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I searched several older threads for this information but couldn’t find specifics on what I’m looking for.
I’m trying to determine if the tool will thickness the back of a headstock (scarf).
I’m wondering if it will cut into the rising angle to work that “would be volute area” down flat little by little or if it is made to do flat cuts.

B



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Yes, you can use a Safety Planer for that.

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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

"if it will cut into the rising angle to work that “would be volute area” down flat little by little or if it is made to do flat cuts."

Not like this... A "smiley" volute is done with a sled on a stationary belt sander...

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Steve Sollod (pronounced sorta like "Solid")
www.swiftcreekguitars.com

it'll rough close to your volute but the tool is designed for flat surfaces. you'll have to detail out any contours in the usual ways.

Here it is thicknessing the back of a broken headstock to receive a back reinforcement. As others have said, you'll need to do the volute and any curves some other way.





I guess you could say a broken head is an unintentional scarf joint

Well, you simply upgraded TO a scarf haha

Yea my question wasn’t clear I guess. If I simply wanted to flatten the area without a volute .... that’s what I was after.
Hey thanks for the responses


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Yes. One can always take the back of the headstock material off with a safe-t-planer, take it close to the neck, then do the rest of the work with your favorite hand tools (e.g., file). But if it is a scarf, I sort of wonder why it wasn't at final dimension prior to glue-up - one of the nice parts about doing a scarf.

Andy

Andy, I’m pretty new at building so forgive if I don’t understand what’s going on exactly. Perhaps it is because I glue the scarf to the back of the angle ? Around here he 1st fret area, or well before, the thickness continually increases. The end of the headstock is at final thickness from planing top of it.
Again, not sure if I’m following .


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From what I understand, we used to use a Saf-T-Planer for thickness peg heads, but since I have been here, have used a simple bushing-guided jig with a straight 1/2" router bit to thickness and to rough out the neck transition and dart. The attached text and pictures are from a post by the boss on the process.

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For the times they are a changin'

- Bob Dylan

What Andy is saying goes back to earlier discussions we have had about scarf joints and neck carving. I've said several times to think about each step of the process to decide what order makes things the easiest. When you cut your head piece off before you turn it over and glue it on the neck, you might want to plane or saw it to its final thickness (minus the head plate). You've got a nice flat little piece of wood - you can tip it on its side on a band saw, run it thru a thickness sander or plane it down with you doohicky. (This is also a good time to make slots if its a slot head).

You can do it after its been glued on, but its a whole lot more awkward. Anyway, go back and reread some of your other neck threads and instead of just thinking about a single operation thing about the process.













If I had wanted a volute and backstrap like Steve's I would have left the head thicker, used the Safe-T-Planer and hand tools