Attaching the Fingerboard

Index

Gluing the fingerboard is the next step, which is done with ordinary yellow glue. This is another step where I didn't do as good a job as I should have. When I glued the fingerboard on and clamped it to the workbench, I didn't notice that, although I had plenty of clamping pressure on the top, the edges were not being held tight together. So, I have a slight gap on either side of the neck between the neck and the fingerboard. I've since found some neck clamps in the Stewart-MacDonald guitar shop supply catalog that would solve this problem, and allow you to get a more even clamping pressure on the fingerboard. It could also be the case that either the neck or the fingerboard needed some fitting work, which I failed to check for.

After gluing on the fingerboard, the neck is placed back on the body, and the neck is marked where it hits the edge of the binding on the back of the guitar. The excess wood is trimmed off (I used a razor saw and then sandpaper), and the heel cap is glued on. After the glue dries, I shaped it with a chisel, and then sandpaper.

Then, holes are drilled to accept the tuning machines, and the frets are installed.