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Neck carving---hand vs CNC
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NorCalluthier
Posts: 136
Joined: Apr. 16 2016
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RE: Neck carving---hand vs CNC (in reply to NorCalluthier)
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Hello Andy, An entry level CNC kit that is just large enough to carve the body of the neck is available for $698 from bobscnc.com An online student of mine has put together one, and has put in the learning time to actually be carving necks. I think that his total investment including software upgrades is around $1500. Hand skills are not my forté, though I have acquired considerable skill with planes and scrapers, after many years of using them. Though I really enjoyed the process of carving necks, I think the fastest I ever finished one was around eight hours. As I got close to the finishing stage, I got way cautious. I don't know a way to fix a neck where I've taken off a bit too much---Bondo? I have a friend with a CNC who roughed out a couple of dozen necks for me several years ago. He is willing to do another batch, but that has its drawbacks, and I would rather be doing them myself. I would be grateful for any guidance that anyone can give me, though I suspect that the real answer is "carve necks, in fact, carve a lot of them". I've been researching rasps, and have found a couple of unusual types that look promising: https://kutzall.com/collections/hand-rasps iwasaki from Amazon And then there are the Dragon rasps from Stew Mac and the hand stitched French ones---links provided if anyone is interested. I've got a Stanley spokeshave, but am lusting after one of the Veritas ones from Lee Valley. Cheers, Brian
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Date Mar. 23 2019 16:24:30
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constructordeguitarras
Posts: 1676
Joined: Jan. 29 2012
From: Seattle, Washington, USA
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RE: Neck carving---hand vs CNC (in reply to NorCalluthier)
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quote:
I would be grateful for any guidance that anyone can give me, though I suspect that the real answer is "carve necks, in fact, carve a lot of them". I have found that after carving a lot of them and developing a procedure, as Andy says, that carving necks has become pretty easy and only takes an hour or two. I don't carve the heel before assembling the guitar. After gluing on the fingerboard, putting on the frets, and beveling the fret ends, with the neck in a vise I trim the neck flush with the long edges of the fingerboard using a drawknife and chisel. Then I carve the curves of the heel that lie against the guitar sides, from the back to the fingerboard, with a #1 gouge. Then I use a chisel to carve the "hyloid" curves on the head to the nut area. Then I lay the guitar on a mat on my workbench and use a small convex plane to reduce the neck thickness in back of the first fret and tapering to the splice joint at the head. Then I use a small block plane to taper the neck from the back of the first fret to where the joint with the heel stack lies. I get this straight and when I do the rest of the shaping I avoid touching the center line. Now I shape roughly with a small sharp drawknife. (For some reason, I have an aversion to spokeshaves.) Next I shape the heel with a knife and the #1 gouge. (A Hock instrumentmaking knife blade fitted with a long wooden handle works well.) Then I shape the transition to the head with a (Swiss carving) knife. Then I use those hand-set rasps from France. They really do cut faster and better than the ones commonly found in the US. I start with the 9 and then go to an 11. Now I use 80 grit sandpaper. For sanding some parts of the heel and the hyloid curves, I have a 1"-diameter piece of dowel that I have coated with cork to use as a sanding block. Then 120, 150, and 220 grits. Done.
_____________________________
Ethan Deutsch www.edluthier.com www.facebook.com/ethandeutschguitars www.youtube.com/marioamayaflamenco I always have flamenco guitars available for sale.
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Date Mar. 24 2019 1:37:50
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NorCalluthier
Posts: 136
Joined: Apr. 16 2016
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RE: Neck carving---hand vs CNC (in reply to NorCalluthier)
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Hello Tom, As I mentioned before, I really enjoyed carving necks. I'm inclined to give it the old school try once again. It's been fun researching the methods that builders use, and the variety of tools for the purpose that are now available. I'm an edge tool guy, so I'm thinking that I'll see how much I can do with spokeshaves. Only the really courageous would try a drawknife! One thing that I have learned in 50+ years of woodworking is that as you get better at sharpening, edge tools become more versatile---and that includes scrapers. I developed a sharpening system back in the 1970's---it used to be sold by LMI---and I can send a .pdf of my sharpening booklet to anyone that's interested. It's now a DIY system, with plans for making your own honing guide. If I had ever come across a better system I would have switched in a New York minute! Email me and I'll attach a .pdf copy: Brian@BrianBurnsGuitars.com My daughter, at age 54, started believing me about the keto diet. She is frustrated that she can't get people to listen to her about its benefits. I just laugh, and point out that it took me 15 years to get her to pay attention! Cheers, Brian
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REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE |
Date Mar. 27 2019 14:06:26
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