Hi Hursty,

I don't think this is a big issue. When the fretboard has a thickness of 6mm then the height from the top of the fretboard (at 1st fret) to the bottom of your trussrod slot is 6+12=18mm. I believe that in the training a distance of 22mm is mentioned. So you will have 4mm meat. This should be enough. Maybe best is to aim for some extra playroom in case neck shaping is not going as you would like. Then I would choose for 23mm at first fret. You can always sand down a bit more after rough shaping.

Cheers @bart-van-der-kemp.

I think I will air on the side of caution and go for 23 mm and like you say I can always sand a little afterwards.

Thanks for the advice most appreciated. 😀 

Think the truss rod size changed - now a 6mm truss rod comes with the kit - not at home to check - you need to make the slot wider at the adjuster end - message Mark to check……..

@hursty I made a far more severe error with a bigger truss rod and didn’t fix the depth stop on the router properly so the channel at the nut end was way way too deep. Including the depth of the fretboard my neck is at 23mm at the 1st fret. This does mean there’s only about 1mm of wood between the back of the neck and the base of that part of the channel but it’s not at the part that there’ll be pressure on when using the rod. Point being your 1mm isn’t going to be an issue unless you planned on a very very thin neck!

Also keep in mind the measurements in the video were based on a 12mm(I think!) boxed truss rod so you’re still 1mm shy of that.

Hey @hursty - just to reassure you 12mm truss rod slot depth is OK...just be extra careful not to carve too thin or you will compound the error and that WILL likely be trouble!

Hey @markebailey,

Thanks for the feed back Mark. 😀 

How much wood  should I aim to have between the back of the neck and the truss rod chanel after carving? 

Before carving I think it adds up to 9mm of wood left on this.

Hey @tej

Many thanks for the information buddy.

Good to know it's not a disaster yet for me.

I'll just be very careful in the carve.

Cheers Paul. 

@hursty just measure it so you know where you’re at when carving. If it helps you can always mark a line before you carve the back of the neck so you know where the channel is.

@tej Yeah good idea to mark the chanel on the back before carve. I'll certainly do that.

Then it's deep breath time and carve that neck

😀

How much wood  should I aim to have between the back of the neck and the truss rod chanel after carving? 

It is quite difficult to measure how much wood is left so don't get too hung up on it...the overall thickness of the neck is easy to measure and also important for playability and comfort so we use that. Even if you went 12mm deep on the truss rod 21mm@the first fret will be OK:

• Overall neck thickness at 1st fret after carving: 21mm
• Truss Rod Slot Depth: 11mm (correct depth)
• Fretboard thickness: 5.5 to 6mm (depending on sanding)
• Wood left at thinnest point of neck after carving = 4 to 4.5mm

So even if you did go 1mm too deep on the truss rod slot you'd still have 3 to 3.5mm of 'meat' - that is plenty.

3mm is just fine as an ideal minimum but to reassure you - I have seen A LOT less 'meat' left here and the necks were just fine.

The Golden Rule is: If you can't see the truss rod - you alright... 👍

Just be super careful not to go too thin on the carve and compound the error...when you start adding up errors on top of each other - that is when things get really messy!

3mm is just fine as an ideal minimum but to reassure you - I have seen A LOT less 'meat' left here and the necks were just fine.

I’m counting on this being true 🙂

@markbailey

Brilliant. Thanks for the reassurance Mark. 😀 

Super usefull information. I feel much more confident now

Huge thanks