Useful little tool

[jupiteruke]

I have found a very useful little tool for carving neck heels. In the past I have used various things for this operation, including rasps, chisels, drawknives, and knives. I wanted something that would easily carve around the curve of the heel, and to which you could apply enough controlled force to cut through the end-grain. A drawknife worked somewhat as two handles allowed the use of some force with control. However the drawknife I have is big enough that it did not 'turn the corner' well.

I found this little drawknife that is thin, narrow, and slightly flexible. The narrow blade allows it to easily 'turn the corner' and the curved blade, flexibility, and of course two handles give a great deal of control. Really nice for heel carving.

 

[Pegasus Guitars]

Here are a couple of other small drawknives. I have never tried those Flexcut knives and don't quite understand the flex concept, but they look interesting. My favorite is my Pfeil made one. Shown with the natural handles. The other one is an eBay find. These tools are hard to sharpen really well, but I'm working on it.

 

[scarver]

Being a former (due to arthritis) woodcarver, I'm pretty familiar with Flexcut and have several of their knives and gouges. Frankly, the flex hardly comes into play. But the steel is good, well tempered and holds a nice edge - all characteristics that you want in a carving tool.

 

[Moore Bettah Ukuleles]

Nice looking tool. Personally, I’ve never used anything but my 6 X 48 sander.

 

[Pegasus Guitars]

I do a lot of that too, but I don't like being confined to the size of the rollers for everything. I have a few different shapes and not all of my neck sizes and shapes fit the curve of the rollers. Carving tools are always needed for the volutes I do. I also use a Merlin carver and various sanding drums in the drill press or Dremel. I find that diffferent species of wood, and wood grain, dictate what tools I have to use to make life easier. When it comes to tools, I am not a minimalist. No doubt I have more tools than I need, but I use whatever it takes to get the job done.