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@fritter63 wrote:
The problem is that if I use a round nose, I've got to cut deeper on thesides where it meets the spoilboard to get a nice straight edge.
what i did was to cut the outline of the fingerboard from the topside first to a depth that overlaps height of the ball mill i'd use for the back of the neck. I used a 6mm ball mill for the back so i cut the outline with a flat mill from the topside to 3.5mm deep (3mm is the radius leftover the ball mill will leave on the other side). for me this worked because my fretboard is 5mm high and i'm keeping the edges of the fretboard straight and only start the slope of the back of the neck at the fretboard bottom. If your back neck radius is completely curve including the fretboard edges in the curve this will not work.

that way when i cut the back with the ball mill i don't have to go into the spoilboard. But you could also just mount the neck on a separate spoilboard, piece of MDF or scrap wood to gain a bit more height for the ball mill operation of the back.
in total i used 8 operations for this neck:
Topside:
- drill reference holes to align the fingerboard when gluing and reference holes for the tuners on the headstock part)
- contour the outline of the neck with a flat bit
- rough out the headstock with flat bit (adaptive clearing)
- parallel finish the headstock
- cut the truss rod channel with a flat bit (slot or pocket)
- cut a slot for the nut to align and fit
Backside
- rough out the neck (adaptive) .. make sure to leave a bit of extra stock to avoid cusps after finishing .. i typically use 0.25mm to 0.5mm (depending on the wood type, for highly figured wood that tends to tearouts i leave more stock, the ball mill minimises tearout on figured wood i've learned
- parallel finish the neck with a large ball mill and tiny stepover (6mm ball mill with 0,2mm stepover)
Little tip: while you're already milling the neck, make yourself some 'negative shapes' as neck rests/clamps .. they will come in handy for gluing, fretting and finishing:

GENERAL DISCLAIMER: if there isn't a file attached to my posts then there is a reason for it. wherever i can i will attach a file for troubleshooting.If no file is attached i will always try to explain as clearly as possible with illustrative screenshots. when i have an issue that can only be helped by attaching a file which i cannot share publicly i won't ask about it here.
Fusion