Phoenix Rising - Guitar Building Series Episode 3 - Making the Neck Blank by hand.

Khaya Mahogany, Flamed Maple and Ebony veneer. The three main ingredients to make this Neck Blank.
In this episode I'll focus on making the neck blank for this guitar.
Expect a lot of sawing, planing and glue.
This is the first guitar building series coming from the new workshop so I'm very excited to show you around as I'm building this guitar and explain what I'm doing and more importantly, why and how I'm doing things.
For a brief history behind this guitar you can watch the following videos:
• What's happening?? - A...
• Thanks to your support...
• Phoenix Rising - Prolo...
And if you're interested in more guitar building videos?
Check out my channel for more tips and tricks, tool reviews and guitar builds for the (beginner) luthier in a small workshop.
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Chapters:
0:00 Intro
1:30 Wood selection
4:30 Flat sawn vs. Quarter sawn
6:08 Bandsaw set-up
11:35 Planing
15:39 First cut
17:35 Making Maple Strips
22:27 Mahogany Strips
30:12 Mahogany Sides
32:25 Unexpected tension
36:10 Grain orientation
38:33 More Planing
43:40 Cutting Strips to length
45:55 Thickness Sander
49:35 Ebony Stripes
57:39 Glue up
1:07:50 Even more planing
1:19:17 End Result
1:19:40 Outro

[@Dncr]

It was such a pleasure to meet you in person today at the Bridge guitar festival.

[@denisweening]

Thanks for taking the time and give an full tutorial! Live streams are great, keep up the good work! And thanks for all the tips and tricks in between!

[@blainetrain2299]

I love the theme music to the sander lol. Fantastic

[@2old4u]

Most excellent. Very clear and informative. See you next time.

[@bordalahma]

a luthiery class lasting more than an hour? Let's take a beer and enjoy in a TV screen!! Cheers!!

[@piotrkarel]

beautiful work Daniel and a ton of knowledge. Thank you :)

[@MyEarwig]

Good job Daniel

[@borgonianevolution]

Nice detail of your process. I now have several more things to keep in mind when doing my first complete neck..

[@chrisjohnson5987]

Excellent my friend, love to watch your content and get inspired - Cheers from Sacred Axes!

[@SweetTGuitars]

Hey brother, Quarter sawn timber is absolutely more stable but not required. I find that using a timber with a Janka hardness over 1000 will be fine in any orientation. I, like you prefer Quartered timber. Very nice to see you making a blank by hand. I love your attention to detail and you style of communication! Peace & Love my friend.

[@saxus]

Once I cut a ~6-7 mm thick panel from a beech timber. It was around 1.5m long. After the first 40 cm the already cutted part just bent right along a line. But like 10+ degree. It was quite straight before and after, there was just a line like a hinge.

[@seanjoynt2605]

The sound of your plane is the sound of a very sharp blade. That neck blank alone looks fantastic. Can't wait to see more

[@Sthackenberg]

After I finish my Limba DC Special, I want to build a Firebird as well with a laminated neck through. Was thinking of doing the neck blank myself, but my machinery is not up to the level I would have enough trust to do that (especially the bandsaw, which is ok for normal necks) so I would buy such a laminated blank. Your video helped in this decision a lot 😊

[@stefano.salari]

What a huge work Daniel, but this blank looks just beautiful! It worths a hundred thumbs up! Also, I always learn something when looking at your videos. Thanks once again for sharing!

[@ianyule8687]

Only a Dutchman would use an orange pencil, I think ;) Live streams sound like a good idea.

[@mikeivey8471]

So great to see you back at your craft !!! Such a pleasure to watch a master do his work !! I watch you use those planes in awe !! They intimidate me ! So scared of ruining my work piece !! One day I must just give it a go on a scrap piece and figure out how to use them correctly. Thanks for sharing !!

[@davidwellings2783]

SO SATISFYING to watch!🥰🥰🍷🍷🎸🎸

[@timc7345]

Hi Daniel, thanks for another great video, this one inspired me to finally buy a low angle jack plane, ssssh don't tell my wife hahahaha

[@UnquendorGuitars]

I won't...

[@radioking]

Surprised that the Laguna doesn't come with a resaw pin. That's the best way to improve bandsaw tracking apart from all the faffing around with blade tension and guides. Cut against the pin the other way round. Also get hold of a toothing blade for planing figured woods. It's a game changer. lots of movement in that bench. That would be drive me nuts

[@markfisher2282]

Rock solid neck blank Danial. Nice equipment. Your shop is really complete now with the thickness sander. Love your show man.

[@jeffjohnson6129]

Hi - I am making my second guitar and I am making a laminated neck as well. You gave me some great tips. Thanks, Brother.

[@stevecumberlidge2245]

Great video, very enjoyable to watch! I’ll be watching the entire series

[@williamsmith9561]

A very enjoyable video, Daniel. Have a great weekend and I look forward to your next upload.

[@timbeaton5045]

You can also check for twists with a pair of winding sticks!

[@christophegury4047]

great job mister !!

[@verbenasenensis]

Nice in depth video! If you don't mind sharing it, where did you find this nice black ebony veneer? I am struggling to find a plain black one... (I'm in the EU as well)

[@blainetrain2299]

Where do you guys buy these pieces of Lumber? I have looked and looked around Vancouver Canada and can only find single thin pieces not these big long chunks

[@timothyyoung7168]

Hi Daniel, as always such a great and interesting video and thanks so much for taking the time to share your guitar building with everyone. I have to ask though, you mainly plane your timber level with hand planers. Why don't you use a thickness planer machine?

[@UnquendorGuitars]

Hi Timothy, Thank you very much for the compliments. The main reason I don't use a planer/thicknesser is that I don't have the space in my shop to put in the machine I need/want. Usually the accurate and professional machines are just to big for my shop.

[@EntropiaGuitars]

You're such a natural teacher Daniel - I followed your philosophy of making a neck without a scarf joint for my first build that I'm almost done with and it made a lot of sense. How is your drum sander going? I know you mentioned you had some issues, and I was thinking of buying the same as there's not a whole lot of choice on the market.

[@UnquendorGuitars]

Good to hear you’re getting some valuable information from my videos. The sander seems to be working fine now. The problem was the PCB couldn’t cope with the humid Dutch winters causing it to short out. This had been fixed by treating the pcb to withstand the moisture. It is indeed one of the only, if not the only models available. Apart from the pcb issue it’s a great machine.

[@EntropiaGuitars]

@@UnquendorGuitars Many thanks Daniel - looks like I'll be adding it to the shopping list!

[@brianwarford4041]

hey, great video, do you have a list of the music you use in the background? I like the track playing at the hour mark when you are doing the glue up.

[@UnquendorGuitars]

Hi Brian, It took me while as I don't keep track of the songs I use in my videos so I had to look up to original edit file, but here you go: 13:16 Nostalgia's Friend - Biddy Sullivan 16:17 Fast Shoes - Headlund 18:34 Highway in the sun - Headlund 20:31 Turnpikes - Rune Dale 22:57 Devil of the Town - Kenzo Almond 25:31 Hill Walk - Rune Dale 29:16 Love's done you good - Bireli Snow 31:54 Rusty Nails - Got Happy 44:03 The world in our hands - Headlund 47:19 Lord of dance - Adriel Fair 55:18 Tracing memories - Biddy Sullivan 59:42 Catch the wave (instrumental) - Velvet Moon (Your requested song) 1:09:06 Mr Ranger - The Tap Room Enjoy!!

[@MichaelRaimer]

Hi Daniel! It’s difficult to tell, but are you using ear protection while operating the sander, dust collector, etc? I imagine you do so, and edit out the putting them on and off. I think it’s really important that we all use them and especially to preserve hearing all the great sounds that guitar is going to make. Great video as always I am learning so much!

[@UnquendorGuitars]

Hi Michael, Funny you asked as I'm addressing this in the next video. I often do wear hearing protection, but to be honest not as often as I should. When talking and filming I either forget or in some cases it's not practical. I'm using custom made otoplastics which are nearly visible unless you're specifically looking for them. Thanks for keeping an eye out for my safety though.

[@MichaelRaimer]

I do woodworking, and as a “challenge project” I decided to build a bass guitar, I played many years ago and thought to take it up again. Your videos are my go-to for how to proceed. Thanks and keep up the excellent teaching.

[@csikoba4725]

Sir,i messed up the truss rod pocket and went sideways off like 4mm should be a BIG problem?When i adjust the trussrod i see the neck bending like it should.

[@Ramplcro]

Nice. I'm really sad for you when i see a bench moving so much while hand planing. Hope you will be able to resolve that issue in the future. P.s. How does Khaya works with hand planes? Of mahogany sort, i only have experience with Meranti and Sapele. First is beautiful to work, the second is pretty cross grained (even with strait grain and quartersawn).

[@UnquendorGuitars]

Hi @Ramplcro I spoke with a representative of the manufacturer recently and they have a steel plate available to bolt to the base to prevent the bench from moving, or better said keep the floor from moving. Khaya turned out to be also a bit difficult to plane. I think I also mention this in the video. It is pretty cross grained. Not something I expected from a mahogany species. I'm already dreading making the body which will also be Khaya.

[@Ramplcro]

Glad for the bench. For the wood, well, taking thinner shavings and sharping frequently is the only hand plane option i know 😁

[@bell9440]

What veneer are you using for the black layers in the neck?

[@UnquendorGuitars]

It's commonly known as "Ebony-veneer" but it's most likely ebonised/dyed Sycamore veneer