Custom Lap Steel: Headstock Concerns

[Mike Bottiglieri]

Hows it going everybody,

This last week, I started a project of mine, to turn a slab of buckeye burl into a lap steel guitar. When I was installing the machine heads, I had to start making cuts. I fashioned a headstock out of the solid slab of wood. The thickness of the headstock comes in at .645 inches, and the rest of the body is 2.5 inches thick.

My concern is that the buckeye doesn't seem too dense, it's not punky, but I'm beginning to fear that once I string it up the headstock will snap. Short of installing brackets on the area under the headstock and the body, what can i do to prevent this? I plan on applying several coats of polyurethane, which I know has hardening qualities, but I'm also looking into using miniwax wood hardener. Can i apply the wood hardener and afterwards apply a layer of polyurethane?

Any advice is appreciated!

[Jon Whitney]

Cut a couple of slots and epoxy in carbon fiber flat rods extending from the body into the headstock. Cover with veneer. Just a suggestion.

[Greg Steil]

now that is one interesting piece of wood. Looks like Marble from the pictures

[Barry Daniels]

Wood hardner or poly finish will do nothing to strengthen the wood. Use Jon's idea and add carbon fiber bars.

[Mike Bottiglieri]

I think it's a great idea, what's the best way for me to cut the slots? Especially since there's a bit of a lip at the nut, about a quarter of an inch, it may be difficult to saw. I don't have too many tools at my house, is there a type of router I can rent that I can use for this?

[Michael Lewis]

Sharp chisel

[Jon Whitney]

A table saw will cut the slots, or a router with appropriate guides or router table and a small (1/8") straight bit. It depends if you want blind cuts (router) or if through cuts are OK (table saw). For that irregular piece of wood, you can mount it on a plywood or particle board "sled" to use as a guide against a fence. You can put a scrap of some thin wood to make up for the "lip" at the nut. Use double stick tape to do the mounting.

What I have done for neck reinforcement with carbon fiber, is to make a sandwich by epoxying wood veneer on each side of a flat bar (these are a little thinner than 1/8" and a little narrower than 1/2") and then sanding the sides to get a close press fit into the slot. Then I glue the sandwiches in with Titebond.

[Mike Bottiglieri]

Thanks for all the great advice from everyone, but due to an absence of tools I ended up sanding a block of wood to sit flush against the back of the headstock the body. I used a mixture of sawdust and wood glue to hold it in place and clamped it for a day, then pinned it vertically to the headstock and horizontally about 6 inches into the body with oak dowels. When I put weight on the headstock it doesn't bend anymore.

If I string it up and slowly tune it, looking for movement in the headstock, would this give me an accurate representation of strength in the headstock? Are there any other ways to test the strength?

[Clay Schaeffer]

A johnny come lately suggestion would be to drill through the length of the headstock with a long drill bit and use carbon fiber arrow shafts or metal rods as reinforcement. Inset the ends a little and cut plugs to cap them.