How crucial is it for the neck blank to be perfectly flat? Mine is a bit wavy. Placing a ruler on it in various spots I can see gaps here and there. Some spots where the ruler rocks a bit and the gap is maybe a half of a mm. No matter how much I sand it these waves are still there. Also, one end is a little thicker than the other.
So, instead of paying $1300 for a drum sander, I was thinking I could get it nice and even by very slightly and carefully surface routing the entire blank. Does this sound like a reasonable alternative solution? I would need to make a new jig long enough to do this, of course.
UPDATE:
Today I made a neck blank thickness/smoothing jig and routed the blank down to an even 2" (very simple but you'll see it in a future video update)
Very Crucial to be as flat as possible. The router can work as a planer just as good.
Getting the blanks flat and level is essential I think and it’s one of the hardest things to do, remembering that the fretboard will be glued to one of the faces. Surface routing is a good way forward, perhaps you could get away with a shorter jig with supports and clamps so that you could slide the blank through. Have you got a bigger base plate for the router.
Some people call me a tool, others are less complimentary. Tools being useful things.
Wayne_F Topic starter
28/09/2021 11:21 pm
@rocknroller912 Yes, I made a bigger base plate. I still have a quarter sheet of MDF so I definitely have enough to make an extra long railed jig. Besides, I might use it for sizing and smoothing more blanks in the future. It wouldn't go to waste.
I had the same issue with my blank body blank as I bought it before finding Mark and the course. I surface routed after building a very basic jig and managed to get it looking good with pretty much no previous routing experience. There's a bunch of threads about jigs on here and you tube is always good for tutorials should you need them.
Good luck
Router as a planer
Thank you for sharing this video , really it is very helpful for me.
Alexander Zingman