Neck Construction With a few Sharp Hand Tools

[Gilbert Fredrickson]

If you were away from the shop for the next four months, found a great catche of neck wood, air dried and planed to 3/4", and you didn't want to duplicate any hand tools (except clamps) from the shop, could you build guitar necks with a 3/4" double bevel luthier knife, a half round Iwasaki medium carving file, a low angle block plane, a 1-1/4" Chisel, a 3/8" Chisel, a scraper, a waterstone, a mile file, a Harbor Freight tool stand and some plywood, a 1/2" brad point bit, a brace, a .023 kerf (Kataba) crosscut saw, sand paper, some chewing gum, a paper clip, and a nine volt battery? There is some seven-eights peices so I might spring for a low angle, bevel up, jack plane and I don't have an adjustable tri square. Am I leaving anything out?

[Alan Carruth]

You could practically do the whole thing with a hand plane and a jack knife, but what the heck. I'd miss my spokeshave....

[Bob Gramann]

With all of that, you could make a spokeshave.

[Charlie Schultz]

I assume this is a hypothetical question? <g>

Maybe a saw if you're doing scarf joints?
If you're doing truss rod slots, maybe a router plane?

You might also look at the "Milkman's workbench" recently written up in Popular Woodworking- sounds like a step up over the HF tool stand?

[Gilbert Fredrickson]

I have two nice spoke shaves back in the shop. I could use a 2nd cut rasp. I don't usually use Shur-forms, so I don't have one. I've always wanted a router plane, but I use a table saw back home. I only need three necks for early romantic style guitars and a couple of classical necks. I've really little to do for the next four months. Holy Cow, with a purfling cutter, a torch, and another chisel to go along with that low angle jack plane, I could build a whole guitar. I'm boat sitting on the east coast. Hey, sail battens for a go-bar set-up! And no electricity.

It was Boaz Elkhyam who offered to build a guitar with a Swiss Army knife. He has put together some very fine instruments under less than ideal conditions.

Well, I guess I could just kick back for the summer and build a repertoire of classic jazz standards.

[Barry Daniels]

A plow plane is the correct tool for the truss rod. I use one often.

[Gilbert Fredrickson]

I knew that.

[Clay Schaeffer]

Whereabouts are you boat sitting?

[Gilbert Fredrickson]

I'm moored to the Peabody in Baltimore. Perhaps this question would be best addressed at a Musical Instrument Makers Anonymous meeting.

[Jim McConkey]

Sounds like the next Baltimore-area MIMF meeting should be at the Inner Harbor! We haven't had one in years.

[Clay Schaeffer]

It would be nice to get together again in the Baltimore area. Might not be too far for those in the Delaware, lower Pa, and D.C./ Alexandria areas either. How big is your boat, Gilbert?

[Nick Dingle]

Mate of mine likes to show off by shaping Uke necks at his Uke building course using a scraper.....

[Clay Schaeffer]

"You could practically do the whole thing with a hand plane and a jack knife, but what the heck. I'd miss my spokeshave...."

" It was Boaz Elkhyam who offered to build a guitar with a Swiss Army knife. He has put together some very fine instruments under less than ideal conditions."

Maybe that should be the next challenge - instruments that are whittled into existence!

[Jim Kirby]

Baltimore area get-together would be good.

See thread on charango on OLF for an instrument whittled into existence. Literal take on the idea of taking a block of wood and removing everything that doesn't look like a (fill in favorite example).

[Simon Magennis]

Read up about this guy. He is now "on-shore" in the south of Spain. http://www.patrickburkeguitars.com/gallery_5.htm

What kind of boat are you on? When you said "Peabody in Baltimore" what are you referencing? I tried google maps but I couldn't figure it out. I guess Baltimore is even bigger than the name suggests.

[Jim McConkey]

I was wondering about that, too, being from (near) Baltimore. The Peabody Institute is a world famous music conservatory in downtown Baltimore, but it is not close enough to the harbor for boats.

[Gilbert Fredrickson]

Wait! The Peabody? Isn't that where Ana Vidovic teaches? I'm down the block about ...26 miles. I'm just taking the wood back to the desert with me. If I build the necks here in the humidity ...well, the shop is about 10% RH. I keep every thing in big zip-lock bags and 'swamp cool' the shop to about 40% on a good day. Still, I'm not sure they'll travel well.

I learned the zip-lock bag trick here at MIMF. I can watch braced sound boards and back change shape as I am working on them. I put them back in the bag and everything is normal in the morning.

It's a small boat at 20 cubits. There is barely room for the rhinoceros. There is an event up in PA. that I might attend. I'd like to get back out west -head 'em up, move 'em out- for the Healdsburg festival.

Ana Vidovic and her brother Victor are amazing guitarists.