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I am doing a build for a contest and want to do a carved top. I have never carved anything before so I have no idea about the graduations. All I really have to go by is that my drop top is 3/4" and I need to go down to about 1/4" at the perimeter so the binding covers the seam. Is 1/2" carve too much? I will be routing ledges and then finishing it off by hand. So would you just do equally spaced ledges from the perimeter to where it gets flat? Would you start your first couple inside of the perimeter to be only slightly higher and then increase more and more, like an exponential curve almost, to give it that look?

Sorry if this is vague or not well conveyed, I really have no idea what I am doing when it comes to this.

Appreciate any advice,
Ed

1/2 inch is pretty good. But you are talking about 3/4 of wood up on top of the body right? You will need to plan your neck angle based on sitting the bridge at it's point in the arching.

I would plan on making the edge more like 1/8 and your arching about 1/2 inch from this. You can start with the long arch concentrating on from the neck to the bridge. You will have to make it more of a slope. But you can put a slight curve into it if you are careful. From the long arch out to the edges you can use a nice arch of some sort. Either draw about 5 cross arches and use them as templates or do it by eye. One problem will be the area of the cutaway. You will need to create a little steeper slope here and then you can either leave it or blend the other slope into it for an asymmetrical arching.

Sounds fun, what type of wood?

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Ken

Ken, yes I am talking about 3/4 of wood on top. I was thinking of doing a flat portion on top from the bridge area to the neck pocket, would that look bad though? I did not want to do any kind of neck angle to keep things simple. Going from 1/8" to 1/2" do you mean I should have my top 5/8" in total? I wanted to have it the standard Tele thickness of 1 3/4" but I guess it does not really matter.

The wood is going to be a rosewood strip down the center dovetailed to two spalted birch wings.

Chris, thats a great video thanks. Until now I was planing on making a bunch of different topographical templates to attach and use a router with a bearing bit. The safety planer method looks a whole lot easier, especially with my new press.

Do you guys think a couple of these planes could get me going for now?
http://www.leevalley.com/wood/page.aspx ... at=1,41182

You can do a lot of different things with a carve. If you are going for a Les Paul type carve then that video is a great one. If you are looking to do something a little different it will probably all have to be done by hand the first time. Cutting the ledge on the edge of the guitar first like you mentioned is a great start. The links below are some examples of different carves, with these I cut the outside ledge with the router, then made a template for the initial drop off the top and cut that with a router, every thing else was done by hand with a rasp and scrapers (at least the first time, then it goes on my carving duplicator). Oh, both of these have a flat top and no neck angle. You have a thick enough top that you can get creative. good luck

http://www.iszacguitars.com/Pictures/Galleries/Faded%20Blue%20Icarus/index.html
http://www.iszacguitars.com/Pictures/Galleries/Red%20Indivia/index.html

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John Thiessen
http://www.iszacguitars.com

John, killer guitars, and really nice carve on both. I am just wondering how f-holes would look on that kind of carve...
But I definitely want to have the same kind of flat top and neck transition. Im not sure how creative I can get, I really dont have any kind of aesthetic tastes when it comes to carving because the concept is so new to me. It will probably be something in between yours and Chris' style.

Thanks,


I didn't realize you were going to put an F hole in it. That makes it a little more complicated. You might take a look at PRS hollow body II. It has a neck angle but not very drastic. It is a little more subtle carve, but still utilizes a thicker top like what you have. It could also be done with the method shown in the video.

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John Thiessen
http://www.iszacguitars.com

Another question, can I do all of my carving (after the rough out with router or planer) with one of the 47mm Ibex planes? Or will this take forever and I should get the 90mm as well?

Thanks,
Ed

Short answer, is yes.

I usually use a handfull of tools to carve a top including double bass size, but that is from a choice of 50 tools. Try, no, try, maybe, try, yes, etc...Rasps can be a very effective way to shape wood and is quick and results in smooth curves.

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Ken

Ed-
A coarse sanding disc in an angle grinder can also be used for shaping, but you need a light touch to avoid removing too much, too quickly. If grinding, an outside/garage workspace is recommended - lotsa dust.

Some thin wood 'splines' or battens - even strips of plastic- can help to show you where the 'lumps' are in your carving.

Cheers
John

Hi Ed,
I did the carf like you suggested, the easiest way is let the area between neck and bridge
flat. I roughly use my router steps-wise and go further with a power-file and then make the
little adjustments with sandingpaper ( machine and hand )
afterwards I cut the soundhole(s).

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Don't worry be happy.

Hello all. I'm new here and just getting my feet wet in building. I've completed a carved Tele and I have 2 carves under way and thought I would share the process I use. I use an overhead router to step the edges and then I carve using a curved sole Ibex plane. There are faster ways, but I like the control of the small plane. I can rough carve a top in about an hour...depending on the carve.

Here are some pics and links to the build threads. I'll be moving these threads to OLF soon.

Carved Top Tele

http://www.crenshawweb.com/texastele/ttp10.htm



EVH Wolfgang

http://projectguitar.ibforums.com/index.php?showtopic=43133



PRS Custom 22

http://projectguitar.ibforums.com/index.php?showtopic=43327



Peace,
Mark

Hey Mark! Recognized your beauty of a tele there from the TDPRI. Thanks so much for posting because I was actually looking for that thread a little while ago. Welcome to the OLF.

Thanks Edward. It's always nice to find another source for ideas and inspiration. OLF seems like a good one.

Peace,
Mark