This is a brief description of how I carve a neck, starting from a rough shaped blank. I shape the neck on a holder which clamps into my workbench vice. There is a hold-down which holds the end of the fingerboard (glued onto the neck) and a spring clamp holds the headstock end.
The first step is to use a micro-plane, a sharp grater-like tool, to cut the basic neck profile into the blank at the top and bottom of the neck. This establishes the basic curvature and depth of the neck.
Then I take a drawknife to rough cut out the shoulders between the two neck curve sections. My father helped me buy this drawknife when I was about 10 or 12 years old. I don’t remember what sort of project I was doing, but my father trusted me with a sharp blade at a rather young age. I still have the drawknife, and it still works well.
Then the neck shape is refined with a spoke shave. I have also had this tool for many years.
A rough curve is left at the headstok end from the drum sander I use to flatten the back of the headstock.. I turn this into a volute with the aid of some knives made for me by a friend. (Still in test phase, no real handles yet.) My favorite is this one made of Damascas steel.
Using this knife I can carve the volute to shape, and profile it into the curve of the neck.
The heel area is curved and refined with various curved rasps, micro-planes, and files. Then some (quite a lot actually) sanding and the neck is looking like a neck.
