Inlaying headstocks

[Gibsonman]

I just wanted to know from the builders. Do you inlay the headstock before or after you install the neck to the body, and why. Thanks.

[Stanley Cox]

In my "vast" experience of building, I bind and inlay the peghead before attaching the neck to the body.

It is easier to hold the neck level for routing the inlay and then easier to sand flush with the PH. I have built STORM #1 but 3 more are on the bench. Inlayed 1-1/2 phs.

Some milage may vary.

Stanley

[sunburst]

Before it's on the body.
As a matter of fact, while the shaft of the neck is still square so I can clamp in it a vise to hold it securely for routing for the inlay. It's much harder to secure a mandolin than a square neck blank.

[Jim Rowland]

I draw the outline of the head onto the overlay and do all the inlay into the overlay...or is that..the over into..the..well,you know what I mean. In other words,I fix the overlay,usually Ebony to a flat block,drop it into the good old parrot vice,do the inlay and engraving,before cutting to shape 3/32 or so scant of the headstock itself. I hope I've made myself clear.
Jim

[Jerry Haynes]

I agree with Sunburst, but will add this... I do the neck joint first. If I do all the shaping, inlaying etc and then mess up the neck joint, I've done a lot of work for nothing. That's just the way I do it, works best for me.

[Jerry Haynes]

After reading your question again, I realized that I hadn't given you an answer. Off the body, much eaiser to control. Once I get the neck joint to fit the body, then I move on to the rest of the neck, before installing it to the body.

[Gibsonman]

Off the body is what I thought. Thanks guys.

[Michael Lewis]

Inlay can be done at any stage of building. There is no perfect time to do it, but there may well be a "better" stage that works for you.

I made a small table about 8"square that just fits the back of a mandolin headstock when the neck is attached to the body. It also works well for a guitar neck that is un attached. This puts the area to be inlayed up from the work bench closer to eye level. It helps that my work benches are about 40 inches high or a bit more to begin with.

[Bill Halsey]

I cut out the inlay shapes in the headstock veneer with a piercing saw. The veneer & inlays are assembled & fixed with gummed paper tape, then laminated to a thicker veneer. It is cut to the outline (less binding), glued onto the headstock, then bound. The final headstock shape is then band sawed and cleaned up before the neck is fitted to the body.

[Stephanie Reiser]

I inlay my inlays after binding the headstock, and it is the last thing I do prior to gluing the neck to the box.