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I am carving the ends of the fans on my classical soundboard. I am reading/watching sources that say I should ramp these down to the soundboard, and I should be very careful not to nick the soundboard with the chisel.

What's the secret to not nicking the soundboard. I was very careful, but......

Thanks

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Guitars...One's too many...Twenty is not enough.

Doug,
you can place pieces of masking tape on either side of the brace or you can get it close with a chisel and then sand it down to where you like it.

Get a small square piece of sheet aluminum, say by cutting up a coke can. Cut a notch into it just slightly wider than the size of your brace (so it ends up looking like a very fat 'U'. Tape it to the top around the brace so the top is protected from chisel slips.

However, if your chisels are sharp enough and you are using a good 2 hand technique you should be able to do without these protectors.

p.s. when I'm doing these ends I end up using a cutting motion rather than a pushing motion. I.e. slide the chisel sideways while pushing forward only slightly. You'll cut the wood like butter, and not have very much forward force that can result in a dent. rlabbe38805.5604976852

Doug,

You can also go to your local hobby store and get some brass or copper shim material to shape as "rlabbe" suggested. Also, even though I've ignored this advice in the past (and injured myself or the work), I have to say it: Never force a dull chisel! If it's not cutting with ease, it's not sharp enough! You WILL slip and cut yourself or something else you didn't want to cut! Stop and sharpen--you'll be glad you did!