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For a bolt-on mortise-tenon neck joint, what are the pros & cons of routing the neck block before gluing to the sides vs. routing after the box is closed?

Doing it before saves you the trouble of making a jig, especially if you have a table router. You just have to be careful to get it perpendicular to the sides when you glue it on.

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for me i mill out the tenon pocket and drill the bolt holes before assembly. on my body mold/form i have a locating tab that registers the block pocket relative to the body to ensure accurate positioning. when everything is glued up, all i have to do is chisel out the side material away from the pocket and i'm done. all of my angular work regarding neck angle (cheeks and tenon) is performed on the neck but i am also able to mill an angled pocket as well should i choose to do so.

for me i would say that:

pros:
-since i do all of my block work on a milling machine this suits my work flow just fine.
-post assembly clamping and fixturing is eliminated
-the risk of damaging the body is greatly reduced

cons:
-setting the block position is critical.
-accurate fabrication of the block is critical. squareness, perpendicularity, and the curvature of the glue face of the block especially.
-accurate location and retention of the body within the mold/form is critical

I do it before on non cutaways but after on cutaways where you want the heel to flush up with the cutaway side. Especially archtops.

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I have done it both ways and now route my neck joint after the box is closed (I switched back to dovetails).

If you do it before, as others have said, make 100% certain that everything is lined up perfectly. Also, if you choose to cut your mortise all the way through the block, you are going to run into problems when routing the binding channel for the back. This is why some people don't cut the mortise all the way through (vertically speaking), or if they do, they put a filler piece in on the back side.

Routing afterwards allows you to not have worry about miner slipping during glue up or a change of angle due to sanding the sides for the top plate. I find it less stressful this way. Plus, I enjoy making jigs.

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I cut it before and glue thin filler pieces 1/2 the width of the pocket on the inside ends of the sides. Those locate the sides perfectly to the block when gluing up.

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Burton
http://www.legeytinstruments.com
Brookline, MA.

I cut it before, and I'm stealing that idea!

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Usually after , but that's all I've ever tried .

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Have done both, but prefer routing the pocket after box is closed and bound.

Chuck

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I've done a bolt-on neck block for a mandolin before glue up. No significant issues, but the location and alignment of the block is, indeed, pretty critical. Actually, I've done two, but the second neck isn't fitted yet, so we will see.... I cut my mando mortises on the table saw. I also routed a sliding dovetail pocket into my archtop guitar after the neck block was glued to the sides, but before the top and back were glued on. The reason: It required a much smaller holding fixture and routing jig. I am not building for continual production, so I didn't want to store big jigs and fixtures. With the guitar, I hand cut the dovetail on the neck. Again, no real issues, but final fitting was pretty fussy. I'm satisfied it can work either way. You are the only one who can decide which method works best for your schedule, your various models, your space to store jigs and fixtures, and so on. Long term production and storage for jigs and fixtures are both considerations.
Patrick