Curving the body

[tenacious_g]

Ive routed out the body, what tool do i use to curve or contour the body. Also, maybe put a link with a demonstration video that youve found?

[Norris]

Have a look at the build thread by @Andyjr1515

... where he uses a pull shave to put a concave curve in the back (see page 2). I assume that's what you mean

[Andyjr1515]

Hi.  I also use a humble curved cabinet scraper, depending on how hard the wood is.  I'll try and find a photo of the sort of thing I use

[curtisa]

Scraper, spokeshave, rasp, angle grinder with 40 grit flap disk, chisels, gouges. All sorts of ways you can do it with varying degrees of danger, speed, mess and effectiveness.

[sdshirtman]

I personally use several different tools for contouring depending on what level of material removal or detail I'm looking for. 

Microplane rasps are great tools which can remove large amounts of material with a lot of control. With a round course blade I can hog out a belly cut in just a minute or two. I can clean that up and refine my shape with a finer blade and can usually hit it with an orbital sander afterward and be finished. They are fairly resilient tools if taken care of and should last you a quite while before they need replacing. 

https://www.amazon.com/MICROPLANE-SNAP-BLADE-RASP-SET/dp/B000H6BPKG/ref=sr_1_2?s=hi&ie=UTF8&qid=1489095895&sr=1-2&keywords=microplane

 

Shinto rasps are a powerhouse when it comes to hogging off material quickly. They are essentially a series of stacked saw blades spread out across the width of the tool. They are double sided with a course side and a finer side which leaves a fairly fine surface thats ready to smooth over with 120 grit. The drawback is that they are flat and don't work well for precise concave contouring. They are fairly inexpensive. 

https://www.amazon.com/Saw-File-S/dp/B001AX0X12/ref=sr_1_3?s=hi&ie=UTF8&qid=1489096407&sr=1-3&keywords=Shinto

 

My favorite contouring tool lately are the Iwasaki chemically polished rasps. They have a very tactile feel to them. If you use a firm pressure stroke they will accurately remove a fair amount of material. If you lighten your pressure and stroke you can take off minute amounts of material and leave a very clean surface. These files are better suited for refining contours after you're finished hogging off the bulk of your contours and shape. They do not work well for removing large amounts of material. They are expensive but worth every penny in my opinion. If you could only afford one of these I'd recommend the 200mm half round fine cut version.  If I could only have two the second would be the smaller 110mm half round extreme fine cut version which is just an incredible tool for shaping headstocks, fine tuning neck to heel transitions and shaping volutes. 

https://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_2?url=search-alias%3Dtools&field-keywords=IWASAKI+file

 

If you're on a budget and could only purchase one type of contour shaping tool I'd recommend starting with the Microplanes set. They are more than up to the task of shaping all varieties of contours found on a guitar. Good luck and I hope this helps. 

 

 

 

 

[tenacious_g]

would sandpaper serve the same purpose as a finer file or rasp?

[Andyjr1515]

Hi, again

I am assuming you are talking about the simple convex curves on the top, arm relief, back cutaway, body edges of, say, a stratocaster or similar, or are you talking about the complex 'S' curves of, say, a Les Paul?  

For the former, then yes - fine rasp files, sanding block, cabinet scrapers can all be used fairly well

Andy

[StratsRdivine]

I've done a ton of weird shaping of inside (concave) curves, both single and compound, and although I own / or make the curved scrapers and rasps needed, I prefer varying radii drums and belt sanders.  My thought process is "can this be done by machine?" before I consider hand tools.  

For tight radii, I use the tip of my 1-1/8" belt sander, super useful for all kinds of work - concave and convex (using the back).  By far my most useful tool is when I modify common drum sanders.  All drum sanders come with one stem to chuck into the tool.  But you will not find any that have a stem coming out the other end, with a handgrip sleeve mounted on bearings.  This is HUGE.  Once you mod a drum sander this way, you will be amazed at how much control you have.  My huge 7 x 9 pneumatic drum uses a heavy drum designed to be mounted to a stationary machine.  I bought the drum only, then sent to a machine shop to have a custom shaft turned and inserted through the center (20 years ago - would just make one myself nowdays) with a hex ground stem on one end and a 4" handle mounted on other end via bearings, so it spins in my hand.  Its quite a monster to handle - gyroscopic effect at higher RPM's, so I chuck it into my slower drill.  If you deflate it a little, it contours nicely to tummy cuts or other large radii convex surfaces.