RiverCity28
Junior Member
- Messages
- 33
I thought I might also show the neck jig I built this weekend. It is similar in design to the one sold by Stewart MacDonald (Mr. Erlewine's design). It provided the surface I needed to level and dress the frets. It's also a good work platform for other guitar tasks.
I bought the 1.5"x3"x40" retangular tubing and the six pieces of 9" long 3/8" steel rod from out local metal distributor. I tapped the side of the tubing for the 1" x 5/16"-18 wingbolts. The plywood is held to the tubing with four 2" x 5/16"-18 bolts w/washers. I used threaded inserts on the plywood for the 5/16" all-thread (with 5/16" table legs attached with connectors). I applied a non-skid pad to each of the four inverted table legs . . . the guitar does not slide around. And, finally, instead of using plastic caps for the steel rods (I couldn't find any in the 3/8" size at Home Depot or Lowes), I used rubber stoppers that were available in many sizes at Lowes in their specialty hardware drawers. I used my drill press to drill out the stoppers to fit the rods. The rubber really grips the neck and doesn't mar its surface. I'm actually glad I didn't find the plastic caps as these stoppers are far superior.
Finally, the base is a couple of 2x4's glued together then bolted to the rectangular tubing. Not real pretty, but they do the job. I might drill a few vertical holes in the base 2x4's to hold my screw drivers and the like while I'm working on a guitar.
Almost forgot, I used two cut down tie downs to hold the body and the headstock to the jig. They are not really necessary for light duty work.
I bought the 1.5"x3"x40" retangular tubing and the six pieces of 9" long 3/8" steel rod from out local metal distributor. I tapped the side of the tubing for the 1" x 5/16"-18 wingbolts. The plywood is held to the tubing with four 2" x 5/16"-18 bolts w/washers. I used threaded inserts on the plywood for the 5/16" all-thread (with 5/16" table legs attached with connectors). I applied a non-skid pad to each of the four inverted table legs . . . the guitar does not slide around. And, finally, instead of using plastic caps for the steel rods (I couldn't find any in the 3/8" size at Home Depot or Lowes), I used rubber stoppers that were available in many sizes at Lowes in their specialty hardware drawers. I used my drill press to drill out the stoppers to fit the rods. The rubber really grips the neck and doesn't mar its surface. I'm actually glad I didn't find the plastic caps as these stoppers are far superior.
Finally, the base is a couple of 2x4's glued together then bolted to the rectangular tubing. Not real pretty, but they do the job. I might drill a few vertical holes in the base 2x4's to hold my screw drivers and the like while I'm working on a guitar.
Almost forgot, I used two cut down tie downs to hold the body and the headstock to the jig. They are not really necessary for light duty work.
