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I'm in the beginning stages of my first build. (OM) Figured out bending, top and back braced etc. Using East Indian Rosewood for back and sides. I have Hondurus Mahogany for the neck, but am thinking I would like the look of rosewood more. Having never carved a neck, I will be starting with the Mahogany one regardless even if just for practice, but wonder what the pros and cons are for a rosewood neck,
ie. weight? difficulty in carving? glueing finishing issues Etc..
Thanks.

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Dee Tee

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"If something is worth doing, it's worth doing right."

A friend made is first with a rosewood neck. EIRW carves nice and no finish issues just like the back and sides, just heavier than mahogany. I don't see the weight as an issue, which is why I have a couple of EIRW neck blanks in the wood pile!

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Time you enjoy wasting is not wasted time.

arthur overholtzer wrote a book on clasical gtr making in the 70/s he was a big proponent of EIR for necks.I have one of his alum side bending machines.The necks illustrated in the book are , if I can remember abt 1/16 in thinner than the conventional mahog necks.

I've only done mahogany and Spanish cedar so far, but I do have a couple rosewood blanks for special guitars.

First of all, I'm probably only going to use them on 12 fret necks, due to the weight/balance issue. Also may do a thinner headstock, with Gotoh stealth tuners which are very light weight and come in a short post version. But I generally build very light weight boxes, so it's more of an issue for me than some.

Since I don't have any power saws or sanders, I expect the carving will be terribly difficult, taking several times as long as a softer wood. Shaft carving probably won't be too bad, since I typically take thin shavings with a spokeshave for most of it anyway. But the heel/headstock/tapering the shaft and such will be a pain.

Glue and finish should be fine. Just scrape the surfaces clean before gluing, which I do on most things regardless of species. And finish, if the same as your back/sides, is a non-issue. But rosewood is also a lot harder than mahogany and so needs less protection, so you could even just polish the bare wood (maybe give it a light coat of walnut/linseed/tung oil to help keep it clean), and have a really nice feeling neck. Or if you don't like open pores, do the French polish pumice filling operation, burnish it up to a shine, and call it done (this is what I'll do).

Dennis before you decide to look like popeye the sailorman checkout getting a small 4in drawknife that could remove the bulk wood for you before spokeshaving.In years gone bye Martin craftsman used a drawknife to initially knock off the bulk, now mostly done with cnc and shapers.I use a japan woodworker 4in drawknife $40, and there are a whole bunch of other companys making them.The handles are poplar and they make quick work of taking the mass off necks.I would change the angle of the drawknife to 35 deg for EIR.

I've built several guitars with EIR necks. It is certainly heavier and more difficult to work than mahogany. The biggest issue will probably be keeping the guitar from being too top heavy. A slotted headstock, a thinner neck, or some weight added to the body in the right places can all add up to a better balanced guitar but it's still likely going to be a challenge. There's definitely a reason there are not so many rosewood necked guitars.

Being that I can saw and carve much more quickly and accurately with my right hand than my left, I'm starting to look more like this than Popeye

But yeah, a drawknife would save a little time on the rough work, especially as I gain more experience and have a better idea what shape I'm going toward, rather than the gradual approach I do currently. But like I said, that's the least of my concerns with carving it. More important would be a router template for the headstock, and bandsaw for the shaft taper and heel profile. Not sure there is any easy way to do the rest of the heel, at least with the normal kind of shape. Somogyi's rectangular type shape doesn't need much material removed beyond the profile cut though, so that could work.

Dennis I definitely like the picture of that funky crab.I used to trap them in the early 80/s in BC, never caught one like that before You can also make your own drawknife by grinding down a 1/2in or 3/4in old file .I made one in the 80/s over a gas stove in my bsmt apt in Van.It has a 25 deg primary bevel and 35 deg second microbevel fitted with maple dowel handles .It does not have the angled arms like a traditional spokeshave, so it can cut cleanly from the head transition to the heel.To cut the heel I use skew chisels, and knives and finish with spindle sanding sleeves mounted in a plain dowel that can sand all the compond curves.I have 2 6by48 sanders and spindle sander but don/t feel confident using them, one quick error and a lot of work to repair one/s mistake. In dec I bought a small craftsman 10in bandsaw on sale at sears for 166$ it/s a copy of the rikon ten in. at woodcraft. There are some pretty good routers out there for little $$ that can do a lot of that headstock work .I purchased a black and decker 1.5hp plunge router with circle cutter sub base and extras for abt 70$ at loews .Careful shopping could yield good buys .Have heard positives abt the small bosch, and ridgid laminate routers too.