Last ... hopefully ... cuts on the body

So I REALLY want to finish this before the end of the month because we NEED to demolish our shed and rebuild a new bigger one which obviously includes quite a bit of work . . . including moving quite a bit of earth to level the bigger site . . . and cutting off some lower tree limbs so it'll fit . . . and demolishing the old chicken run (which hasn't been used since we moved in) . . . which leads to => we really should pull the old fence posts - - - - which are possibly set in concrete. So it's clear that when that all starts there will be little time for extended extra curricular activities.

With that in mind, I think these are the last cuts that define the body . . . .

First routing out the top part of the upper front bout to the 'lower' level'





















This wasn't QUITE what I intended but a 'spur of the moment' thing . . . the original idea was to curve the lower step around with the outline and cut the upper step straight.

Next the step . . .  drawing the curve using a ruler as a batten, not really recommended, but everything else I tried to use was either . . . not straight to begin with . . . or didn't bend quite easily enough. You sometimes just have to go with what works.

So I first free hand routed close to the line (<1 mm outside was considered 'good enough') and then I sanded in the rest of the curve . . . how ??? well you need a piece of sandpaper on something that bends smoothly with the curve . . . I first considered a piece of 1/8 lexan . . . no go, once again it doesn't bend easily enough . . . next sandpaper rolled around a large dowel . . . works but is slow due to the small contact area . . . piece of 1/16 aluminum would work ... probably ... but darn if I can find my large piece I KNOW I have ... somewhere. So in the end I sacrificed an old thin 6" ruler which was a little stiffer than I really wanted but . . . available . . . sandpaper affixed with some painters tape and super glue and away we go . . . 120, 220 ... 320 . . . and done.

Next one more hair raising operation, drilling the holes for the neck screws . . .

Ok, so this is after measuring everything at LEAST 5 times and drilling the first 2 pilot holes with a 1/8" bit with a Dremel in a stand. I've said that I don't own a drill press before, that's not - strictly - true, I do have a stand for the Dremel and it comes in handy, but only fits small jobs and has limited reach but for some neck screw pilot holes it works . . .

The hair raising part was that the locations of the holes were taken off the neck, were they seem to be centered exactly ... as you would expect from - what is likely CNC - drilled holed from the factory. Also the neck pocket was formed using a StewMac neck pocket jig centered as exact as possible over that maple stripe in the middle ... .... ..... so . . . why do the front holes in the neck pocket seem to be ever so slightly out of true when lined up with a neck plate . . . I checked, rechecked, rerechecked, checked on the other side, carried measurements from one side to the other, rererechecked . . . and . . . it just is it seems, EVERYTHING checks out, the plate seems to sit correctly and evenly . . . BUT . . . the holes seem askew . . . in the end I drilled them and . . .

And I used some ebony Minwax penetrating stain on the upper step ... not sure if that will or will not eventually make a difference . . . or if it even makes it that far, it just may get sanded off before the 'real' finishing starts.

Performed the ULTIMATE check, I attached the neck with some #6 wood screws (standard neck screws are #8 . . . more on that later) - slightly undersized for 1/8" holes, they don't -quite - drop through but don't have a lot of 'bite' either . . . AND . . . it all lines up . . . so I'm still at a loss as to WHY the holes look askew . . . they STILL do . . . but there is a guitar there . . . Oh and that headstock will eventually need some reshaping . . . haven't worked that out yet, partially because the top curve starts just slightly north of the last tuner hole which is 'too close' for my original idea, on the pictures at the Warmoth site it seemed that I would have more 'room' there.