This project started out with intentions of building a "quick and dirty" test bed to experiment with a few ideas, but morphed into something else. I just cant seem to help myself.

What it turned out to be however isnt yet known, as of this writing I am still tinkering with it and it is not yet finished. But however it turns out (or doesnt!) I think it may be a chance to share some ideas and tips for those with one or more of these situations:

• Limited tools and experience
• A lack of access to wood products beyond the common stock at the local big-box store.
• Intimidated by the thought of executing a scarf joint, but desire to do a conventional set back headstock.

Follow along if you choose, as I show how I made a carved neck with little more than a 1X2, a couple of saws, a chisel, a rasp, some sand paper, some clamps and a basic "workmate" style work bench. I used no power tools in creating the neck, just to share a method for anyone interested.

Some thoughts on carving and chisel use-

It is important to use a sharp tool and learn to safely do so. A slip with a chisel or other sharp tool can do a lot of damage to you and your work. If you havent done so yet, learn to properly sharpen your tool, they generally arent acceptable as purchased. I prefer pretty good quality blades and hone a micro bevel onto them.

Practice on some scrap wood, and learn to never cut toward any part of your body. Think through your plan and secure your workpiece well. Use small cuts and motions. Ignore those crazy videos where guys tear away great amounts of wood at full speed. Learn to carve out small chips, slice long narrow slivers and gouge inside radii. Learn to read the grain so your blade doesnt dig in. Learn to plane with the bevel up and when to turn the chisel bevel down and carve. Experiment with planing at angles across the grain. With practice you may find you can quickly learn to shape pretty close to finished with good techniques and tools. And you will learn that the basic chisel is a most versatile tool. And again, be careful. this is supposed to be fun!

I had previously drawn up a plan for a 3 string 22.5" scale neck with an integral fingerboard and chromatic fretting by determining my nut and bridge location first, with the bridge being roughly 1/4 to 1/3 of the way from the end of the chosen box. It is a neck-thru construction with the neck "tail" forming the string tailpiece.

I chose this particular box because I liked the way it looked, but also because I planned to build this to primarily test some ideas, I also chose a box that I knew had a bit of a warped lid, and ply construction, so I dont have real high hopes of exceptional acoustic performance. It may have had a better chance if I had used the bottom of the box as the soundboard, but to be honest, I just couldnt resist the way the top and label looked. We'll see how it sounds in the end!

I also planned a 10 or 12 degree headstock angle, a 2 degree negative neck set angle, 1/8" minimum clearance to the top and bottom of the box, a carved heal, simple piezo disc pickups, a Corian nut and a combination hardwood/Corian bridge. The finger board surface is 1/4 above the box where it meets the neck.

I chose Poplar as I figured it was easiest to work with manually and readily available.

The design I had drawn showed that with this scale length and box size, I would end up with 18 frets, so I tweeked the plan so the 18th fret would end up aligned with the end of the box for asthetics.

Well lets get started:

I started by laying out a profile of my plan on the side of a 1X2

The first cuts create the basic neck profile. I cut them before joining the halves to make sawing easier. I began at the headstock with a back saw to make the straight cut, then I cut the curved section with a coping saw. Its slow and tedious but shows it is quite possible. My advise is to take your time and let the saw do the work,, and cut slightly outside the lines to allow for final shaping.  While making the longer cuts I used a scrap as a wedge to reduce binding. The following pictures show the procedure.

I then joined the two halves:

The various end cuts in the box area were made with the back saw, and areas between were slotted and chiselled out to reduce sawing:

After further smoothing and carving with the chisel I cut two ears and attached them to the headstock area;

After some triming and planing with the chisel I had a nice basic neck blank;

I made a full sized template from my plan for a headstock, and transferred it to the neck, carefully referencing the nut location. Then cut and sanded the head stock shape;

Then I began carving and shaping the heal and the neck to head transition area:

I After the heal and head end shapes were pretty close to where I wanted them I carved the neck area to join the two. I have to confess that at this point I did break out a spokeshave as it is much faster, but you can certainly shave, plane and carve it with a chisel if needed. Go slow and stop to check your work often, shave smaller and smaller amounts as you get close to the final shape. I used a 4 way rasp and sandpaper as I shaped and smoothed further until I had a semi finished neck. I then further flattened the fingerboard surface with a piece of "stikit" 120, then 220 on a peice of marble. (This is a door threshold from the local big box home supply store, about $10):

After fine sanding the neck I was ready to move to the next stop.

(Continued)