Heel grain orientation

[blackalex1952]

I have made a few necks from walnut wood lately. The wood tends to split along the grain easily, and so I'm reviewing my understanding of heel grain orientation. Comments please. Cheers! Ross

[Mark McLean]

Ross - I presume you are talking about a stacked heel? So, if you have a couple of offcuts from the neck blank and you are stacking them up to make a heel which will then be carved - you are asking which way to orientate them? Interesting question! (And apologies if I have completely misinterpreted).

I think most people keep them in the same orientation as the neck blank because this does the best job of hiding the fact that it is a stack rather than being a neck carved from a single solid piece. But what you are implying is that the orientation that looks best, or seems intuitive, may not be the most functional. Yes, on reflection, I can see some problems with the conventional stacking method. One issue is that as you carve the curve of the heel you expose lots of end grain which can then look dark under finish. Another is that the end of the heel, whether it be a mortice or a butt joint, is also end grain which is problematic for a bolt-on system to thread into. Hence the trouble people go to with inserting brass bars or similar anchoring systems into the heel.

So, has anyone tried flipping the heel stack to east-west, or vertical, or doing some fancy laminations. I am asking from a state of complete ignorance.

[seeaxe]

I think the orientation at right angles to the neck makes sense for a bolt on system but the susceptibility to splitting will be the same.

If you look at this https://youtu.be/NiQds8rBLMM?t=41 you can see the grain in the heel is at right angles. Looks different but nice, imo.
That is a Fernando Mazza guitar. I guess if he can do it we can!

A potential issue is the end grain to side grain glue joint you will create doing it this way.
One way around the problem of splitting or your bolt anchors pulling out (for either orientation) is to install a hardwood dowell through the heel stack and screw into that.

Cheers