heel/tail block question?

[Jason Brown]

Does the gluing face of the heel block need to be flat or can it have a slight curve before gluing to the sides? Same for the tail block?

[Bob Gramann]

This answer assumes that you are talking about the surface that glues to the rim--the sides. A couple of my models have a curved face on the gluing surface of the tail block. I use a piece of quarter inch Lexan as a gluing caul since it will conform to the curve when clamped. The heel block can be curved the same way but that makes it harder to fit the neck, so I don't do that.

[Barry Daniels]

If the blocks are flat then the resulting shape of the guitar will have obvious flat places at the top and bottom. The bottom will be more obvious because it is more exposed. I always shape them to fit the curved shape, but then it is easy with my Shopsmith's large disk sander.