Anyone use the stewmac dragon rasp?

Posted by Charlotte Henry on March 7, 2012 at 8:46pm

I timed myself the other day on how long it takes me to shape a neck with a rasp and wind up with a 220 grit finish and it takes me right at an hour.  I have been pretty happy with my rasp but this time seems excessive.  I am not working in a frenzy, but I am not taking a break in there either.  I'm just patiently working it down into a neck I can be happy with and have the neck flow into the peghead.  

I'm probably going to spring for the large dragon rasps in fine and coarse to see if it won't speed things up somewhat but wanted to know if anyone here is using them.

Charlotte

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Replies

  • Charlotte Henry March 10, 2012 at 11:26pm

    Guys, I carved a neck tonight in 35 minutes.  I did a bit more with the spokeshave and I'll tell y'all that even though I'm completely sold on the draw knife now, this has made me appreciate my rasp even more.  It does the work without me having to exert any force and it sounds pretty amazing as it is removing wood.

    So, I started this because I was thinking about getting another rasp and wound up with a spokeshave.  Now I also want to make a shaving horse or pony.  Thanks for all the tips!!  

    • Jan Westphal > Charlotte Henry March 11, 2012 at 1:53am

      Half an hour is great, I am thinking about purchasing a decent, big rasp now...

    • Charlotte Henry > Jan Westphal March 11, 2012 at 7:42pm

      Jan, I can never go back to just working with a rasp now after having my eyes opened to the spoke shave.  It really lets the rasp do what it is best at and I didn't realize that until the last couple of days and I now appreciate my rasp a little more. BTW, I read that you made some bows.  I made one last year, a 40 lb oak longbow. Actually it's a paddle bow with maple veneer  backing.  I'm terrible with it, but I made my own flemish twist string and served it.  Very, very fun thing to do.

  • Jim Mitchell March 10, 2012 at 2:10pm

    Great topic and discussion as you have already said Charlotte.  The transition is the art part isn't it? I'd love to say that it's always a piece of cake. But then there are those days when it's just tougher then others.   I have to tell you though the making the necks is my favorite part of the build. So for me the time is not the issue it's all about the end result.

    Michael the shave pony was something I liked from the get-go  I clamp it a number of different ways in my shop and really enjoy using it. I don't think it took anytime to make really but I love it. Yes, Yes Yes for sharp tools...Thats the trick with the spokeshave especially....

    • MichaelS Country Boy Guitars > Jim Mitchell March 10, 2012 at 3:32pm

      Jim, my mom makes shaker box's and she uses a mini shave pony, thats when I got the idea of a big one for the necks, nice and simple. Oh and the necks seem to take the longest for me, It really is the main part of the guitar, the box is just hanging on for the ride, the neck is what we play.

  • MichaelS Country Boy Guitars March 9, 2012 at 9:05am

    I use a sure form and a couple of really old spoke shaves then sandpaper.  I think you can't go wrong adding more tools to your collection, but as a piano repairer you already know that. 

    Like the shave pony pictured a few back, I have been thinking of making one, thanks for the link, I use a speedclamp now but it always slips on me. 

    • Charlotte Henry > MichaelS Country Boy Guitars March 10, 2012 at 8:44am

      I did two necks last night and used a spoke shave followed by a rasp and both necks were maple. One was laminated with a cherry strip down the center and the other was slab cut.  I feel I saved some time by the rapid wood removal allowed by the spoke shave and I have to say that I feel pretty happy with my coarse rasp.  It is very controllable with the amount of pressure I use, aggressive when I want it to be, sharp enough to be hard on the hands needing gloves, doesn't clog, I'm not unhappy with my rasp so I'm probably just going to add the spoke shave to my tool box.

      There is a learning curve with the spoke shave that I'm going to have to journey through.  I know I could have done more wood removal with it before going to the rasp, but I figure I have plenty of time to get accustomed to using it.  If I can trim 20 minutes off my neck time I'll be happy.  I realized last night how much of my time is actually spent detailing contours and how much is wood removal.

      Just a fyi, I'm getting my necks down to .59 in the first fret and trying for more of an oval than round.

    • MichaelS Country Boy Guitars > Charlotte Henry March 10, 2012 at 11:00am

      Nice, keep working the spoke shave, and don't let anyone tell you not to push it, you can go both ways, depends on the grain. I'm not great with it but it gets better each time I use mine. As with any tool a sharp blade helps. 

  • Jim Mitchell March 9, 2012 at 8:37am

    Charlotte I have used a similar system in the past and it works well. What I like about the shave pony is how quickly you can clamp and release the neck blank.   Do you rough out your necks with the rasp?  That would be a ton of work do-able but a ton of work.... 

    • Charlotte Henry > Jim Mitchell March 9, 2012 at 10:34am
      Well, like I said, it takes me an hour to do a neck. That seems a time that can be safely trimmed down. One thing I like about the rasp is the control. I tried a spoke shave yesterday and it does not get into the transition areas well and then the rasp work seems more tedious. The blank I tried it on was maple with some curl and it took out a chunk. Still leaning toward the dragon rasp.
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