Top shaping

Carve, carve, carve.

Top work

Ok, the top is joined and I'm starting to carve the outside arching -- which I do by eye without templates; now that I understand and know the shape of the arching, it's easy to carve it to the correct shape quickly with a plane.

I used to be interested in automated methods for duplicating a pattern precisely -- so that each top is exactly the same as the next, but I really can't see it saving much time, and I would miss a very important step in getting to know the wood -- and changing the arching to suit it......

The wood I use is Sitka spruce and the stock I am using now is all from the same log -- cut into bookmatched sets perfectly by a friend. It's very nice to get to know the qualities of the wood over the years -- so at least there is one variable eliminated from the vast array.