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I've got one of the rotary microplane shapers with a patern accessory. I used it once years ago, and found it to be pretty scary. Got mine from LV, but they stopped selling them for safety reasons.

Alex

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"Indecision is the key to flexibility" .... Bumper sticker

A small draw knife or Indian crooked knife makes short work of it.......

Same here, I use a RoboSander a lot and Microplane had a template sander that looked like it should work great for the same tasks. It didn't, it really didn't cut well at all, pretty much worthless. That was probably 7 or 8 years ago, maybe they are better now.

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It's not what you don't know that hurts you, it's what you do know that's wrong.

I use these in various order.

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Tim Benware
Creedmoor, NC

Has anyone experimented with the bandsaw?

Bandsaw for the initial curve for sure. It's the cheeks on the sides that need fast removal.

Rotary rasp here too. Then sanding drums in my drill. Works great.

My heels aren't tapered, but I can imagine angling the heel into the blade to slice off the bulk of I needed the speed in a production environment like Ed's. Although imagine and actually doing it are two very different things.


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I use a home made bowsaw 3 tpi , 3/8in wide 20in long to cut the the heel to shape , takes 4minutes cutting to the pencil line.

Pat asked me about pictures of the simple jig I use and router method. I had some necks in various stages of completion so I took some "posed" shots. I hope they will convey how I do it. The first one is how the blank is screwed to the jig. The blank is profiled and tapered before this is done.

The blank is attached so the edge is flush with the top of the 2X6 the router rides on. The router with a 1 inch roundover or bowl bit (depending on the desired prifle) removes most of the waste material. After the first edge is done, then the blank is flipped and the other side is routed.

For a Gibson style heel (roundover) you are most of the way there. If a Spanish slipper heel is desired I will take it to the tablesaw and using a 7 1/2 inch blade and a variation on the technique for doing a cove molding remove more of the end block.

If the peghead is integral with the rest of the neck (one piece neck) I use a modified router base that is cut away on one side that allows the router to clear the peg head "ears". It requires some familiarity with routers and a confident attitude.

The cut out in the jig is there because I also use it as a router table fence. When in use for neck making it is clamped to the table.
The smoother the profile of the neck where the bearing of the bit rides, the smoother the cut will be. A custom made bit may give a neck shape that requires little extra work, but I am satisfied with the standard roundover and bowl bit (ogive) shapes and refine it as desired. I am mostly interested in removing the bulk of the waste in a uniform manner that eliminates some of the hand work that can cause irregularities in the initial shaping of the neck. I still use chisels, rasps, files and sandpaper to finalize the shape of the neck.

I also use a coping saw and rasps


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Looks pretty slick, Clay!

Like Ken I agree the Micro plane is not the job here. I use the drum side of my belt sander. Takes me about 2 to 3 min and I am in done.
No need to over think this , find what works for you . I have a number of neck jigs and can take a neck from block to finish in about 1 hr.
I can free carve one in 1 1/2 hr. It is a thing that the more you do the better you get at it. If your just starting get some Poplar , it works much like Mahogany and you can practice. Make 3 blanks and by the time you make them you will figure out the process.
I have Martin templates for the neck shape , you can make some using plumbers solder and this can help considerably .

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John Hall
blues creek guitars
Authorized CF Martin Repair
Co President of ASIA
You Don't know what you don't know until you know it

Looking online I noticed there are different styles of router bits called bowl bits. The one I use for neck shaping is the type used for routing the edge of Corian undermount sinks. The other style called a bowl bit would make a mess of things!

John, my problem is that I do so many of them I'm wearing out. So anything that saves effort is a bonus. If I can get the bulk of the meat removed with an edged weapon, that beats rasping away at it...

I dont think there is a "best" tool. In a pinch, I used a mini grinder with 60 grit once then a cabinet scraper to smooth it all out-dangerous yes...but it was a lot of fun. And super fast too!
The belt sander and spindal sander idea sounds like a good one.

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You just pick up a chord, go twang, and you're got music. -Sid Vicious

I have used a Black and Decker Powerfile, but very carefully.