Finish Shaping Heel

With the heel cap glued on it is now time to finish shaping the heel. It is something I really can’t explain by writing about it. All lines of heel must go into the lines of the neck and be aesthetically pleasing. Mike shows me how to hold the file, again using the Nickolson #50.

1. First we mark the center line of the heel cap placing the neck onto the body and continuing the CL of the body onto the heel cap.

2. Draw a heel cap shape that you want onto the heel cap piece.

3. Now draw a curved shape onto the bottom of the heel (part that will be attached to body). Mike has a Plexiglas template he uses. (See pg. 87 of Cumpiano’s book for an example).

4. You can now begin to hog out material going up to these lines. As you get closer you will want to go slower so you don’t inadvertently take more out than you wanted to. Go slow and feel for the high spots.

This is something where the real skill in a luthier lies. You have to learn by doing. Seeing how Mike carves his necks gives me a whole new perspective on the subject. My necks in the past were boxy and chunky. Mike’s are so much more elegant and really feel good when holding. This neck shape is what I will try to strive for in the future.
Mike let me pick out some Madagasscar ebony for my fretboard. Since, I am using a different scale length than he has I will have to cut it myself. Mike cuts his frets on a table saw set-up, while I will be cutting with a Japanese fret saw and a metal square.

5. Glue tenon into the neck mortise