one pass....

Cleaning up the sides reveals that the top is attached cleanly... relief....

The Body Blank....

I bought a beautiful body blank that consists of 3 pieces of light swamp ash, joined by slices of Cocobolo Rosewood.... Really is stunning. The blank should give me a body that weighs in between 3-4lbs. Like everyone, I love a lightweight tele.... and in this case it's especially important because the maple top is heavier than the equivalent thickness in ash...

I marked out the center line (which will be lined up with the bookmatched seam), spread the glue, placed the top down and clamped it tight. I also put in a few wood screws (outside of the body area!) to make sure it didn't move while clamping.

It's a good idea to find a piece of hard steel to clam down the middle of the blank - it is very difficult to clamp firmly in the middle of the piece...

The last picture is after it has come out of clamps (I left it in clamps for 72 hours).

Glueing the top....

After a light sand with 180 grit, the top was ready to be bookmatched. A dose of Titebond spread evenly and then into the clamps..... Make sure to clamp it level ALL along!!! (I find these steps s little stressful!) If you have nice staright edges, a slightly uneven join will flatten out when you sand it.

Here it is dried, before sanding.

The Flame Top....

I bought a BEAUTIFUL piece of AAAA flamed Canadian maple from www.veddermountainhardwoods.com
It really is stunning. I'm not a great fan of flamed maple that looks relly straight and symmetrical... so this one has a little 'curl' in it....

So the trick here is the thickness the pieces, then cut a smooth edge on the side they will be joined....

Easier said than done!!

Of course I decided to thickness the UNDERSIDE, just in case I ran into problems.... I discovered that machine planers don't like flamed maple AT ALL. They chop out horrible chunks of the flame. I didn't realize that the density & structure of the flame caused structural fluctuations.... This would have been better achieved on a power sander. But we get by with what we have!!

The same 'chatter' occurred when I tried to use the jointer for the surfaces that were to be joined..... just couldn't get a clean cut.

So off to the table saw I went.... really - with a sharp thin blade, the table saw can produce a beautifully flat clean cut. Relief!

Sanding the transition on the head....

A spindle sander is great for this. Really makes the job move quickly.... But power sanders and guitars aren't really the best of friends (potentially). Keep your touch light, do a little at a time, and CONSTANTLY stop and check that you haven't gone too far...

This was an exciting step. All of a sudden this piece of wood felt and looked like it was turning into a guitar neck....