The volute on the back of a guitar neck where the peghead emerges is supposed to strengthen that area and reduce the likelihood of breakage if the guitar falls. Carving the volute is a difficult and tedious task. In this video, I show how I carve the volute for the dreadnought guitar I have been building. My primary tools are a couple of very sharp chisels, but I also use a small plane and sandpaper.
I am not sure that the volute really adds much strength, because I have repaired several broken pegheads that contained a volute. However, I do like the look on most instruments and for this reason, chose to use one on this project.
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