Shaping the 7-string Guitar Neck Blank: Spokeshave

To shape the neck of my new instrument I will be using a spokeshave. I have had one of these tools for a while but now that I need to use it I need to learn how to use it.

One way to think of the spokeshave is as a plane for curved surfaces. Taking the word "plane" literally this is oxymoronic, but when you look at the blade in the picture to the right you will see what I mean. The blade is very similar to the blade in a block plane or bench plane, but on the spokeshave there is no large flat base extending before and after the blade to enforce a flat surface after the cut.

One thing I noticed when I started playing with my spokeshave was that it absolutely (in my case anyway) needs to be used with two hands to keep the blade oriented correctly to the wood. In my computer work questions of accessibility and universal design come up from time to time so I am conditioned to think about who can or can not use this or that device. A person with one hand would have to have one hell of a grip to keep this thing in line.

More as I learn it.

As you might have guessed these pictures are swiped. More pictures of what I am actually doing will follow.