Best way to shave the heel joint of a roasted ash body . . .

[GuitarStv]

I got a roasted ash body from Warmoth, but it came with a small chip knocked out of the heel joint on the back (about 1/16th of an inch deep, and about 1/8th inch wide). My original plan was to use a router to slightly reduce the thickness of the whole neck heel area, but it seems like this roasted ash is very prone to chipping. I see multiple small chips (less than a mm in depth/width) along the edges of the routes that will go under the pickguard. Everything else seems good on the body (it's very light), and like I said I was planning on taking down the heel area anyway so it doesn't seem worth sending back.

The chipping thing leads me to believe that I'd be safest just sanding the hell out of the area to get the heel joint flat and get rid of the chip. I think that'll work (eventually), but I'm wondering if there's a better way to do this that would be a little quicker (but still safe/hard to screw up). Any ideas?

 

[ICTGoober]

Re: Best way to shave the heel joint of a roasted ash body . . .

Have you asked on the Warmoth Forum yet?

 

[GuitarStv]

Re: Best way to shave the heel joint of a roasted ash body . . .

Thanks, I've registered and asked there.

 

[Clint 55]

Re: Best way to shave the heel joint of a roasted ash body . . .

Sanding with 40 on a 5" palm sander would get you to your desired shape quickly and remove the chip. Then you could sand with 80, 120, 220 to take out the scratches.

 

[GuitarStv]

Re: Best way to shave the heel joint of a roasted ash body . . .

40 is very aggressive. I'll probably do it slow with something in the 150 - 200 range. No need to rush. Better to have it done perfectly than done quickly.

 

[Clint 55]

Re: Best way to shave the heel joint of a roasted ash body . . .

You could do that. You can start as aggressively as you like as long as you're in control of the speed of the cut and you go through the grits to remove the scratches. That's how I shaped my warmoth fatback necks. Didn't wanna be there all day with 220. I used to sand professionally. I can start with a grinding disk if heavy material removal is needed then bring it to as smooth of a finish as I want.

 

[GuitarStv]

Re: Best way to shave the heel joint of a roasted ash body . . .

I have to do this pretty carefully, as I want to keep the back of the neck heel pretty close to flat so the neck plate will fit on it properly. 'Professionally' is not the way I'd describe anything I do while puttering around in the garage. 'Ham-fisted' maybe.

 

[vinta9e]

Re: Best way to shave the heel joint of a roasted ash body . . .

There are as many ways to shave the neck joint as there are to skin a cat, but I like the tone of a full fat brick supporting the neck heel and I like my cats fluffy too.

 

[GuitarStv]

Re: Best way to shave the heel joint of a roasted ash body . . .

Well, roasted ash sands super duper easily! I knocked an eighth of an inch off in about 30 seconds with some 140 grit sandpaper and my trusty random orbit sander. The chip is gone and the neck heel is still flat. Debating if I'm going to do another 1/8th of an inch just for ease of access on the upper frets. The Jazzmaster body is already pretty awesome on that front simply because of the lack of the lower horn to bang your wrist into so maybe it doesn't matter.

 

[Clint 55]

Re: Best way to shave the heel joint of a roasted ash body . . .

'Professionally' is not the way I'd describe anything I do while puttering around in the garage. 'Ham-fisted' maybe.

Same

 

[GuitarStv]

Re: Best way to shave the heel joint of a roasted ash body . . .

Alright, I've sanded the part of the neck heel under the neck down to about 23 mm (9/10ths of an inch). My Godin has a neck heel that's only 19 mm deep (heavy mahogany body), but I'm scared of taking things down that far as this ash body is very light . . . which makes me think it's probably not as strong. Think I might go down another millimeter or so, but no more than that.

 

[ICTGoober]

Re: Best way to shave the heel joint of a roasted ash body . . .

Alright, I've sanded the part of the neck heel under the neck down to about 23 mm (9/10ths of an inch). My Godin has a neck heel that's only 19 mm deep (heavy mahogany body), but I'm scared of taking things down that far as this ash body is very light . . . which makes me think it's probably not as strong. Think I might go down another millimeter or so, but no more than that.

Weight does not determine strength. Consider spider silk. It's one-sixth the weight of steel by volume, but has the tensile strength of high grade alloy steel.

 

[GuitarDoc]

Re: Best way to shave the heel joint of a roasted ash body . . .

If you want to keep it flat, use a file for the last bit...sandpaper tends to round off everything.

Also, be aware of final thickness vs screw length. It's very difficult to play at those higher frets with the sharp end of a screw protruding through the fretboard.

 

[GuitarStv]

Re: Best way to shave the heel joint of a roasted ash body . . .

Yes, I was pretty careful measuring my screws! That's one of the reasons that I didn't want the regular Warmoth contoured heel . . . you use different screws at the front and the back of the neck. Which is totally something that I'd forget one day and then **** up the fretboard!

 

[GuitarDoc]

Re: Best way to shave the heel joint of a roasted ash body . . .

Ha. Yeah, I totally get that. Something I would do too.

 

[GuitarStv]

Re: Best way to shave the heel joint of a roasted ash body . . .

In a semi-related note, grain filling ash is turning out to be a giant *****. You could drive a car down the canyons in this wood.

 

[orpheo]

Re: Best way to shave the heel joint of a roasted ash body . . .

In a semi-related note, grain filling ash is turning out to be a giant *****. You could drive a car down the canyons in this wood.

what filler did you use? If you start with Zpoxy finishing resin, you should have it filled after 3 or 4 turns, with sanding in between the layers. That's the most natural looking filler I've come across. Otherwise, a 400ml 2K clearcoat finish will work wonders as well. That fills and seals the pores quite well. Then 800 ml of 1k and then... sanding.

Or, rustin's grain filler but that stuff has a bit of a color and I don't like that under a clear finish. If you want to use a transparent color, I'd go with the 2K route (color/dye first, then the 2K). If it's gonna be opaque: 2K epoxy primer/filler. Done in one evening, ready to sand the next day and ready to be coated with a new application.

 

[GuitarStv]

Re: Best way to shave the heel joint of a roasted ash body . . .

what filler did you use? If you start with Zpoxy finishing resin, you should have it filled after 3 or 4 turns, with sanding in between the layers. That's the most natural looking filler I've come across. Otherwise, a 400ml 2K clearcoat finish will work wonders as well. That fills and seals the pores quite well. Then 800 ml of 1k and then... sanding.

Or, rustin's grain filler but that stuff has a bit of a color and I don't like that under a clear finish. If you want to use a transparent color, I'd go with the 2K route (color/dye first, then the 2K). If it's gonna be opaque: 2K epoxy primer/filler. Done in one evening, ready to sand the next day and ready to be coated with a new application.

I'm using Aquaclear grain filler . . . chosen because:
- it was at the local store
- it was the least toxic grain filler they had


Never used grain filler before. I was expecting that after one or two applications it would be done - which seems to have been optimistic.

 

[orpheo]

Re: Best way to shave the heel joint of a roasted ash body . . .

never used that; not available on my side of the pond.