Back to index
Carving flamed maple requires a sharp blade! Its very easy to get hung up on the different grain of the flames and rip a chunk out which can ruin your day in a hurry. So the first order of business is to break out some sharpening supplies and make sure everything is ready to go.
There a re a lot of ways to carve a neck, but I start by roughing in the shape at both ends using a rasp. I don't have pictures of the next step (my hands were busy) but I shape the volute and the area behind the first fret on the spindle sander. You can see the result in the next picture.
Next I use a small hand plane to remove the waste material and form the profile of the neck. I usually stop and take a few breaks because the small utility plane heats up to a point where I can't hold it any longer!
Here's a close up showing that I still have a bit more to remove to get down to the depth I roughed out with the rasp.
After planing to the depth I need, I sand out any imperfections and finalize the shape with sandpaper (100/220/320 and 400 grit). Here's the final result after I've wiped it down with mineral spirits. It should look really nice when its finished up with several coats of oil.
<< Prev | Back to index | next >>
