Acoustic Guitar Neck Reset – Part D
Source: Guitar Neck
Tool and Materials Required:
Hypodermic Needle Gluing Tool:
Titebond III Glue:
Drill Press
Wood Plug Cutter:
Plastic Tipped Hammer:
1/4″ Wood Dowels:
Scrap Fretboard Wood:
5-1/2″ x 12″ Bessey Heavy Duty Tradesman
Wood Clamp Cauls:
Acoustic Guitar Neck Reset – Part D
This article addresses a condition that is a bit more atypical than our normal neck reset. We will be discussing a neck that has to be reset due to a cracked heel block. You will see this condition on the less expensive guitars and there is quite an easy fix for it.
How to Spot The Cracked Heel:
The heal will split somewhere between the fretboard and the heel trim piece, if there is one. Usually the split will be towards the middle of the heel.
This split will cause the neck to pull forward, because it has lost some of the bond with the guitar body and the head block.
Inject Glue Into the Joint:
The first step is to inject glue into the cracked heal as far into the crack as you can reach with the Hypodermic Needle Gluing Tool. The glue can be Tightbond III for all but exotic woods. If you encounter a neck with exotic wood you will have to use 2-Part Epoxy – Slow Set. You will have to work the glue into the crack with an artist’s spatula and by applying glue and rubbing it with your finger.
When enough glue has been put into the joint, clamp as described below and check for glue squeeze-out. If you have squeeze-out, clean up the glue before it dries and set aside to dry.
With the strings off the instrument, put a couple of wood cauls on the fretboard and heel trim piece and clamp with a Bessey Tradesman Clamp. Check for glue squeeze-out. If there isn’t any you need to inject more glue until it squeezes out of the joint.
Clean up the joint and set aside to dry.
Making the Repair Permanent:
There is a way that you can make this repair a permanent repair and this guitar will not split in this manner again. That is by the use of wooden dowels drilled into the neck/heel through the top of the fretboard.
I use 1/4″ dowels that I make up myself. Cut them so they go about 2/3′s of the way down the heel from above. You should take a normal solid wooden dowel and make it into a glue dowel. By this I mean you need to provide glue escape channels in the dowel so you can pound it into the dowel hole. If you don’t do this the hydraulic pressure from the glue will prevent you from completely seating the dowel. The grooves also tend to make for a much stronger joint.
Just take a dowel and clamp in into a vice and saw 3 or 4 grooves about 1/16″ deep the full length of the dowel. Then take the dowels over to the belt sander and put a chamfer of the end that will be at the bottom so that it will nicely travel down the drilled hole.
Drill The Dowel Holes:
It is best to drill the two dowel holes with a good drill press as you want to be accurate in drilling this or you may drill out the side of the heel.
Set the angle of the table or the drill press head so you can drill a 1/4″ hole about 1/2″ on either side of the center of the neck. (This will miss a truss rod if there is one in the neck.). Angle the dowel so it roughly follows the angle of the heel block. This will have to be calculated differently for every guitar as there is too much variation to give you specific information. This hole will be drilled directly down thorough the fretboard.
Now do the same with the opposite dowel, down through the fretboard. Also, make sure you set your depth stop on the drill press. I like to use Brad Point Drill Bits for this work.
Now measure each hole and cut the dowels to length so the will be recessed beneath the bottom surface of the fretboard or just level with it.
Glue The Dowels:
Now take Titebond III Glue and spread it completely over the surface of the dowel. Insert the dowel into the hole and pound in with a Plastic Tipped Hammer. Take another short piece of dowel and set it on top of the dowel you just tapped in and set the dowel down to the proper level. Repeat with the opposite dowel.
Clean all glue from the remaining portion of the hole very thoroughly, unless you are prepared to set your plugs.
Cut Ebony or Rosewood Plugs:
Now take a dowel cutter and cut some plugs for the fretboard. Carefully select wood to match color and grain pattern of the fretboard.
Smear some Titebond III in the hole with a glue brush and tap the plugs into place, leaving them just a little proud of the fretboard surface. When dry, sand smooth and give the fretboard a nice coat of oil or stain and you will hardly see the repair.
Set aside to dry overnight.
Click The Links Below To Go To Other Articles In This Series
Acoustic Guitar Neck Reset – Part A
Acoustic Guitar Neck Reset – Part B
Acoustic Guitar Neck Reset – Part C
Acoustic Guitar Neck Reset – Part D
Acoustic Guitar Neck Reset – Part E
Acoustic Guitar Neck Reset – Part F
Tags: acoustic guitar neck reset, guitar neck removal, how to repair a guitar neck, how to reset a guitar neck
