Maple and padouk

[DarkPenguin]

Sooo... I have a hunk of maple that is slightly too thin. I have a hung of padouk that is way too thick. Any reason to not do a half inch fretboard and just route the truss rod cavity into the back of it?

The padauk might be an inch thick. Not long enough, tho. I can't re-saw it.

 

[Cagey]

Only reason I can come up with is: it's never been done. Tells me there must be a reason.

I've always thought the reason for differing woods between the fretboard and neck meat was to ration the more precious woods that are more suitable for use as fretboards due to their cost. For example, making a one-piece neck of black Gabon Ebony prevents the use of a relatively rare and expensive hunk of wood that large from making a half-dozen fretboards. In other words, economic rather than mechanical reasons.

 

[DarkPenguin]

I might give it a shot. I got the hunk of wood for way cheap. Rockler is expensive. Except when they aren't.

 

[bagman67]

For a contrary view:


I don't see any particular reason why using an extra-thick fingerboard to make up for extra-thin neckmeat, from a "will it work" perspective, at least if you're rear-routing it for an old-fashioned Fender-style truss rod installation.  If you want a modern-construction approach, with the truss rod installed from the front instead of the rear, you may be at risk of routing through the shaft stock to get the correct depth, or you'll need to rout a shallow truss rod channel in both the fingerboard and the shaft, which is a frickin' nightmare to contemplate, at least for me.  But I see you plan to come in from the back, so at least that problem won't accrue.  Anyway:


The way I see it, there are tons of plans and videos and whatnot online that assume starting with lumber in standard dimensions.  Replicating the process with non-standard dimensions will add a layer of complexity that a comparative n00b to neck-making might find frustrating.  Standard-dimensioned maple lumber for the shaft is cheap and widely available.  You can take your thickish chunk of padouk and resaw using a bandsaw or table saw to dimensions that will provide two standard-sized fingerboard blanks, and you can either post the extra on eBay, give it away, or make a second neck to take into account errors and whatnot that you make on the first one.


Then again, maybe I'm overthinking it.  Plane the maple smooth and the padouk smooth, glue the padouk on the maple, thickness the resulting sandwich, and get busy.  I am, after all,  but another in an endless line of internet opinions that don't actually have to face your problem.


Have fun, whatever else you decide.  Looks like a fun project, to me!

 

[DarkPenguin]

I got hold of a piece of canary thick enough for a neck so I'm going to use that.

I'd love to route both the back of the fretboard and a thinner neck bit just to prove I could do it. But I don't know of any reason to think that I could.