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How many people here use them? I was thinking of making one or buying one. well because I hate carving necks.
I was wondering which one people recommend and if anyone has ever made one?

I was thinking of making this. http://www.copycarver.com/

If you do, let us know how it goes.
I've been thinking of something like that as well.

Will do. They say it will only cost $150-200 to build. I just wish it wasn't so big.

Not exactly simple, but have you seen Pederson guitars neck carving jig? If not look on his build threads in the AGF custom shop.

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"I am always doing that which I cannot do, in order that I may learn how to do it."
Pablo Picasso

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built one threw it away

way too much slop

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John Hall
blues creek guitars
Authorized CF Martin Repair
Co President of ASIA
You Don't know what you don't know until you know it

I built one too. Works fine, but makes a lot of mess and I can carve by hand with a draw knife and rasps in about the same time. So I don't use it for necks. Works great for bridges, logos for the peg head, truss rod slots, and binding (if you build it with the ability of maintaining a vertical axis).

Chuck

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how about router bits???????
I use 2 now , one is a triple wing bit, about a 2.25 inch to start with and finish the profile with a 2.5 2 fluted bit...
take off just a little at a time...

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MK5acoustics.com

I had a Gemi Duplicarver. I made a master neck and it actually worked really well and I could bang out a nice symmetrical neck in about 5 minutes that didn't require a lot of finish work to make it nice.. Why don't I still have it? The dang things take up so much floor space and need to be leveled out so the bed wasn't twisted at all, so moving it out of the way after each batch of necks was completed was not going to happen. I eventually sold it. I do miss it, but I just don't have the space for something that big.

I saw that. It was sweet but I don't have te machine for that.

I also saw a guy on YouTube mod his so the board with the router was on a hing so it could swing up to give it another access.

This is what I do. I hit it with a 1" roundover bit, and it's amazing how much time that saves. From there, I generally go to 40 grit sandpaper, so I can feel the neck in my hand. It's become one of the easiest and pleasurable parts of the process for me.

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David Morris

Those of you using a roundover bit in a router table, would you mind detailing how you do it?
are you doing the blank before it is tapered?

its important to have the blank squared up , the profile accurately cut to within .040 or so of final thickness including the heel and headstock, mark where the top bearing stops at the neck to headstock transition, one nice thing is that the bits make a perfect " volute " if done properly, go slowly , take about 5 passes each side , also the width needs to be cut about 3/32 wider than the final width , you may trash a couple of necks but once figured out its easy, make sure to take all safety precautions..

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MK5acoustics.com

do you know if he has a toot on how to make this? I was thinking of trying to make something like this but not sure how to make the templates for the necks

Wes - what is the radius of that bit ? I assume it is 2.5" diameter - any chance you can post pictures of the process ?

Is this the bit ?

2-1/2-Inch cutter diameter
1-1/4-Inch cutting length
3-1/4-Inch overall length
1/2-Inch shank diameter
1-Inch radius

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Are you making multiple passes by raising the bit, or trying to carefully hold back the wood and not letting it cut deep until you want it to?

Radius bits are 1 and 1.25
Mark centerline on neck and raise bit, I don't take 1 inch bit all the way,so it doesn't cut off width , last pass is with bigger bit, finishing heel and neck to headstock transition

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MK5acoustics.com

I have done the Fox compound radius fb jig, the same idea, but just a simple radius, not a neck shape. At some point I will make either the Fox version, for a belt sander, or the Brunner version for a shaper. The Pederson ideas hopefully incorporated.

My only thought for making the template slugs, or whatever we call them, is to carve a neck to mount, then try to draw the template in the location that they will sit, basically reverse engineer. Or create the neck cross sections and run an extended pencil over them and onto a board, that is the likely the better way. Can't wait to make one, my shaper is ready with a spiral cutter in it.

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Hey Wes,

What about setting the router bit to full depth and using a larger bearing to offset the neck? You could then just use continually smaller bits until you are using the stock bearing. This may be a little more costly but less adjusting around. Just a thought.

Rob

You have to taper the neck first. Otherwise it won't work right. Believe it or not, I do this with a handheld router.

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David Morris

You can use spacers, bearings, or anything else solid to do multiple passes but trying to freehand them is destined for disaster (and extremely unsafe with large diameter bits).

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Bob Garrish
Former Canonized Purveyor of Fine CNC Luthier Services

Agree with Bob, hand routing with large bits is an accident looking for a place to happen.

Get creative but use jigs and fixtures with large router bits ..... a lot of what you do depends on the tools that you have and what your trying to accomplish.

As for a duplicator, they really shine when you can do more than one at a time.... basically takes the same amount of time to do one as it does several.

Some of you might like to see our video of cutting a Ukulele Neck on the cnc. http://youtu.be/7zkj8vekG4o

Eight head duplicator and several jigs/fixture drawings as examples..... below.

Blessings,

Kevin

In case you hadn't seen it already: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nc66Gm5jcys
It doesn't look that hard to make. The templates are probably made on CAD with the neck profile projected out to the right distance. Instead of using an overhead router, you could make the jig upside-down and use an enlarged router table - it wouldn't even need to be spring loaded then. It just takes up loads of room.

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"I am always doing that which I cannot do, in order that I may learn how to do it."
Pablo Picasso

https://www.facebook.com/FenskeGuitars

So, I ordered the plans. but I found one on youtube that I guy did a little moding on it. so this is what im shooting for in this video.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DytNtu2dbcY