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You know what’s hard? Maple necks. Maple necks are hard…. What are your favorite tools for carving such a thing? So far I’ve been using the typical bladed tools and rasps just going a lot slower


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I've carved just two curly maple necks. A spokeshave and coarse and fine Dragon rasps took care of most of it and worked great. A couple riffler files were good for detail shaping on the heel and the transition from the neck shaft to the headstock.

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Once in a while you get shown the light in the strangest of places if you look at it right - Robert Hunter

Maple does go slower but I use the same tools. good exercise for the patience muscles

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Steve Smith
"Music is what feelings sound like"

Like J De said, and-

On straight grain maple necks, all the customary tools work. I really like the StewMac Dragon files, for the final shaping, especially the finer one.

I use a lot of 3M Stickit paper on dowels, and inside/outside of plastic pipe, different sizes.

Wait till you do curly or birdseye maple if you really want some fun.

I love maple necks but they are harder than mahogany for carving for sure.

I've used these on every neck I've made for 10 years or more.

There are other files/rasps that look good for the purpose but the good ones are not cheap. Good ones are worth it.

After rasps and hand sanding to profile. The hand-held pneumatic drum sanders are superb at transitioning from rasps and course sanding to all but the final hand sanding before finish. https://www.woodworkingshop.com/product/WK45940/ Makes heels and transitions to head a joy as well as the shaft.

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Brian R, Wood Mechanic
N8ZED

At times, I've roughed out my maple necks using a router table and a big "round under" bit or else a shaper. But in general I use a sharp paring chisel and/or a spokeshave and good rasps. Most of the necks I've built have been curly maple. And yes, birdseye is a lot of fun to carve!

Dave

If you’re using a chisel on any parts of it it can help to dampen the wood with some water on a towel or something. It’ll carve much easier.

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Jim Watts
http://jameswattsguitars.com

I used maple for all violin necks. Guitar necks with Spanish cedar and Mahogany were easy. The archtop with maple and padauk wasn't too bad.

The Cello neck of hard flame maple instead of soft maple was more trouble, but not a real problem once you just start doing it. That first cut though. But by that time, I already did the scroll part, so it wasn't too bad,

Do dragon rasps actually slice, and not just bang into the wood like a cheap rasp? I have Iwasaki files that cut nice, but I don't have a real coarse one.

I use rasps for rounding out. I usually use a plane blade as a scraper when I get close.; it keeps things flat. I move it in all different angles. Then sandpaper on a block.

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Why be normal?

I have 2 dragon rasps and they work well


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They don't call it "rock maple" for nothing…

I use Spokeshave ,chisels #49 and #50 Nicholson rasps Sandpaper starting with 50 grit, 6X48" sander on platen and idler wheel with 60 grit belt,Elevate luthery pin sander on heel....

I start with a block plane and a rasp. Then I go to Japanese rasp/files that remove wood like a rasp but leave a finish like a file. They come in various cuts and work well.

I use my Veritas spokeshaves initially, then a Polish aggressive rasp I bought at LeeValley years ago followed by Auriou rasps and shoe shine sandpaper. Probably less than an hour to carve a neck. I do taper the neck first with a Wagner safety planer to establish taper and thickness.