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I recently completed my 116th classical guitar. The last 46 are based upon a design that I've evolved over the past 7 years. Nothing revolutionary or unique but it continues to work well. But, I'm getting a little bored and have neither developed nor come across any ideas for further evolution that I want to explore. So...I thought it might be fun to see if I could replicate a guitar by a world renowned luthier just for the fun of it so to speak. I'm well known in my own little market and have clients in a few other countries but I'm not world renowned and at age 74 don't really aspire to be.

The guitar I've chosen to replicate is a Daniel Friedrich concert model from the 70's. There is nothing about the guitar that I expect to find overly challenging except for one thing...the face plate on the head stock. When I first had my idea I thought it might be quite easy but when I actually started to think about it I started to hit some roadblocks. So far I've been mentally exploring two basic approaches. One is to do it by hand which, for me will be long, tedious and fraught with the risks of chisel slips and a less than perfect result. The other is to do it using a router or other machine tools which potentially has the advantage of higher level of perfection in the end result. I don't have access to CNC equipment and that's not an option I want to explore unless I absolutely have to.

Any ideas or thoughts would be much appreciated. Here is a photo of the head stock.

Hire a CNC guy like Andy Birko. Got to imagine it won't be terribly inexpensive given the "one-off" nature of the job, unless you get several made at once. It's the setup cost. Andy is a member here and does top notch work.

Layers.

I use hand tools for almost everything, but even I'd go with a router for that.

Or like James says, glue additional pieces on for the raised areas. You could also use different woods that way. Or even "bind" the diamond before gluing it on. Maybe cocobolo background, curly maple diamond with ebony edge, more ebony for the slot edges, and then some decorative maple shape inlaid to the ebony between the slots and nut.

I'd be tempted to make a template of the raised areas, relieve using a bearing guided bit, and then layer the center piece on top.
My .05c(no pennies here anymore)

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My memory is so good, sometimes I remember things that never happened.

Much of the very ornate Chippendale (and other) furniture surface carvings were done on a separate piece and then glued on. This looks like a prime candidate for that. And you could easily use a layer cut from the head to make sure the grain and color matched.

Ed

Make the faceplate first using a router and a template. Then glue to the neck. Finally shape the headstock to the faceplate including the cutouts. Obviously you need to drill the tuner holes before routing the ovals.


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Ken

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Ken

Hello Michael,

Just sitting here having coffee trying to think of a solution.
My first thought might be to scribe out the elevated area with a razor and try out one of those mini hand router planes to clear the rest.... given no CNC
I know you weren't keen on a chisel, but maybe one of these planes could provide the stability and depth control to make it easier on you.

That design is very nice. I'm sure you will pull it off not matter what method you use.
Gregor

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Wake up and smell the rosewood!

Yup, simple alternative is to do layers. Cut it from the same wood so that all matches.

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Expectation is the source of all misery; comparison the thief of joy.
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Michael, you're about 5 years and 104 guitars ahead of me, but the headstock that sticks out for me is one that Chris Paulick posted on this site about a year ago. It was hand carved on ebony with some pretty simple tools. It might be worth a look.

You could pattern route an over sized (rectangular) head plate, clean up the corners with a chisel, then cut the head plate to shape and glue it to the peghead.

Thanks for the ideas everyone. I think they all have merit and are helping me to get my head "out of the box" so to speak. If and when I come up with a solution, I'll post it.

What is it about the Friederich that appeals to you, Michael? The real challenge in getting that guitar to approach the original is to understand exactly what he was working towards and how he managed all of the elements. It truly is an exercise in detail management.

My gut feeling is that you would find great challenge and reward exploring the guitars of Vicente Arias. Arias is high on my list.

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Expectation is the source of all misery; comparison the thief of joy.
http://redrivercanoe.ca/

There are endless ways to do something like that, but I can tell you with near 100% certainty that the carved headstock in the posted picture was done with a router and template. I'd be inclined to go with a pin router set up for something like that, but you could also do with with sleeves (template guides), though there'd be more cleanup in the corners.

If you're set on doing it by hand, I'd think the way to go would be a small router plane and a marking gauge for the lips around the tuner slots.

I'd tend to agree with what Ken and Greg have said: router template. If I didn't have access to a CNC router, I'd laser cut the templates then glue them to the face plate and sand or plane them off after routing...but you could also use a scroll saw for the templates.

You can also make a template for it that's one solid piece and cut one half of the headstock at a time (flipping the template across the midline for the second cut). The island is 'left over', but the two cuts that make it don't require a template with a floating center.

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Bob Garrish
Former Canonized Purveyor of Fine CNC Luthier Services