Stabilising the Neck

The first three things on the list are all about stabilising the neck and getting it into a strong enough state to work on. The plan was:

1. Clean off as much of the old glue as possible, including down the back of the fretboard.
2. Glue the fretboard back to the lower part of the neck.
3. Glue the upper neck onto the lower neck and fretboard.

When I came to do it, I realised that it would be more straightforward to do 2 and 3 together.

Cleaning off the old glue was done with a combination of sharp scrapers, picks, a file and sandpaper.

It all came up pretty well really. The hardest part was getting the glue off from between the fretboard and neck but I just patiently pulled paper through the joint, applying a bit of pressure as it went and it seemed to be reasonably clear after a while. It is certainly as good as I can get it without removing the fingerboard.

Next I made a support to fit snugly on the fingerboard, so I could clamp the joint while glueing it. In other words, I cut some slots in an old piece of wood to clear the frets!

Liberally applying Titebond glue everywhere, I worked it down the fretboard / neck junction by springing it open with a scraper and then using a small paintbrush. I got plenty in so it could squeeze along the joint and back out.

Next, I clamped everything down to the workbench nice and firmly, cleaned up the squozen out glue and left it for a few hours. (Is squozen a word? It should be, if not.)

And after releasing it all, voila - one stable (but not very strong) neck! Having said that, I think this is now probably about as strong as the original repair was. Looks like it would snap at the first hint of a breeze to me though!

I also started looking at how to do the next part - routing out the channels for the new wood -  and decided that my router isn't up to scratch, because it's ancient, rubbish and underpowered! So I treated myself to a nice shiny new one. Amazing how things have come on in 30 years.... Now to make a routing jig.

This is where the channels will be routed, either side of the truss rod channel, and they will go almost as deep as the back of the fingerboard.

I've also done a couple of sample patches of finish on the hardwood I'm using for the "splints". I did take a picture, but it's not clear enough to show any discernable difference between the finishes. But it looks like Tung oil is a pretty good match for the existing satin finish, so I'll probably go with that.