Official Luthiers Forum!

What length neck blank do you need for a neck (25.4" scale length) with a stacked heel? I haven't tried a stack heel yet... Oh, and does cherry make a good neck?
Thanks,
Steve

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Steve Sollod (pronounced sorta like "Solid")
www.swiftcreekguitars.com

12 or 14 fret? My 14 fret Martin style headstock is 21"-1/16

Cherry should make as good a neck as the wood you put into it:) Great wood = great neck, crappy wood, not so great

For my classicals, I like the 36" blanks from Hibdon - that does the headstock and the full heel stack no problem.

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Jim Kirby
kirby@udel.edu

Another alternative to a stacked heel is a solid block glued to neck blank. Easier to blend so that it gives the appearance of a one piece.
Tom

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A person who has never made a mistake has never made anything!!!

Would that not depend on the thickness? (to get the depth at the heel)

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The name catgut is confusing. There are two explanations for the mix up.

Catgut is an abbreviation of the word cattle gut. Gut strings are made from sheep or goat intestines, in the past even from horse, mule or donkey intestines.

Otherwise it could be from the word kitgut or kitstring. Kit meant fiddle, not kitten.

I'm in the middle of this process right now. A 35" x 3" x 7/8" blank worked for me, with room to spare.

I've never used cherry myself, but many people do.

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George :-)

If the wood is 3/4" thick or more & your guitar is not excessively deep, 12" is normally enough. A little planning to be sure you don't waste too much material is necessary. (A Spanish heel will take a lot more than 12".)
For a stacked heel to look good, there are a couple of things to keep in mind. The pieces need to be glued together in the correct orientation, or some pieces will look darker than others.
Using a sharpie, I draw a line down the centre of the face edge & mark several arrow points along the line. Once you cut the pieces, you need to arrange the lines & arrows so they are all pointing the same way when they are stacked together.
If the heel pieces & neck are cut from the same piece of wood, be sure to continue the line & arrows into the neck portion of the board to minimize any colour shift there.
The other thing that can spoil the appearance of a stacked heel is a very thin section under the heel cap. Try to thickness the wood before you cut it up, so you get roughly equal thickness on the last piece.
With a bit of care, a stacked heel can look (almost) like a solid piece of wood.
Hope this helps...