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Permalink Reply by Jim Morris on September 20, 2015 at 10:42pm

Sounds like it would work. Never tried a steak knife. Check out Richey Kay's vid using just hand tools or my "Most boring video yet" to see some other methods. Lots of right ways. I used to start off with a router and a roundover bit but decided to try and use as many non-powered tools as possible and still finish in a reasonable time. For me, a drawknife has replaced that first router step.

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Permalink Reply by Ron "Oily" Sprague on September 21, 2015 at 6:18am

First pass rough out with a four-in-hand rasp, then rough shape with a belt sander with 80 grit, followed by another pass with a finer rasp, followed by the belt sander with 150 grit, followed by a final hand rubbing with 220 grit. Takes me all of 25 minutes, and LOTS of sawdust, including setup of the belt sander upside down in a vise, and changing out belts.

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Permalink Reply by Paul Craig on September 21, 2015 at 8:43am

25 minutes is fantastic. Amazing what can be done with the right tools.

Drawknifes are excellent tools and will watch that video Jim. The steak knife was more a move out of desperation at the time, but was impressed with how well it worked. Having a curved edge on the end helps in shaping  the headstock/neck transition.

Being on a strict budget forces me to use what's on hand most of the time and was just curious if anyone had used anything different.

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Permalink Reply by Ron "Oily" Sprague on September 21, 2015 at 9:03am

There's some people around here can do a neck in about 30 minutes with only a properly-sharpened spoke shave and a four-in-hand rasp. Because my necks are two pieces of 3/4" plywood laminated together, the spokeshave hangs on the cross grain of the ply, so I find a combo of power and hand tools works for me. Now, if I was using poplar for a neck, a spokeshave would work very well.

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Permalink Reply by Paul Craig on September 21, 2015 at 9:32am

Are you using marine grade ply for the necks? Are you running the grain vertical or horizontal to the fretboard?

I used a piece of pine on my first CBG neck because that's what I had available, but it ramped after tuning up. I use Red Oak now for the neck and fretboards and install a non-adjustable 3/8ths steel trussrod. Might be overkill, but I don't want to go back and fix one later. Haha

 With all the nerve damage I have(practically every disc in back is bad), it takes me a while to get anything done.

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Permalink Reply by Ron "Oily" Sprague on September 23, 2015 at 4:58pm

Paul,

I tend to use off cuts from our theater projects. Typically, because of where I live, marine grade ply is pretty expensive, so haven't used it; most of our available ply is 5- or 8-ply Lauan from the Phillipines or Indonesia. I take 2 36" long, 3/4" thick pieces, and laminate them together with Titebond wood glue and clamps, with the plies facing up. This gives a fantastically strong, 1-1/2" wide neck good for 3- and 4-stringers. No dowels, just glue. They can only be broken apart by chisel and numerous hammer blows. I have done a couple with fretted neck, but fret wire doesn't play well with the plywood, so have gone to 1/4" thick mahogany fretboards on top. The necks are easy to shape the way I do it, and give a really kewl effect when stained with olive oil, kinda like Randy Bretz' Spectraply bridges ( of which I have several).

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Permalink Reply by Paul Craig on September 23, 2015 at 7:50pm

I bet that does look good. I was at Lowe's one day looking through the small pieces of ply and remember tapping on some Lauan and was impressed by it's tone considering it was ply. Have you though about making a box out of it?

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Permalink Reply by Ron "Oily" Sprague on September 25, 2015 at 6:59pm

Yep, I make my own boxes much of the time out of the 3/8" Labuan ply. It has great tonal qualities. If you go to my Profile page and look at my photos, you will see some in progress shots of the first box I built a few years ago. I still build them that way: 13" X 10" X 3-3 1/2", 3/8" Lauan ply for the top, back and sides, 3/4" square pine battens for the inside corners and side rails to stiffen the box, and the aforementioned plywood necks. They have great tone.

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Permalink Reply by David McQueen on September 21, 2015 at 11:06am

I mark off a center line on the back and a line 1/8" down from the front on both sides. Then I use a Stanley Sureform rasp to get the shape using the guide lines to see how I am doing. Once I have the shape down, I use a scraper to smooth it out. After that I glue the feet board on and then sand everything. Shaoing a scraping a four stringer takes about a half hour if my joints are not bad. The Stanley Sureform works well n all woods. I have used it on poplar, oak, maple and ash.

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Permalink Reply by gary sheldon on September 21, 2015 at 11:22am

I always had the impression that the Sureforms are only good for sheetrock.  I have never been able to cut any wood with them.  Maybe I should try again with a brand new one.

I don't think I will use Oak for necks anymore.  Maple is available and easier to work and prettier.  I'm not getting fancy with quarter sawn or flame Maple or anything.  

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Permalink Reply by David McQueen on September 25, 2015 at 10:44pm

I just put one end of the neck down on the top of my shoe and hold the other end with mymleft hand. Then I start with the sureform. From time to time I turn the neck around. It does not take long.

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Permalink Reply by gary sheldon on September 21, 2015 at 11:12am

I have used a spokeshave.  I am not so good with it and found it is really slow going with Oak necks.  I switched to Maple and also Poplar for easier carving.  

Haven't tried the router yet, but I have one.

Also, a small block plane works well.

I have seen "real" wood rasps, not those mickey mouse ones, but something that can take great chunks off Oak.  But I have no idea of where to get one.

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