Neck shaving

[Richard]

Have you looked through Stew-Mac's site? They used to have an archive of Dan Erlewine repair videos, and I vaguely remember one of a female luthier shaping a neck (possibly from scratch).

I think I watched that video. She used a file, if I recall correctly at least in the later stages. I don't think I'd whip out a belt sander as was mentioned here, I might get a coarse belt, cut it and have at it shoeshine style.

[rjb]

I think I watched that video. She used a file, if I recall correctly at least in the later stages.

Probably a wood rasp and a collection of scrapers (cool tools that would be nice to have, but don't seem worth the expenditure for a once in a lifetime job).

I don't think I'd whip out a belt sander as was mentioned here,

No, that wouldn't be prudent. It has to be a bench mounted belt sander.
The mando guy actually used the belt sander to make the neck narrower.
I would have guessed that would destroy either the frets or the belt. Hey, what do I know?

I might get a coarse belt, cut it and have at it shoeshine style.

Well, there's an idea.

-rb

[Jason Rodgers]

I shape my necks with a spoke shave. You can take long pulls that cut a fairly uniform facet, and it's easy to focus on those shoulders to bring the profile in. I follow up with 150 grit on a hard block, then on a foam block. Make yourself some simple profile gauges from card stock to check progress. I always feel like I'm taking off a ton of material, then check with the gauge to find that I have a long way to go.

[Steve A.]

You could always drill a miniature hole just off center of the fingerboard and probe it with a needle or a wire. Such a small hole could be patched to pretty much invisible. I once drilled brass dowel to make my own carburetor accelerator pump jets. I don't remember the actual size of the bit I used, but it was tiny.

Riffing off your suggestion I'd heard of pulling a fret or two *very carefully* so that they could be hammered back in. (This was to remove a glued-in neck on a guitar from the 70's by drilling small holes in the fret slot and injecting boiling hot water over a period of a week.)

Steve Ahola

[rjb]

Riffing off your suggestion I'd heard of pulling a fret or two *very carefully* so that they could be hammered back in. (This was to remove a glued-in neck on a guitar from the 70's by drilling small holes in the fret slot and injecting boiling hot water over a period of a week.)

Steve Ahola

I've heard of that trick. But as far as probing around to find the rebar cavity, aren't we being a bit over-cautious? What's the worst that can happen? You sand down too far, and get a hole in your neck. So, fill it with Bondo and move on....

-rb

[John_H]

It's already close. A scraper should be all you need. It's amazing how much of a difference 1/16" makes.

Whatever method you decide to use, get familiar with the tool by practicing on some scrap. It's pretty hard to 'un-shave'