  Start
off by easing the sharp edge around the back of the body panel with
an 1/8" radius, bearing guided, round-over bit. You don’t have to
carve out the boob pocket on the back, but it does make the guitar a
little more comfortable to play while sitting down, and it doesn’t
take that long. Carving the back is much like carving the top,
there’s just less carving to do. Freehand sketch the limits of your
carving on the back and side of the body panel. Use an angle grinder
with a 40 grit flap sanding disk installed. The mahogany back is a
much softer wood than the maple front, so take smooth, gentle, and
flowing passes with the grinder. Make sure everything blends
together nicely.
  Further
smooth and round things out with your orbital sander loaded with
some 60 grit. Then fine tune the blending by hand and remove any
router marks around the edges with some 60 grit. Follow that up with
some 100 grit by hand to smooth it all out. |
Start
off by easing the sharp edge around the back of the body panel with
an 1/8" radius, bearing guided, round-over bit. You don’t have to
carve out the boob pocket on the back, but it does make the guitar a
little more comfortable to play while sitting down, and it doesn’t
take that long. Carving the back is much like carving the top,
there’s just less carving to do. Freehand sketch the limits of your
carving on the back and side of the body panel. Use an angle grinder
with a 40 grit flap sanding disk installed. The mahogany back is a
much softer wood than the maple front, so take smooth, gentle, and
flowing passes with the grinder. Make sure everything blends
together nicely.
Further
smooth and round things out with your orbital sander loaded with
some 60 grit. Then fine tune the blending by hand and remove any
router marks around the edges with some 60 grit. Follow that up with
some 100 grit by hand to smooth it all out.
