After a few initial mistakes with the first neck and troubles getting the plates jointed everything has been progressing much smoother lately. Hopefully it will stay that way!!!
I spent a good chunk of time using the card/cabinet scraper to smooth out the tear out on the back plate and then used an orbital sander to get the final thickness of 2mm. I was surprise how flat the surface was, only a couple of minor "hills" which I flattened out. The back is now ready for the back reinforcing strip and braces to be glued on.
The picture below is of the outside/display face which doesnt look too bad after all..
I had planned to focus on the neck after thicknessing the back plate but the humidity was all over the place (40-78%) as it was a stormy afternoon. So instead of gluing the heel block, I started work on the soundboard.
It took just under 2hrs to systematically work the thickness down to 2mm, taking every opportunity to tap the plate and listen to the tone changes as its mass was removed.
My approach was to bring the thickness down to 3mm using a sharp plane, the remaining 1mm was removed using a card scraper and orbital sander. . Im planning on recording the tone before the soundboard is attached so I have a reference to work from in the future.
Soundboard is now read for the rosette to be inlayed,soundhole to be cut out and the gluing of the braces.
The next day the humidy stabilised back to its normal range of approx. 50-55% so I glued to heel block to the neck. Whilst the heel block was drying I made up a headstock template based on the Loriente design as the Robert Bouchet design doesnt appeal to me.
I didnt have time to started shaping the headstock or heel, thats for next time. I did make a jig for drilling the tuner holes - correct spacing and depth. (sorry forgot to get a picture..)
The last task I managed to get done was to create the neck relief ramp on the solera. When I get a spare moment Ill varnish it ready for the assembly process.
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