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Todd...I like the small finger plane for profiling and scalloping braces.

Nice set of quality planes you have!JJ Donohue38646.0251967593

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JJ
Napa, CA
http://www.DonohueGuitars.com

I've have a little Kunz plane (similar to your 100, but not nearly as nice!)that I rough shape braces with but it seems a little big for brace shaping really. I typically do almost all of my brace shaping with chisels, but recently I've had thoughts of making some small finger planes just for brace shaving.
I'd be interested in knowing if there's a particular plane size that seem to work well for shaping braces. It's sooo easy to gouge a top with the edge of a chisel. Anyone out there use the spendy little brace shaving plane from LMI?

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Jim Watts
http://jameswattsguitars.com

Jim
You mean the little cheap green one that looks like the one on the left in Todd's picture. (I'm not saying yours is cheap Todd)Yeah, I bought it and that thing is great. It's real bad, like most planes when it dull, but it sings when it sharp. And it's easy to keep away from the back of the top.

I love my 27mm Ibex fingerplane for brace shaving. Works perfectly.

I have Ibex planes and the Kunz one as well as several home made wooden finger planes, but I really think it's easier and faster to just chisel the braces. The planes work great for mandolins tho!

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Rian Gitar og Mandolin

A lot of my brace shaping takes place before I glue on, probably about 75%. I generally use some old chisels but also like these little model makers planes. 1/2" wide and about 2" long. I particularly like the little bull nose. They cost about ?15 each from Axminster.

Colin

Colin S38646.3794675926

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I don't believe in anything, I simply make use of a set of reasonable working hypotheses.

The Ibex planes are great, my smallest one is 10 mm and if I made a wooden one that small it would be a lot more bulky for it's size. The blades are nice, I can't really tell a big difference between these blades and the ones in my home made finger planes that I cut up from old Stanleys or similar. My home made planes work equally well, and I can shape the sole the way I want.

As for chiseling braces, I have no special technique. I use Henry Taylor long paring chisels, keep them really sharp, pay attention to grain direction and go for it! Works for me.

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Rian Gitar og Mandolin

I have pretty much the whole compliment of the basic stanleys 4/5/6/7/8 and a couple of LN block planes and a few ibex planes of varying sizes. My LN regular block plane gets used constantly, and I use the curved bottom ibex planes quite a bit for scalloping braces.

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Brock Poling
Columbus, Ohio
http://www.polingguitars.com

I don't use planes or chisels for braces.

That should keep you guessing a bit.

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"I want to know what kind of pickups Vince Gill uses in his Tele, because if I had those, as good of a player as I am, I'm sure I could make it sound like that.
Only badly."

you bite it off?   

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Brock Poling
Columbus, Ohio
http://www.polingguitars.com

I know, Don's been making his guitars using only a violin knife. Just like those Mexican buiders.

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Joe Breault
Merrimack, NH
Perpetual novice

An Axe ?

I've heard Don trims his braces with Coe Franklin's special purfling tool (see Coe's bio photo)!

Todd...I have an Ibex plane, and no, I don't like the blade. I think it's made of chrome vanadium steel, and it just doesn't sharpen and cut as well as the good ol' high carbon stuff.

[QUOTE=ToddStock] Carlton:

Maybe Ron Hock will do a set of replacement blades...

Todd[/QUOTE]

Yeah, I was thinking the same thing.

So Don, tell us all how you shape your braces without planes or chisels????

   Careful, Don. That thing isn`t for the faint of heart. Especially in the waist areas. Just guide it with your scarred up index finger and use looong strokes! I knew there was a good reason for such exquisite work.
   Actually, I`m pretty comfortable with a razor knife for the rough in, and after that, I use a quite small spokeshave. As far as gouging the plates, I place a piece of poster board against the braces to catch any slips when I get into the tight areas with a sharp chisel.

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Give me 50 cents worth of regular.
Check my oil too, if you don`t mind,,,