(rookie?) neck troubles

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Eric J Kadle/Cotton eyed Joe's on January 11, 2011 at 9:58pm

I have been rounding my necks with a disk on the end of my drill I am sure there is a better way but it is what I have and it doesn't really take all that long. I have had pretty good results from complete round offs to just rounding the edges. The wood you use will determine the speed of the process. Poplar being the fastest and oak the hardest.

Permalink Reply by Wiley Rutledge on January 11, 2011 at 10:02pm

That,s a bit coarse for a spokeshave but a good start. You should be able to adjust it finer when you get close to the shape you want. It needs t be sharp to leave a slick finish. Hogging out is getting large amounts out of the way while maintaining control.

alectron said:

Hogging out? you mean really cutting of a lot of wood? Also, I do have a plane that cuts off 1/8" thick slices. is that about the same as a spokeshave?

 

 

Permalink Reply by MichaelS Country Boy Guitars on January 12, 2011 at 8:51am

I use it mainly on Black Walnut, but have used it on poplar (easy) and cherry, a bit harder. It takes some time and effort but anything worth doing takes time and effort. Have not used it on and oak neck yet. The above pics are the neck sureformed, then sanded with anelectric palm sander, 80 grit I think then 150. 

Der Groovemeister said:

You use the sureform on an oak neck? I tried it, but it was too hard. Probably on poplar?

Permalink Reply by Wiley Rutledge on January 12, 2011 at 10:18am

Nice job Michael, the sanding after is my only complaint, but a good scraper usually takes it down almost smooth and hand sanding or a palm sander does make a good finish.  If you don't mind sanding yours is a perfectly good method.  I guess I'm old enough to prefer hand tools and listen to the song the steel makes on the wood---you can also listen to your preferred music when using hand tools.  I'd probably buy a Shinto rasp instead of the Surform if I was buying since I find it faster cutting and smoother finish (less sanding!) than the Surform IMHO.

Permalink Reply by MichaelS Country Boy Guitars on January 12, 2011 at 10:42am

I started with the surform mainly because I had one and it seemed to work. I would like to get a good scraper and fine tune the wood before the final sanding. The rough finish you see in the picture is not as bad as it looks, it comes of quite easily by hand sanding, but I have the palm sander so why not use it. (it is a noisy bugger though) I have aquired 2 spokeshaves since this picture and use them also, along with the surform. One is at least 100 years old and the other was my grandfathers from the 30's I think. I love old hand tools, can't get enough of them.

Wiley Rutledge said:

Nice job Michael, the sanding after is my only complaint, but a good scraper usually takes it down almost smooth and hand sanding or a palm sander does make a good finish.  If you don't mind sanding yours is a perfectly good method.  I guess I'm old enough to prefer hand tools and listen to the song the steel makes on the wood---you can also listen to your preferred music when using hand tools.  I'd probably buy a Shinto rasp instead of the Surform if I was buying since I find it faster cutting and smoother finish (less sanding!) than the Surform IMHO.

Permalink Reply by alectron on January 12, 2011 at 7:50pm

I've tried a rasp and it didn't work very fast. It was a ratty old one from shop class though. I think It's narrowed down to router, planer and sureform.

Permalink Reply by MichaelS Country Boy Guitars on January 14, 2011 at 9:44am

That shinto rasp looks neat I would like to try one. The advantage to the surform I use is that it has a convex blade and I can get it into the curve of the heel. They appear to be hard to find though, I've only seen them online and not in my local hardware stores.  There is also a super fine blade available for them, not made by Stanley, but it is only the flat version. It would leave a much smoother surface for less sanding (evil).

You can never have enough tools, but you can learn to use what you have. Thats what make these guitars so cool, they are all different because they are all made different because of a lack of tools or an abundance of tool, or a lack of skills or tons of skills. We have it all in here and the results can be very creative.

Wiley Rutledge said:

Nice job Michael, the sanding after is my only complaint, but a good scraper usually takes it down almost smooth and hand sanding or a palm sander does make a good finish.  If you don't mind sanding yours is a perfectly good method.  I guess I'm old enough to prefer hand tools and listen to the song the steel makes on the wood---you can also listen to your preferred music when using hand tools.  I'd probably buy a Shinto rasp instead of the Surform if I was buying since I find it faster cutting and smoother finish (less sanding!) than the Surform IMHO.

Permalink Reply by Wiley Rutledge on January 14, 2011 at 10:30am

I think you can get a shinto with a curved face online and maybe at a dedicated wood working shop.  I have a curved face surform as well and like it much better than the flat faced ones too.  The finer surform is a good detailing blade as well, and a good sharp rasp, followed by a wood file, then scraped smooth and sometimes you can get away from sanding altogether.  I work with what I've got, then plot as to how justify (cost divided by use times efficiency) the new tool----lol.  If you're a blacksmith, a "ratty" old rasp makes a nice knife--or you could convert it into a drawknife I suppose, but it's not much on woodworking, unless it's a very expensive one that can be resharpened.

Permalink Reply by Travis Gaines on January 18, 2011 at 8:11am

I bought one  of the Harbor Freight spokeshaves and the one I ended up with is junk.  I can't use it for anything.  The adjuster screw isn't good for anything.  I know you get what you pay for, but I was still disappointed.

Permalink Reply by MichaelS Country Boy Guitars on January 18, 2011 at 9:04am

Go to ebay and search for an old stanley. They are reasonably cheap and much better than the new ones. Try to get one made in usa not england, they have nicer castings.  They look just like the cheap one sold by harbor freight.

Travis Gaines said:

I bought one  of the Harbor Freight spokeshaves and the one I ended up with is junk.  I can't use it for anything.  The adjuster screw isn't good for anything.  I know you get what you pay for, but I was still disappointed.

Permalink Reply by Wiley Rutledge on January 18, 2011 at 10:41am

The new Stanley's aren't bad, but a reasonable alternative is a Kunz spokeshave.  It's not particular attractive or well finished or polished (just a shade off John Deere green for the body and handles) but the soleplate is reliably polished and true.  You'll have to hone the blade but they do come ground at the appropriate angle and reasonably sharp.  My complaint with them is that the blade can be hard to adjust, but once adjusted, they will stay true.  I think the last one I saw online was about 16 bucks but I'm sure they can be had for less than 25.  If you have the $$ available, several of the dedicated woodworking shops (and maybe your local hardware) have screw adjustable spokeshaves as well.

MichaelS said:

Go to ebay and search for an old stanley. They are reasonably cheap and much better than the new ones. Try to get one made in usa not england, they have nicer castings.  They look just like the cheap one sold by harbor freight.

Travis Gaines said:

I bought one  of the Harbor Freight spokeshaves and the one I ended up with is junk.  I can't use it for anything.  The adjuster screw isn't good for anything.  I know you get what you pay for, but I was still disappointed.

Permalink Reply by alectron on January 25, 2011 at 12:17am

Another Neck Question: Like I said, I have some brazzilian Ipay for the neck. I built the box so the soundboard is 1/4" thick. It's neck through, and the section that goes under the lid is also 1/4" thick. It's gonna have 3 strings tuned GDG and the gauges are 32, 24, & 16. do you think the neck will be strong enough or will I need to get a re-enforicing chuck of wood to go inside the box? ( it has no truss rod and by the way, I used a 1/4" roundover bit to round out the back of the neck and it turned out great)

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