Cutting Out a Neck

I don't have a band saw. I do have a coping saw, and a deep bodied, aluminum fret saw.  I've tried cutting out neck profiles with them, with limited success. I found a new method that works well, and is easy. First I mark a line where the nut and fingerboard meet, all the way around the block. I use spray on adhesive, and glue the pattern of the scroll on both sides, lined up with the line I marked. I put it down about a mm, so the fingerboard plane is proud of the scroll, and the nut can't push on the fingerboard. Then I get my ryobi saw out, and take some cuts until it looks like this.

Then I take a chisel, and whack the waste away. The saw and chisel takes maybe 15 minutes.

Then I get out a cheap, rough rasp, and smooth it out, going right to the line, and trying to keep it square. At this point I used the fret saw to cut some of the throat(?) away.

Then I am at the point where I can mark out the pegbox, and I'm set to cut the mortise.

Total time is about an hour; probably no faster than sawing. It is much easier than using the saw, and with the saw you have to be very careful about the angle you hold it at, you have to keep watching both sides, and an hour of sawing seems like much more work.

I had that worded differently, but SOME people have nothing better to do than to cause problems.