You can still get a version of the Safe-T-Plane. Grizzly sells it for $27.99
http://www.grizzly.com/outlet/Cutters-f ... aner/G4822
NASTY Headstock Break
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Barry Daniels
- Posts: 3223
- Joined: Thu Jan 05, 2012 10:58 am
- Location: The Woodlands, Texas
Re: NASTY Headstock Break
Be warned that the import copy of the planer has reported to not be constructed with the proper cutter angles that the Wagner unit had to make it cut cleanly and smoothly.
MIMF Staff
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Ryan Mazzocco
- Posts: 605
- Joined: Sat Feb 04, 2012 6:01 pm
- Location: Joplin, MO
- Contact:
Re: NASTY Headstock Break
Nick Middleton wrote:You can still get a version of the Safe-T-Plane. Grizzly sells it for $27.99
http://www.grizzly.com/outlet/Cutters-f ... aner/G4822
This item is no longer available. I was disappointed because I wanted one too.
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Eric Riehle
- Posts: 12
- Joined: Thu Sep 13, 2012 9:51 am
Re: NASTY Headstock Break
Hey everyone, I'm back--Bet you thought by now the guitar was in two pieces in a shallow grave somewhere in the sticks of outland Minnesota, eh?
OK, please try to be gentle with me. I have little in the ways and means of a luthier, so what I'm doing may appear an abomination to some...But here we go:
I found rotary abrasive pads for the drill press, not a planer, but if careful this can work. This pad is *gulp* 30-grit.
I went in increments of fractions of fractions of an inch, and the process was astoundingly successful. It took all of 10 minutes to shave 1/16". The rest I will take down with a hand plane...
Well, it's more of a rasp than a plane, but this little johnny also worked great (mind you that mahogany is a pretty darn compliant medium).
This was nerve wracking--The most aggressive Dremel bit I've ever used. I'm free-handing here, guys, feel free to commence condemning me at any time...
...Except that this too went exceptionally well. In fact, after a minimum of flat-filing the surfaces are virtually perfect!
Profile. Note that I chose not to cut the neck square and there is a gradiant. I thought in the end it will give the appearance of a "professional" touch and also make the transition from existing neck to repair smoother. BTW I've never seen a finish so thick on a guitar. There must be ten clearcoats over the stain.
A really nice, clear sheet of 1/8" maple, originally 24" X 6". I chose the end with the tightest grain as opposed to the pretty flame stuff at the other.
This is a dry-run clamping, to see how well the sheeting would follow the radius of the heel. I actually wound up "softening" the radius just a bit, cutting a rough Tele headstock shape with a coping saw and steaming it before reclamping (with more and smaller clamps). I laid a sheet of Saran Wrap between the neck and the maple sheet to discourage transfer of any moisture. Sorry for the sacriligeous image of not using shims, but I didn't think of them until the next step. No harm was done.
I'm going to let the guitar rest for a week or two before I commit to epoxy to allow the sheet wood to acclimate to its new shape. This whole process so far has gone way too well for me to believe that something won't go terribly wrong, but remember the guitar cost me nothing, there's always that, eh?
In the mean time, have a great Christmas/Hanukkah folks!
OK, please try to be gentle with me. I have little in the ways and means of a luthier, so what I'm doing may appear an abomination to some...But here we go:
I found rotary abrasive pads for the drill press, not a planer, but if careful this can work. This pad is *gulp* 30-grit.
I went in increments of fractions of fractions of an inch, and the process was astoundingly successful. It took all of 10 minutes to shave 1/16". The rest I will take down with a hand plane...
Well, it's more of a rasp than a plane, but this little johnny also worked great (mind you that mahogany is a pretty darn compliant medium).
This was nerve wracking--The most aggressive Dremel bit I've ever used. I'm free-handing here, guys, feel free to commence condemning me at any time...
...Except that this too went exceptionally well. In fact, after a minimum of flat-filing the surfaces are virtually perfect!
Profile. Note that I chose not to cut the neck square and there is a gradiant. I thought in the end it will give the appearance of a "professional" touch and also make the transition from existing neck to repair smoother. BTW I've never seen a finish so thick on a guitar. There must be ten clearcoats over the stain.
A really nice, clear sheet of 1/8" maple, originally 24" X 6". I chose the end with the tightest grain as opposed to the pretty flame stuff at the other.
This is a dry-run clamping, to see how well the sheeting would follow the radius of the heel. I actually wound up "softening" the radius just a bit, cutting a rough Tele headstock shape with a coping saw and steaming it before reclamping (with more and smaller clamps). I laid a sheet of Saran Wrap between the neck and the maple sheet to discourage transfer of any moisture. Sorry for the sacriligeous image of not using shims, but I didn't think of them until the next step. No harm was done.
I'm going to let the guitar rest for a week or two before I commit to epoxy to allow the sheet wood to acclimate to its new shape. This whole process so far has gone way too well for me to believe that something won't go terribly wrong, but remember the guitar cost me nothing, there's always that, eh?
In the mean time, have a great Christmas/Hanukkah folks!
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Greg Robinson
- Posts: 686
- Joined: Fri Jan 06, 2012 1:54 pm
- Location: Coburg North, Victoria, Australia
Re: NASTY Headstock Break
Eric, slow down!
You're lucky you didn't break through to the truss rod, you're probably literally mils (thousandths of an inch) from it. Also, you shouldn't try to get that maple to conform to the hole you've gouged, placing it in stress, you need to carve one to fit the other, called "chalk fitting". If you were planning on using epoxy anyway, why didn't you just fill the gaps and refinish?
You're lucky you didn't break through to the truss rod, you're probably literally mils (thousandths of an inch) from it. Also, you shouldn't try to get that maple to conform to the hole you've gouged, placing it in stress, you need to carve one to fit the other, called "chalk fitting". If you were planning on using epoxy anyway, why didn't you just fill the gaps and refinish?
MIMForum staff member - Melbourne, Australia
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Michael Lewis
- Posts: 1475
- Joined: Thu Jan 12, 2012 1:22 am
- Location: Northern California USA
- Contact:
Re: NASTY Headstock Break
As usual, Greg is correct, you should not have much of a hump to glue the new wood to. Smooth it out some and add another layer of wood if needed. That will leave a rather thin area of original wood so be gentle while handling it. It might be a good idea to make a clamping caul to fit the face of the headstock and fingerboard to support it during the process.
If you use epoxy make sure it is a very good quality and MIX IT WELL!!! Most failures of epoxy stem from choosing the wrong variety or not mixing well. I would use hot hide glue for this but Titebond would work also.
If you use epoxy make sure it is a very good quality and MIX IT WELL!!! Most failures of epoxy stem from choosing the wrong variety or not mixing well. I would use hot hide glue for this but Titebond would work also.
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Eric Riehle
- Posts: 12
- Joined: Thu Sep 13, 2012 9:51 am
Re: NASTY Headstock Break
Gotchya guys. I have plenty of 1/16" maple to build up "the hole I gouged" 
Besides, the 1/8" sheet has been steam-bent to create little to no stress. My concern is that the break goes right through the heel of that headstock and is not clean. That seems the worst place for a weak spot to me, so I wanted to "wrap" over it. That hump was flattened considerably after that photo was taken.
I appreciate the input--Let's hope I haven't made things worse, eh?
Besides, the 1/8" sheet has been steam-bent to create little to no stress. My concern is that the break goes right through the heel of that headstock and is not clean. That seems the worst place for a weak spot to me, so I wanted to "wrap" over it. That hump was flattened considerably after that photo was taken.I appreciate the input--Let's hope I haven't made things worse, eh?
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Greg Robinson
- Posts: 686
- Joined: Fri Jan 06, 2012 1:54 pm
- Location: Coburg North, Victoria, Australia
Re: NASTY Headstock Break
Just be careful not to break through to the truss rod!
You've already put a lot of work into this, I'd hate to see it go south on you.
You've already put a lot of work into this, I'd hate to see it go south on you.
MIMForum staff member - Melbourne, Australia
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Michael Lewis
- Posts: 1475
- Joined: Thu Jan 12, 2012 1:22 am
- Location: Northern California USA
- Contact:
Re: NASTY Headstock Break
Eric, when you are finished with this repair the neck should be stronger than when new, or nearly so. It looks like fairly soft wood, and the damaged area of the fracture is being mostly replaced, especially the back part that will be in tension when strings are tuned up. If it goes "south" you get to make a new neck and that will be more experience in your bag of tricks.
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Eric Riehle
- Posts: 12
- Joined: Thu Sep 13, 2012 9:51 am
Re: NASTY Headstock Break
Sorry for the lapse, the guitar is done, and with the knowledge in mind that I wasn't looking for a cosmetic miracle, I present my caveman repair:
When I last posted the 1/8" sheet of maple was being "test-clamped" to the back of the headstock. After that pic was taken I trimmed the backstrap to a rough shape, steamed it again and reclamped for a few days--I realize that some or more of you were concerned that I should have performed a "chalk-fit", but neither have the tools nor the skills to want to attempt it. After a couple days the maple sheet had conformed perfectly to the shape of the neck, so I went ahead with the epoxy (Loctite 60 min).
Yes, I failed to put any protective stock on the top of the headstock, but only because I planned to apply a 1/16" maple sheet.
After 24 hours I furthered my bond with the Dremel...
Some preliminary sanding is done with a handy-dandy aluminum hand sander saved from my r/c airplane building days.
Like I said, this wasn't done with "pretty" in mind, but it did turn out better than I expected...
...And holes drilled...
The top, shaved to 1/16". I did have a mahogany sheet, but for the added psycological sense of security I chose to go again with maple. Instead of trying to follow the crurve to the nut I simply notched my repair as far past the original break as possible.
No clamp was spared.
Yes, Santa on the doorknob. Not my doing...
Hardware installed and the guitar was restrung to test for string tension issues. I played it vigorously for nearly a month.
Instead of staining I applied an auto enamel, MEK-based Deltron in Candy Apple Red. Applied with a foam roller skin and "dabbed" on in 3 or 4 coats.
Fender decal from a Strat, trimmed appropriately. The paint looks rough, it's a single coat of clear (PlastikKote clear auto enamel) and was sanded just enough to take the decal.
I stopped at 8 coats of clear.
I was having trouble getting the spray-can clear to apply consistantly, so I simply sanded the neck to the stain coat and rubbed on two coats of Danish oil. This pic was taken at the end of the 400-grit sanding, I followed with 600 and 800. The back of this neck is fast and slicker than it ever would have been with multiple coats of clear. Doesn't look so good, but from the front...
The end product. It plays like butter and sounds great. I appreciate the help and advice I got here.
When I last posted the 1/8" sheet of maple was being "test-clamped" to the back of the headstock. After that pic was taken I trimmed the backstrap to a rough shape, steamed it again and reclamped for a few days--I realize that some or more of you were concerned that I should have performed a "chalk-fit", but neither have the tools nor the skills to want to attempt it. After a couple days the maple sheet had conformed perfectly to the shape of the neck, so I went ahead with the epoxy (Loctite 60 min).
Yes, I failed to put any protective stock on the top of the headstock, but only because I planned to apply a 1/16" maple sheet.
After 24 hours I furthered my bond with the Dremel...
Some preliminary sanding is done with a handy-dandy aluminum hand sander saved from my r/c airplane building days.
Like I said, this wasn't done with "pretty" in mind, but it did turn out better than I expected...
...And holes drilled...
The top, shaved to 1/16". I did have a mahogany sheet, but for the added psycological sense of security I chose to go again with maple. Instead of trying to follow the crurve to the nut I simply notched my repair as far past the original break as possible.
No clamp was spared.
Yes, Santa on the doorknob. Not my doing...
Hardware installed and the guitar was restrung to test for string tension issues. I played it vigorously for nearly a month.
Instead of staining I applied an auto enamel, MEK-based Deltron in Candy Apple Red. Applied with a foam roller skin and "dabbed" on in 3 or 4 coats.
Fender decal from a Strat, trimmed appropriately. The paint looks rough, it's a single coat of clear (PlastikKote clear auto enamel) and was sanded just enough to take the decal.
I stopped at 8 coats of clear.
I was having trouble getting the spray-can clear to apply consistantly, so I simply sanded the neck to the stain coat and rubbed on two coats of Danish oil. This pic was taken at the end of the 400-grit sanding, I followed with 600 and 800. The back of this neck is fast and slicker than it ever would have been with multiple coats of clear. Doesn't look so good, but from the front...
The end product. It plays like butter and sounds great. I appreciate the help and advice I got here.
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Jason Rodgers
- Posts: 1554
- Joined: Fri Jan 06, 2012 4:05 pm
- Location: Portland, OR
Re: NASTY Headstock Break
I don't think you'll be getting any calls for warranty repairs, but this project turned out better than it looked going in! Good job seeing it through to the end!
-Ruining perfectly good wood, one day at a time.