[Kyle]

Did you do the entire profiling with that spokeshave? How hard is this to do is another thing I've wonderred? do you work with even strokes the whole length of the neck or small sections? does the headstock side actually start thinner than the heal side in the blank?

Sorry to bombard you with questions but the more I know the better when I finally get a chance in endeavors similar to yours, looks excellent rick.

[Rick500]

I cut the area of the neck from the volute to where the heel starts rising, flat with a router. Then I shaped the area near the headstock and volute, and the transition to the heel, with rasps and a file. Then once those area were done, I connected them with the spokeshave, sanding occasionally and measuring with a caliper and the cross section templates to see where I was.

I modeled the profile after the CT neck, so I had all the measurements and cross-sectional templates at various areas along the neck drawn out.

It's not as hard as it may seem. It does take some practice, but if you have patience you can do it.

[Kyle]

Thanks for the reply rick.

Also is the neck depth uniform or does it increase slightly over the scale?

[Rick500]

The neck gets steadily thicker as it nears the heel.

Fretboard surface to back of neck, it's about 0.87" at the nut, 0.91" at the 7th fret, 0.93" at the 12th fret, 0.98" at the 15th fret.

[shesky]

Absolutely awesome! That flame strip really popped! Looks amazing!

shesky

[Rick500]

Mmmm, abalone!

(Wish I had better photography skills... looks better in person.)







Still obviously some fine sanding to be done before finishing. There's a little epoxy visible there on the side of the neck near the 17th fret.

[Rick500]

btw, Kyle, and other aspiring luthiers, do yourself a favor and buy the set of Dragon hand-cut rasps from Stew-Mac. So worth the money. 100 times better than the machine-made rasps you'll find at Lowes and the like.

[Kyle]

Looks good rick, and thanks for the tip I will definitely remember that when I start accumulating (hoarding) tools.

[SlingBass]

What was the 'official' start date of this project - not that we're timing you on this

[Rick500]

I'd have to go back and look, but I know it's been just slightly over a year of weekends.

Now that the templates and the tools are all built though, and I've been buying better power tools along the way to make things easier and more efficient (not to mention I'm way more confident that I know what I'm doing at every step), I could build another one in a matter of, probably, 10 working days (which would be about 2 1/2 months given the amount of time I can currently devote to it).

I hope to be able to devote more and more time to building, though. 8) [Edit: Hey, my "cool" emoticon didn't work... ah... there we go...]

[SlingBass]

*I* think your build is coming along VERY nicely - much has been learned by you, and even the rest of us. The right tool for the right job DOES make a difference