Acoustic Guitar Construction

Does anyone know of any commercial sources for cauls that can be used to accept clamps to help assemble fingerboards to necks? LMI seems to offer a tool that does the job for a suitable price...should I dig into my pocket for that one, or are there others that would do the job, too?

Thanks, folks.

Yeah that makes me laugh.

If you can build a guitar you certainly can fabricate the cauls shown in our KMG manual.


http://www.kennethmichaelguitars.com/ne ... embly.html

Or you can take out a second mortgage? Keep in mind that the most important elements to this procedure are having the FB pinned so it does not move around, don't use too much glue so you don't warp anything and have a caul that supports most of the length. You can simply apply several layers of tape to the outsides of that caul to compenstate for the FB contour.

And for the record those CLF fingerboard clamps Sold by LMII are simply temporary hose clamps sold at Walmart and the other big box stores as well as RV/camping supply house for about $1.00 each! I have the ones from LMII (bought before I knew better) and do not use them -- for a number of reasons, first being they do not hold nearly as good as real clamps.

Ken, thanks, I think your response is all I needed to know. I had an incomplete idea of how conformal the cauls needed to be.

I always use a compound radius fretboard, so creating a precise caul would be a nightmare.

I use a couple of pins (1.5mm finish nails) that are drilled through the fret slots and into the neck and I make sure these are knocked in deep enough so as not to foul the fret tang, these pins stop the fretboard from sliding around as you apply clamping pressure.

I then use two cork strips (you can buy these dirt cheap from the DIY stores, they are used as expansion strips at the edges of laminate or hardwood flooring) on a piece of granite (kitchen worktop off cut). I set the cork strips to the taper of the fretboard and then clamp the neck and fretboard upside down to the granite. In my opinion, the centre of the fretboard doesn't need clamping, it is a narrow width and if clamped at the edges the centre will automatically make contact. If the fretboard was to be clamped in the centre only, the edges can sometimes curl up and leave a slight but ugly gap, especially if you use a water based glue - I don't, I always use epoxy for the fretboard to neck connection.

Once the glue has set and I release the clamps I find that neck is as true as I have planed the surfaces and at a guess I would say that the flatness is to within 0.002'' down its length.

It's not the method everyone would chose, but I find it works impeccably for me.


Bob

Bob - could you snap a pic of the cork process? I get the pins idea but am having trouble visualizing the cork strips.
Thanks. Sounds like a good process - I sometimes have had that little bit of edge problem you refer to, and the epoxy sounds like a good idea as well.

Dave, I do have a picture but it's not a very good one, sunshine and shadow, but hopefully you'll get the idea.



Bob

Can't seem to open that pic, sorry.