Workshop: Those Evil Dowel Joints



You know how I'm always talking about "doweled" neck joints on old Regal and Harmony instruments and how I need to reinforce them somehow?

This is what I mean. They use either a big (in this case) or small (in many cases) dowel at the top of the heel and cross their fingers that it won't fall apart. I guess it works for a while, anyway. The only sure way of reinforcing these is to add a bolt or screw under the dowel, from my experience.

I've tried additional dowels (works fine for ukes) but the tension on the joint is too high for something like this -- a 1920s, nice-grade Washburn-branded Regal-made 2-point mandolin. When this is done there will be a screw installed, the neck will have extra back-angle to correct compression over time, and there will be a pearl dot hiding a screw-reinforcement in the back of the heel.


Note that I've removed the fretboard extension -- it had warped "up" over time and needed reshaping, anyhow. Also, to easily remove the joint, one needs to twist on the dowel to loosen it up (something that doesn't work with the fretboard attached).

Comments

Unknown said…
Thanks so much for sharing this lesson and so many others. It's always great to see the processes you use to bring instruments back to life. I think I know this complex "patient" (nudge nudge wink wink)....she's obviously in good hands! Cheers - Bill
Jake Wildwood said…
Bill, I just finished it up 15 min ago. You're gonna love it. :)
Ron said…
This is one of the few places I've been able to find some information on these Regals. I have a teardrop from either the mid- 20's to the very early eighties,and has been in my family since then. I popped the fretboard extension off clean and since that was the only thing holding together, was able to twist the whole assembly off. I was surprised that there wasn't much glue at all on the heel, and they seemed to rely on a big glob at the bottom of the dowel joint to hold it together. Taking this really slow, and have come to the conclusion that a screw in the heel is the best way to go. Like the counter-sink idea. Thanks.
Ron said…
I meant the very early Thirties, though it's been in my possession since the Eighties.Second instrument I learned to play after bass.