Neck CarvingEasy and repeatable

Neck Carving Overview

Scarf joint, heel stack, thicknessing peg head and locating nut location

Rough shaping heel (and heel block as this is a traditional Spanish neck joint)

Tapering neck

Thicknessing neck (will in alternate carving technique that I do not like)

Laying out profile

Live rough carving demonstration

Band saw scarf joint sled

I used to rig up a combination of my miter gauge and a wedge, I make enough

necks that clamping on a sled and cutting sure makes life easy.

Band saw scarf joint sled

Very clean cut.

Scarf joint

Required a minimal amount of clean up and it was ready to join.

Thicknessing the peg board

I used to do this from the back, but it sure makes more sense to do it from the

front as the joint does not get in the way.

Thicknessing Peg Head

Mark where the thickness line intersects neck. Helps to see where to stop. When

planing, Watch where your weight is relative to the plane.

Thicknessing the peg head.

Watch the thickness lines and the angle point to make sure the planning is even.

Locating the nut.

Thinning the peg head moves the nut location to far up the neck. I like it right

above the scarf joint, So I move it back, planing the fretboard surface. Focus the

cut on the nut side. The neck tapers, you might get to thin near the heel if you

don’t. You can see my plan taper guide line.

Locating the nut.

I draw a few lines that will get planed off. The lines help me keep

the cut even.

Locating the nut

Plane away, watching the lines you have drawn to keep level.

Nut Location

The nut is located right above the scarf.

Locate the 12 Fret

With a 650 scale I locate it 33 CM from the pegboard angle. 32.5 CM plus a 5 mm

nut.

Peg board veneer.

Using my fancy rabbet plane I used the neck itself to bevel the nut side of the

veneer.

Peg head veneer

Veneer square to neck, Glue the veneer on.

Layout Spanish heel using stacked heel.

The blocks are offset to save wood. The template shows the final rough heel shape. The end grain direction is reversed block to block creating a zigzag. I did this as the Spanish luthier will think you know what you are doing. There will be a picture coming up.

Cut slots for Spanish Heel.

The cheeks for a mortice and tenon can be cut with the same jig. Note the pin in

the center of the neck that I use to index the cut.

Slots for Spanish heel

I cut at 3° making for an easier fit to a curved top.

Rough Shape Spanish foot

No issues cutting the large radiused curve on the foot.

Rough shape heel

Use relief cuts to make tight curve.

Shape Spanish footDraw out the lines for the shape of the foot and cut a level surface. Note backing board on fretboard side. This board is right on the cut line to prevent blowout.

Shape Spanish foot

If you have a fancy rabbet plane you can use that. Better view of the backing

board.

Shape Spanish foot.

Finished one side!

More rough shaping

I sand and shellac inside of the Spanish foot. Note the zigzag grain of the stack.

In Spain having the grain line up would be a sign of poor workmanship. At this

point I also cut out the head stock. Many use a router and a template bit. I just

cut and use a plane and chisels. I had too many router mishaps.

Rough shape heel (first straight line)Locate the fretboard profile and the heel cap profile and start to carve by

making a straight cut from heel cap to fretboard line. Note backing board!

Heel Shaping

First make straight cut. Do this on both sides.

Heel shaping (adding relief)

I took a shape from a guitar that I like.

Heel Shaping

Start taking scoops from the center. Check often with gauge.

Trim neck to Fretboard profile

I located the neck and pinned it with a couple of 1/16 drill bits. And I use the

fretboard as a guide to taper the neck. Normally I would trim the neck with the

fretboard glued on. But for the live demonstration I did it a little early. I left the

neck a bit proud.

Fret broad Taper

I clean it up with a spoke shave.

Fret board thickness

I taped a 4 mm shim near the nut to adjust from the fret board thickness taper. I want the 1st fret to be 14 mm and the ninth to be 18 mm.

Using a safe-T planer.

See how the shim will help make the taper. I stop before the joint and around the heel stack.

Touching up

When I got close I noticed I needed an extra 1 mm off the heel side so I taped a 1 mm shim to the heel side. And ran through the plane again

Laying Out the neck profile.

I start with a cross section of the 1st and 9th neck locations.

Shaping the heel

I had a profile that I like for these guitars so I drew it into the cross sections.

Shaping the neck

I draw a facet tangential to the shape. The intersection with the cross section defines the points of the facet. I like to keep the fretboard facet the same distance from the fret board plane (just preference). Measure the intersection points and transfer them to the neck.

Shaping the neck

Ready for shaping. Here is where I stopped for the canceled meeting.

Primary Facets

It is safe to take out all the wood on each side in between the drawn

lines. I like to use a spokeshave and a combination of chisels or a rasp.

But there are alternative tools to carve the facets.

Carving the facets with spokeshave, chisel and rasp

This carving go really fast. I like the work the facet as low as I can go on the

heel side. I want the neck to have the same feel all the way to the heel.

Lengthening the facets where the spokeshave can not reach.

Once the primary facets are carved one could draw new lines and

cut secondary facets. A flamenco guitar as a relatively flat profile.

So I will just eyeball the secondary facets by evenly taking the

corners off. With a spokeshave and rasp.

Rough Carved.

This is where I hoped to end my demonstration in the meeting. I created

secondary facets with a spokeshave and bended the facets using a rasp.

With this method, the centerline is perfectly flat as I planed it early in

the process and have not touched it. Also using the layout lines the neck

is symmetrically carved.