Estado de gastos

When gluing the fretboard to the neck, many clamps are required in order to get a strong and level glue joint. Small bar clamps can be used for this purpose, however they are more valuable in other applications. A nice way to save the main clamps for other jobs and still clamp down the fretboard for gluing is to make a set of fretboard gluing clamps.

These clamps are made from scrap wood that is lined with cork to prevent dings and dents to the guitar wood, and held together with bolts and wing nuts. The clamps are slipped over the headstock or the top caul is removed completely, and then placed in position. The wing nuts are tightened down creating pressure between the two pieces, clamping the fretboard to the neck.

To construct the clamp, a set of hex bolts are required, each being 6" long. The reason they are this long is so they can be opened very large to pass over the headstock. A few washers and a pair of matching wing nuts are also needed, as well as a piece of scrap wood for making the cauls. A layer of cork will be glued to the faces of the clamp, which should be 1/8"

thick, and is found in an office supply store.

Measure out on the scrap piece of wood a pair of rectangles that are 4-1/2" long and 1-1/2" wide, marking the lines darkly so they are easy to see. This length will leave enough on each side that the bolts are not too close to the edge, as well as not being too close to the neck and fretboard.

On the band saw or the table saw, cut out the shapes of the clamping cauls.

Once the two pieces have been cut out, measure in from each edge 5/8" and make a line from top to bottom. Find the center of this line which should be 3/4" and make a perpendicular mark on all four ends. The pieces should now look like the picture on the previous page, with all four ends marked for drilling.

Use an awl to make a depression where the marks intersect, which will help the drill bit make the hole more accurately. Instructions for making an awl in the shop are also found in this chapter.

Using a brad point drill bit preferably, drill out the pieces following the marks and lines already made on the wood. If the two pieces are stacked and clamped together, both sets of holes can be drilled at the same time. They can also be drilled individually, as seen in the picture above.

Now the pieces have been drilled and they are ready to be lined with cork, so they can be better clamping cauls. Before moving on to the gluing phase, line up the blocks on top of one another to ensure that the holes are also lined up well. This will be important to how the clamp functions, and will need to line up very closely in order to make a good clamp.

Next, cut two pieces of cork that are large enough to cover the spaces between the

holes on the clamp faces. The piece should overhang the edges a little, and if they cover the holes they can always be drilled out later. The piece should be roughly 2" x 3-1/2", and two will be needed.

Cover the faces of the clamps with a layer of glue, and spread it out evenly over the surface.

Cover the glue with the cork pieces that were cut earlier, pressing them firmly.

Lay a piece of wax paper on the bench, followed by the clamping faces with the cork side down, a piece of wood to act as a gluing caul, and a few gym weights on top of it all.

The piece of wood will help spread out the force from the weights, and keep the cork flat during gluing. A few small gym weights are all that is needed to keep the cork flat while it dries, which should be given a few hours. The wax paper will keep any glue that seeps through the cork from getting everything stuck to the bench, ruining the clamps.

When the glue has dried, remove the weights, the caul, and the wax paper, and inspect the pieces. If the cork is smooth and glued well, cut the excess off with a razor knife, trimming as close to the edge as possible. Do this on both pieces, being careful not to rip any cork off of the faces in the process, which can sometimes happen with a dull razor knife.

Bring the piece to the belt sander and carefully bevel the edges of the cork until they are nicely blended into the caul. Cork will sand quickly, so touch it lightly to the belt sander then look at it before touching it again.

While at the sander, take the time to break any sharp corners that the piece of wood may have, which will make the clamp more comfortable to hold while it is being used to glue the fretboard to the neck.

Assemble the piece as seen here, with the cauls facing each other, a washer on the top and bottom, and a wing nut at the very end. The washers are for distributing the force from the bolt head and the wing nut, and are important to have in place.

To use the clamp, open it up completely, and slip it over the headstock and into position. The fretboard and neck must already have the glue applied between them, and essentially be only waiting for clamps. Place it near the end where the higher frets are, and tighten the wing nuts to apply a little tension.

Next, place a second clamp a little bit above the first one, tightening it as well.

They should be spaced apart a couple inches at the most, which will encourage good clamping pressure and good glue adhesion. It will take 6-8 clamps like this to fully lock down the fretboard, and it will be important to clean up any glue squeeze out with a wet rag, so it does not glue the clamps to the neck by mistake.

Using dedicated clamps for certain tasks is a great way to conserve the other standard clamps that are in the shop. They are easy to make, extremely inexpensive, and will do the job just as well as any other clamping method. Making several of these will only take a couple hours, most of which being spent waiting for the glue to dry.