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The headstock is .605" thick which is exactly the same
as the D28 I'm copying. |
The plate and veneer add an additional .100" which will
make the headstock too thick to mount the tuners. |
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| This incredibly handy little Safety Planer mounts in a drill
press and does a great job. I've even thinned sides and backs with
it! |
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It's a great little tool. |
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Another inexpensive tool is this sanding sleeve. After
tracing the outline of the headstock I simply sanded up to the line. |
Because I want to access the truss rod from inside the
guitar I'm gluing a filler in the end of the channel at the head stock. |
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| Everything is ready to go together. |
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Installing the truss rod is a simple matter of pressing it
into the slot. |
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Here is where I screwed up! I didn't notice that the veneer
slipped when I clamped it. I had to use an iron to heat and soften the glue so
that I could reposition the veneer. |
Using a 3/8" drill because I can't find a 10mm.
I'll have to ream the holes in order to install the tuners. |
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| I used a flush cutting bit
in my router to trim the headstock veneer. |
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Then I used a 45 degree bevel router bit to expose a bit
more of the maple veneer. I think it's a nice effect. |
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To ascertain the location of the fret markers I drafted the
locations of the strings right onto the fretboard. |
After marking the locations for the dots I use a 1/4"
brad-point drill which cuts an accurate hole and leaves a flat bottom. |
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You've got to be careful not to drill too deep. A drill stop
would be really handy for this. |
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A few drops of Cyano acrylate glue in a piece of aluminum
foil make it easy to wet the bottom of the inlay with glue and not get it
all over myself. |
The mother of pearl dots are a tight fit. |
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| A quick bit of sanding to level the inlay and we're ready to
begin installing the frets. |
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Cut each fret a little oversized and begin a tapping it in
at one end. |
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This hammer has a hard plastic insert in the head so that
the frets won't be dented as I pound them in. |
This job goes very quickly. Once you get the hang of
it each fret goes in cleanly with several quick blows. |
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| Using an old credit card to spread the glue evenly. Notice
that I'm not allowing glue on the truss rod. |
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A quick swipe with my finger assures that the glue is where
I want it. |
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To make certain that the fret board doesn't slip when I
clamp it I drive two staples in it's back, then remove all but one leg
of the each staple. |
Here, I'm trimming the end of the head stock overlay so that
I can fit the nut. |
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