Carving bigleaf maple versus other variety of maple

Please put your pickup/wiring discussions in the Electronics section; and put discussions about repair issues, including fixing errors in new instruments, in the Repairs section.
Post Reply
Christ Kacoyannakis
Posts: 252
Joined: Sat Jan 07, 2012 8:58 pm

Carving bigleaf maple versus other variety of maple

Post by Christ Kacoyannakis »

I have hand carved two bigleaf maple 17 inch archtops. Carving that bigleaf maple was no joke. I am wondering if carving red maple, or some other variety of maple is easier, or are they are all about as difficult to carve. I have a great source for bigleaf maple, but could always use other sources. I am also looking for sources for red maple or other varieties. I don't need to buy large quantities, rather, I am looking for somebody who can provide really nice sets and has pictures or can provide pictures. Thanks.
Alan Carruth
Posts: 1265
Joined: Sun Jan 15, 2012 1:11 pm

Re: Carving bigleaf maple versus other variety of maple

Post by Alan Carruth »

In my experience bigleaf is the hardest to carve, although, as with all woods, it varies. With most maples you can plane or scrape across the grain of curly wood to minimize tear out, but broadleaf tends to crush when cut across the grain, so it's harder to deal with. By comparison European maple is a piece of cake, as is American soft maple, so long as your tools are sharp. Rock maple lives up to it's name, but does cut cleanly. Birdseye I don't enjoy, even though it looks great when you get it done.
Christ Kacoyannakis
Posts: 252
Joined: Sat Jan 07, 2012 8:58 pm

Re: Carving bigleaf maple versus other variety of maple

Post by Christ Kacoyannakis »

Thanks, Alan!
Brian Evans
Posts: 922
Joined: Sat Aug 30, 2014 8:26 am
Location: Tatamagouche, Nova Scotia

Re: Carving bigleaf maple versus other variety of maple

Post by Brian Evans »

If you haven't tried toothed plane blades yet, I would do so. I have one in my large thumb plane and it makes planing across grain in hardwood a lot less problematic. They virtually eliminate tearout so you can ignore grain when roughing.
User avatar
Barry Daniels
Posts: 3186
Joined: Thu Jan 05, 2012 10:58 am
Location: The Woodlands, Texas

Re: Carving bigleaf maple versus other variety of maple

Post by Barry Daniels »

And you can convert a plane blade into a toothed blade by simply cutting shallow, parallel grooves into the back of the blade with a dremel cut-off wheel.
MIMF Staff
Alan Carruth
Posts: 1265
Joined: Sun Jan 15, 2012 1:11 pm

Re: Carving bigleaf maple versus other variety of maple

Post by Alan Carruth »

I made a toothed iron for the arch plane that I inherited from Carleen Hutchins when I started work on my latest archtop, which has a Bigleaf back. It was the only way to get it to work.
Christ Kacoyannakis
Posts: 252
Joined: Sat Jan 07, 2012 8:58 pm

Re: Carving bigleaf maple versus other variety of maple

Post by Christ Kacoyannakis »

It is not so much the tearout that I have issues with. It is the difficulty of carving. Seems as though the consensus is that European or German (is that all red spruce) is much easier to carve. Is there a good source for really nice high end curly European maple?
Post Reply

Return to “Archtop Guitars and Bass Guitars”