Methods - Making a Scarfed Peghead
Neck Blank with Scarfed Peghead and Stacked Heel
If necessary, clean up the scarf
Align the two pieces from the scarf cut as shown at the edge of a work surface.
If necessary, using a plane, flat sanding block, and small straightedge, assure that the surfaces are flat in all directions and that they will mate, properly aligned and with a good clean glue joint.
Scarf Joint Done
Blackwater River Guitars
Methods - Making a Scarfed Peghead
This page shows how I make a neck using a scarfed peghead.
This method uses the neck wood efficiently. You can use a 3/4" board rather than a 4" thick board to make the neck.
The scarf joint might also produce a stronger peghead because the scarf allows the grain in the peghead to follow the length of the peghead.
Prepare the Neck Billet
I started with a classical guitar neck blank (billet) from Stewmac that was approximately 15/16" thick x 3" wide x 34" long.
First cut the billet to length (in this case, it was 24"). The leftover piece will be used for the stacked heel.
Then mill the billet to 3/4" thickness. I resawed this on the bandsaw to get close to 3/4" and then ran it through the planer.
The thin castoff from the resawing can be used for the stacked heel, building up a neck or heel block, or cantilevered fretboard extension, or whatever else you want to do with a thin piece of wood.
Cut the Scarf
I use a jig to cut the 15 degree scarf.
I first saw this jig on Kathy Matsushita's Website. This jig was designed by Peter Licis, and plans for it can be found on Kathy's Website. This jig works really well.
I use a fine tooth blade that makes a really clean cut. A little, but not much, clean up work is sometimes necessary (see info in the left column). But other times, I don't need to clean it up at all.
Align the Scarf Joint for the Peghead
The photo in the left column shows the scarf cut.
On the right you can see the peghead piece flipped over to form the 15 degree tilt for the peghead.
After checking the alignment and some clean-up if necessary, the scarfed peghead will be glued-up
Glue the Scarf Joint
Align the scarf joint and secure all the pieces so they won't move during the glue up. Do a dry run with the clamps. Then glue the scarf joint with cauls to provide even pressure along the entire scarf.
I use cauls protected with packing tape so the glue won't stick to them.
Below: Here's another glue-up showing all the clamping to keep the pieces from shifting during the glue-up. Cumpiano and Natelson explain this well in their book, "Guitarmaking, Tradition and Technology."
