Acoustic Guitar Construction

worked the dovetail and got the neck to fit. I took a little bit off the mortise at a time as the neck dropped lower and lower. At about half way down there was a slight twist to the fit so I got it back straight and it dropped further in but now the neck is slightly cooked off the center line about an 1/8".
I need to swing it to center. With a straight M & T I'd just floss sand the high side to bring it inline. But on this I don't know if that's what to do. The neck is tight in the mortise once it's down as far as it can go right now. The extension hits the top and there is about 3/16" more to drop down. To accomplish that the bottom of the extension has to be cut off and shaped so it floats over the top past the recurve area. So I'll try and get that done before working the dovetail anymore. I don't want to make it loose by doing the wrong thing to get the neck swung to center. Sooo....

If any if you guys have experience fitting a dovetail and can direct me on what to do I'd appreciate it.

I just went through all your progress looks amazing. And inspiring.

1/8" at the bridge position?
Herman

Actually it's off about 1/4" at the end of the guitar.

And it has a slight twist that developes after about 2/3rds of the way in. Arg.
I still need to remove wood from the bottom of the extension so the neck can seat all the way in, conform to the top recurve and have some clearance over the arch.
I'm wondering if I should do all that first before making anymore adjustments to the dovetail and heel cheeks?

This is how I would approach this:
If the fitting is tight, glue shim of , let say 0.5 mm of veneer to the tenon.
Than sand the sides of the neck, till the center line is almost fine.

The neck will be too high to the body and the fitting will be worse than it was.
Use chalk or carbon paper to find the spots on the tenon, where it is too thick and get that down.
Go slow and the fitting will get better with each pass.
Good luck
Hermn

Herman
It looks like I've got it.
I put a .020" wood shim one the cutaway side dovetail tenon and then slowly worked the other side until the neck started in and I had flossed the same side cheek too to swing the neck a bit.
I've got it in. It's straight and center falls right on my line and the joint is tight. Yah!
Thanks for your help my friend
I still need to make the underside of the extension fit on the top over the neck block, about 1.75" in from the edge. Then it has to be above and clear the arch....and look good.
The next challenge.