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I use a router to profile my necks. I got the idea from Ryan's website and it
does give you a lot of accuracy and precision. Ideally, it would be nice to
have a shaper for the task but I can route away the excess in just two
passes. Obviously, you need to remove most of the extra material
beforehand.

Handplane for initial thicknessing (from the front, after scarfing), then either a router jig and rasp or (now that I have it) a drum sander/end of the belt sander, creating a nice, even surface for the backstrapping.

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I cut it about a 1/16" thick and then use my pin router to true it up.

[QUOTE=TonyFrancis]

For carving a head I use Bandsaw, Floats, plane, chisel, sanding block.

Just one of those jobs that needs to be done right so get on with it...

[/QUOTE]

What's a float?

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God I love you guys.  All of this GR8 knowledge

I love this new software, you can revive old topics rather easily.

Anyway, this is how I do it, stole the idea from Charlie Hoffman's website (where the picture comes from). My homebuilt drum sander has a 5" dia drum, makes a nice smilie volute.



Bruce, on your drum sander you can just turn off the feed bed, add a 3/4" piece of MDF of birch plywood for a smooth surface and you're good to go dude

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On my last 2 I used a Grizzly spindle sander I got last spring. Works well on "in the square" rough stock. Combo sander is more versatile thoug....

Claire's method actually works very well.

Rod, yeah, that's great. I need a home made rig for this. I have a floor model belt sander and may try to rig a adjustable plate under it. My Delta sander is just too worn to try and jig to it.

Rod, my drum sander has two things I'd have to remove to work, it has three pinch rollers fore and aft of the drums, plus there is the outer dust cover which would have to be removed. So it's kind of not worth the trouble. That's why I made a post like this. My Wagner power planer ate the back of a headstock as I removed it while running. It will require a backplate to make it right now. The truth comes out. Ouch!

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Here's my version. I just recently build it so I have not used it a lot yet. It puts a very slight concavity in the surface that can be sanded out. Are all belt sanders that way? I ran a second piece of plywood between the first piece and the belt to get a square surface to the belt and then screwed the two together.
Terry

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It's not what you don't know that hurts you, it's what you do know that's wrong.

I do mine just like Rod shows above. I don't have power feed. I true up the face on the jointer, then do the back like Rod, for final thickness.

Ron

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OLD MAN formerly (and formally) known as:

Ron Wisdom

Somewhere in the middle of Arkansas......

All of my headstock’s are tapered about an 1/8” toward the end using a shim glued to the top. I use a safe-t-planer in my drill press to surface the under side. Then I free hand shape it on my belt sander to blend it into the volute area.
I just recently gain access to a mini mill that I plan to use instead of the safe-t-planer. I’ll let you know how it goes.

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Rich S

"The inconvenience of poor quality will linger long after the thrill of a bargain has been forgotten"

Do you mean a Haas Mini Mill? If so, face mills are your friend. That's how I thickness my headstocks in the Fadal (and by 'my' I mean a bunch of other peoples'...but I'm going to be building some for me soon, too!). I was going to take a picture of the face mill cutting something and then post it in the thread, but my (recently hired) helper is keeping the machine too busy running bridges!

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Bob Garrish
Former Canonized Purveyor of Fine CNC Luthier Services

It’s a Grizzly mini mill, It might be he same as the Hass, I really don’t know. I had to convert the gear drive to a belt drive and do a lot of tweaking to get it to work properly.
It is really a toy as far as milling machines go, but it works well enough for what I use it for.
Oh how I long for a descent Bridgeport.

Grizzly makes an Industrial Spiral Cutter head (http://www.grizzly.com/products/h2879) that I can use in my 1 ¼” spindle shaper that looks interesting. It could be used for large portion of the neck shaping process. I would like to see one in action before buying one.
I think I’ll post a new thread to see if anyone has used it.

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Rich S

"The inconvenience of poor quality will linger long after the thrill of a bargain has been forgotten"