I'm going to be doing some carving (more like shaping actually) in the near future. It will all need to be done by hand and the tool of choice is a chisel.
My question is... what type of chisel is the best for this type of work? I have a set of the old marples, and will use them unless there is a better option. I often hear about paring chisels used for this type of thing, but don't really understand the differences or why they are preferred. Should I be looking for one? Should I be looking at something different?
Here some pics showing exactly what it will be used for.
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Let me know if you want me to poke around and see what they're using. The school has a variety of chisels, typically the older blue handle marples. But I can wander over to the guitar building area and see if they've got something else, or look n' see what the others are using.
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Will you be thicknessing the top/bottom to different dimensions RE: 3/8" at the sound hole and 3/16" at the edge?
I dunno squat about guitars, but I been studyin up on violins and I know on a violin the top and bottom are vary so I've been pondering some carving gouges.
Will you be thicknessing the top/bottom to different dimensions RE: 3/8" at the sound hole and 3/16" at the edge?
I'm actually going to try a more modern technique for that that Taylor guitars came up with (and patented). Instead of thinning out at the edges, they route a very shallow 1/8" wide round channel all the way around the perimeter of the soundboard, about 1/2" from the rim, which achieves the same thing (loosening it up to vibrate more freely).
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I'm not sure I'm clear on what the operation you're doing is, but it looks like the fellow in the photo is using a gouge. If I am seeing it properly, there is a curve to the piece, no? In that case, a standard outcannel gouge (meaning the bevel is on the convex side) would probably be easier. Your Marples will probably do the job, it just requires a little more finesse than a gouge would. The gouge has a large bevel on the outside that you can 'ride' to get a very clean cut pretty easily. The decider for me, though, might be that gouges are orders of magnitude harder to sharpen if you're not used to them.
If the piece you're removing is actually straight a paring chisel would work very well. Paring chisels are generally longer, thinner, and have a shallower bevel than bench chisels. They are outstanding for use when you need to remove a very thin layer of material, such as 'planing' a surface flat when a plane won't work. The long blade gives you a lot of surface area to register the chisel, and the lower bevel (20-25 degrees usually) makes very clean cuts. Paring chisels are never struck or 'pried' because the edge isn't strong enough.
It is a curving surface when viewed from the side, but the face of the curve is flat from the top side. (if that makes sense). It is basically a curved taper, tapering to almost nothing at the edge.
The curved surface at the top of the brace, before it starts to taper is usually just done with a block plane.
It sounds like the paring chisel is the way to go as this is very delicate work with only light shavings required... which begs the question, how much more difficult would it be to eschew the paring chisel and use my marples? Total pita? Or only marginally moreso?
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Marginal at best. In fact, I might prefer the Marples, because the long length of the parers migh make it harder to get the fine control you need for that curve.
Me, I'd probably use the Marples, just oriented bevel-down so you can get the concave curve. If you wanted to make the tool just a bit more 'suitable' you could round the bevel a bit, makes it easier to 'ride' the bevel for the curve. It's probably completely unnecessary, though. What you have should probably be just fine, IMO.
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