Guitar Neck Carving Jig

[@andrewvitale7128]

Thanks for sharing this jig design! Also my wife thanks you ! I built this and it works well, my cams are not as aggressive as yours because I like to hand finish my necks. And the little wife likes it because after building this and coming out to my shop she had all her laundry hanging off it. Wonderful!

[@Pollys13a]

Very interesting, thanks so much.

[@mattclarke1838]

Brilliant video! Thanks

[@christopherpcline]

The cam explanation was key here, definitely going to try to build something like this, I would add large knobs on each end so you can rotate the carriage externally.

[@leeceeworkshop]

Hi. That’s a good idea with the external knobs. Sometjing I might do too. 👍

[@beerrepository]

Thank you so much for giving measurements, I have watched so many of these videos and they either try to sell you the plan or just don't say at all how they built it and tell you to experiment, this is fantastic

[@leeceeworkshop]

Thanks, I do plan to re-visit the Jig in its own separate video sometime in the future.

[@johncash3107]

I really appreciate you taking the time to Thoroughly explain this jig, how it works and how you built yours. You’ve definitely created value here! I’ve watched two other videos prior to yours that left me with voids in my understanding of how this all works. After watching your video I understand. I’ll be subscribing to your Channel. Keep up the good work!

[@leeceeworkshop]

No problem. Glad I could help a little.

[@David-zp7fx]

Really quite brilliant design - simple mechanics and thoroughly repeatable accuracy for multiple profiles.

[@leeceeworkshop]

It works really well for me. I’ve been meaning to build a better new one out of aluminium box section. Just not got round to it yet.

[@cemagan9071]

Smart way of neck carving. Congrats and thanks.

[@mauikrawalski1074]

Thanks a lot for sharing this brilliant idea with us.

[@leeceeworkshop]

Making a step by step guide for this jig soon. Look out for that if you still have questions. Thanks for watching. Glad I could help.

[@luisianaolivieri3912]

@@leeceeworkshop hi can you include in your tutorial even the metric system? A tutorial like this doesn't exist in italian....I am desperatly searching a good tutorial step by step. Thank you very much

[@ricklee4513]

Thanks very much, very clear instructions on how it is put together

[@jason.martin]

This is such a great explanation !!! thanks for posting

[@leeceeworkshop]

No problem. Glad I could help! 👍

[@thebelcebu20]

Thanks for explaining the measurements, greetings from Argentina ( Pelliccia Guitars)

[@Partsunknown426]

Thank you so much for sharing, I'm going to give it a shot

[@leeceeworkshop]

No problem. Glad I could help. 👍

[@DaveVedder]

Great video and explanation! What is the ratio of the cam height & width to the end height & width carved into the neck?

[@Hateweek1984]

As a neophyte guitar maker... I'm greatful for you sharing this.. I'm a cabinet maker/finish carpenter by trade.. but guitar building is a different animal!cheers mate

[@leeceeworkshop]

Hi. Glad you enjoyed it. I’m planning to remake a better quality stiffer jig one day. Just not found the time yet!

[@acsinler619]

Thank you so much for detail break down of your jig ! It does makes more sense to me right now.

[@peternotpeter]

Thank you for sharing this build. How high should the top side rails be set to? seems like they align with the center (or top) pin of the bearings or does it depend on the router size?

[@leeceeworkshop]

Hi. The top rail height needs to be high enough that you can still rock the cradle without catching the edge of the neck but low enough that your router bit can still reach the neck. On mine it looks to align with just above the bearing pin as you say. Hope that helps.

[@peternotpeter]

@@leeceeworkshop Yes, thank you. I will measure with the router to make sure it reaches the neck.

[@alanrichardson7244]

How do you angle the head backwards? Most guitars have the tuners slanted back.

[@glennlopez6772]

Thanks for the video! Having watched several videos on the subject, I cannot remember seeing yours. The best part is your desire to make your own designs of shapes. It seems that you've studied many other designs and the neck shown here is quite elegant, specially the headstock. It would have been nice to watch the jig in action as would make it easier to understand the working, at least for me. Keep up the good work!

[@leeceeworkshop]

Hi, Thanks for watching. The Jig has appeared in a few of my videos now, although I do plan to re-visit the Jig in its own separate video sometime in the future.

[@rifosi]

Thank you very much for sharing your design. I guess may work fine to carve angled headstock necks, that’s why I’m interested in give it a try. Just please let me ask you two questions: 1- You probably need to somewhat clamp the router carriage in the rails while turning the neck carriage to make the cuts, right? How do you do that. 2- About the router bit, do you get better results using round profile ones? Which one did you use in your tests? Thanks again for your effort!

[@leeceeworkshop]

Hi. 1. No clamping necessary. Just the weight of the router (stuck to the carriage with double sided tape) and a hand on the carriage is all the support I use. 2. Always use a flat profile router bit. A flat edge on a radius follows the curve perfectly. A rounded bit will just cut hundreds of grooves when moved on a radius.

[@rifosi]

Ok, thanks

[@HudsonCustomGuitars]

Thank you, sir. One remaing dimension I'm curious about is the height of your router guide side supports of the frame, pleas

[@MarkGray1970]

Cool video, thanks for sharing! I bet its also critical to set the depth of the router. I bet you could set the final depth and then make some thin spacers to put under the router but on top of your sled. Then all you do is add and remove the spacers to set the depth of cut.

[@leeceeworkshop]

This is a good idea. Thanks. Im still planning to remake the Jig with full instructions, but have been a bit sidetracked recently with my metal lathe.

[@jthowson]

I cant figure out the Cam thing, every time I try it it just makes a mess dosnt even cut the cams it just distroys the wood I just dont get it 😪

[@ninosciorra6312]

Great job....would you mine sharing the exact dimensione of the two wheels?

[@leeceeworkshop]

Hi Nino. I think I mentioned in the video what size disks I used. I think from memory it was 100mm at the bottom end and possibly 90mm at the headstock end. The shape is purely a personal choice and you need to test that on the jig once it’s built. Sorry that’s not the answer you wanted but the dimensions of my cams will likely not work on your jig.

[@paulkramer7698]

thank you for sharing this.

[@optonaut]

Cool! finally I got it all! going to build this jig too :) thank you so much for your explantation

[@CaptainPantys]

Brilliant. Mad Lad Genius.

[@dembydish]

Did you cut the slots in the end plywood with a router and if so was it done incrementally as the cut is quite deep. Thank you.

[@leeceeworkshop]

Hi, I think I just drilled a hole at the top of the slot, then cut straight lines to create the slot on the bandsaw.

[@dembydish]

@@leeceeworkshop Ah yes. that makes sense. Thank you.

[@PLINKER]

thank you ! Very good instructions.

[@leeceeworkshop]

Hi. Thanks for watching. I’m actually going to remake this video and jig with complete step by step instructions (to the best of my ability) probably released around Christmas time this year (2022)

[@PLINKER]

Thank you!

[@zeetekton1016]

Thank you sharing this info sir... Sir, what if the neck i'm curving has a longer scale length?..., like a Bass guitar neck for example,.. do we have to change the cam's diameter for that? And also make another longer cradle for that?

[@leeceeworkshop]

Hi, Yes, you would need a longer Jig than the one I have made, and also if I remember correctly, a P-Bass is slightly wider at the heel end (63mm?, vs the standard Strat which is around 57mm), so you may want to make the big cam slightly larger to start. Maybe 110mm diameter.

[@FrugalFixerSpike]

Ball end bit?? Or ? I built a truss rod, leveling jig yesterday, I see this being built today here, thanks

[@Yosser70]

Such a good explanation, thank you. When setting the router depth, I assume you go down so distance from the top of the jig to the tip of the bit is the thickness you want the neck?

[@leeceeworkshop]

Sorry I don’t quite understand your question but I will try to explain. The height of the jig doesn’t make much difference since it’s the cam profile that cuts the shape. So the idea is you just lower the router bit until it just touches the top of the neck then make your cuts. If your cam profiles are not quite exact and you want a thinner neck then you just lower the router bit a couple of millimetres and recut. Things to be wary of. Making your neck so thin you accidentally cut into the truss rod pocket. Or the angle (radius) of your cams cuts the fretboard wood before the neck is thin enough. Also at the headstock end make your cut from the first fret onwards so you leave enough thickness to make the headstock firm. Hope this helps?

[@Yosser70]

@@leeceeworkshop Thanks for the quick response. Yes that helps. I’m guessing you cut the neck blank pretty close to it’s final thickness, so you aren’t taking too much off. I think I’d make the cams on my cnc machine, by copying a profile I want and scaling it up to the required sizes you recommend in the video. I could potentially cut necks on the cnc but it takes ages, so using templates and jigs is much quicker!

[@leeceeworkshop]

@@Yosser70 for my necks I start with a 20mm maple plank. I take about 3mm off this so 17mm thickness. But the fretboard I then cut down to about 3-4mm. So total thickness of my necks are around 19 to 21 mm

[@stevehandley8649]

Nice video, thank you for sharing. Just a thought about setting the cam profiles - could you use a contour gauge to measure each end of a neck that you like and reproduce those as the cam profiles?

[@leeceeworkshop]

Hi. What I’ve found from various testing is the jig being made of wood and mechanical is still relatively soft, flexible and not precise enough to copy a neck carve from a contour. I actually just made several profiles and tested and sanded them until I was happy. More time consuming but ultimately the profiles will iron out any slight inaccuracies in the jig. Although you could be a much better craftsman than me and your jig is perfect!

[@stevehandley8649]

@@leeceeworkshop hehe, definitely don’t think I’m a better craftsman, that’s for sure! Thank you for your quick reply

[@Mahdi-bb4hg]

Hi, is this just a copy of Temple guitars neck jig or have you made any improvements to it too?

[@TempleGuitars]

Hi Mahdi!

[@artiefufkin3292]

How can a centrally mounted 70mm diameter cam be 22mm above the surface above the carrier. That's 35mm????

[@ksharpe10]

I would call the Jig piece a Rolling cradle. There is a guy in netherlands that has one built out of Aluminum, a bit more sophisticated. Wish he sold them, he has the name Profiler etched in it.

[@leeceeworkshop]

Rolling cradle. That works for me! I will use that phrase. Thanks.

[@drysdale1979]

Really enjoyed this vid. Very informative and useful. I’ve got to try this! I might be a daft question but the only query I had was about whether you put the neck blank in square with parallel sides or if you cut the taper from nut to body first. I guess the point of the jig is that it cuts the profile and taper in one? Cheers.

[@leeceeworkshop]

Hi. Thanks for the question. If I understand you correctly then I’ve already cut the taper angle before I use the jig. The neck is around 57mm at 24th fret and 43mm at the nut.

[@esteban31000]

Hi, thanks for the information, make more sense to me now. Just what kind of bit do you use for the fretboard and for the neck? Any reference?

[@leeceeworkshop]

Hi. Just a standard 1/4 inch with a flat bottom. The method is to only cut width ways on the neck with a flat bottom bit. If you wanted to cut the whole length of the neck in long passes then you will probably need to use a bit with a rounded tip.

[@esteban31000]

@@leeceeworkshop Thanks :)

[@k_aos3224]

This is so awesome! Thanx Lee for this in depth tutorial! I have seen similar jigs, but this is the first, that really convinced me in all detail. Please allow a short question: You mentioned starting to route in the midline/center of the neck, thus lowering the router in the beginning just so it touches the wood. Why not start on the sides to have the router touch there, but not remove any wood at the most lateral border? I understand, you mentioned the hight of the discs to match the thickness of the neck, but this implies the neck to already have the desired thickness for instance at the first fret ... wouldn't this also be achieved by plunging the router at the head side to the desired depth of thickness (maybe marked on the side of the neck-piece? Thus, it would not necessarily be that critical and only the shape would matter - if the discs allow 1mm difference and the router remains at that constant depth, shouldn't you end up with the same result? Thanx in advance and best regards from Germany! Kevin

[@leeceeworkshop]

Hi. Thanks for the question. If I’m understanding you correctly then yes you could start at the edge however the reason I don’t do this is on my cam profile it would take too big a cut when you roll to the centre. Faster yes but more chance of the router gouging a chunk of wood. Also starting lightly at the centre I can see if the neck is correctly centred on my first light cut by checking the distance of the cut either side of the centre line. Maybe I’m just overly cautious but those are my reasons. I hope that helps.

[@ronaldososa1975]

hi: if you change the guides on the jig, you can use it as a freatboad radius jig too??? muy buen video saludos desde Argentina

[@ronwilliams1094]

Theoretically, yes.

[@ronaldososa1975]

@@ronwilliams1094 gracias, por todo!!!

[@paulmorrison9691]

Yelp will be building this jig

[@jrosner6123]

Question: what became of this endeavour?

[@yellowcat1310]

i like the see thru design compared to the others i've seen. using a couple 1 x 2s on the sides is more my style. maybe consider selling just guitar necks. a lot of folks don't want to pay 350 for a new fender neck and the chinesium ones just are hit or miss.

[@TempleGuitars]

Had you used it by the time you made this video? You will find if the sides of your carriage aren't the same width as your neck, your router will bite into it, which has the capacity to damage the workpiece with tear out.

[@leeceeworkshop]

Hi. Yes it’s been modified a number of times over the last couple of years. Including narrowing the carriage! I’ve been meaning to remake this jig from scratch with what I’ve learned but metalwork has taken priority. I still make the odd guitar and it seems to be working well although I do finish the neck by hand. For my next jig I want to make a more solid frame with some metal brackets. And with an adjustable cam system so I can choose different profiles easily and accurately get closer to final dimension to speed up the process.

[@bobsegar1242]

the most crucial part is that the neck carriage bolts have to pivot on the center when the neck sits flat

[@jaa2412]

hi, which kind of router and router bit are you using?

[@leeceeworkshop]

Hi. The router is a UK model DEWALT D26204K. In the US it might be called a D604. The router bits are just cheap standard 1/4 inch. I prefer to buy cheap router bits and just throw them away when they get blunt.

[@30bkg]

Great video, much more info than other videos on KZbin. Maybe a silly question but could this be adapted to rough out fret board radiuses as well? Like instead of having 2 separate jigs just make a separate carriage that will work with this jig

[@leeceeworkshop]

I suppose in theory you could make it much bigger and would need to be able to replace the cam “profiles” with a 10inch radius arc. (For a 10 inch radius fretboard of course.) I might look into this design in the future.

[@voskevantboske7854]

As Tina Turner sang it, "Simply the best".

[@leeceeworkshop]

Thanks! RIP Tina. X

[@juanokita4401]

Make a sampler

[@deshenggs6685]

Hello Sir, I need Total Measurement in a written comment, Will you give it to me, please?

[@juniorsouza8787]

😁👏👏👏

[@jeromestevenfaigin6059]

Too much info! Can you write this with the numbers and I'm 65 and disabled.

[@leeceeworkshop]

Hi. Unfortunately I didn’t write anything down. I just copied it from other designs I have seen. I’m currently learning to sail in Malta for a month but I do intend to revisit this jig sometime this year and remake it step by step.

[@phantomstratocaster]

where the gig is more a form of art than the neck