Day 17: Roughing Out the Body Block Sides

When I planed the bridge pickup box down, I managed to knock one of the sides free, which tells me I didn't initially apply enough hide glue. The good news: I got the side re-glued. The even better news: I started working on roughly drawing up the body block side contours. I accomplished this by drawing straight lines 1cm in on the sides and 2cm in from the top and bottom. How I will draw out the contours remains to be seen - I'm hoping I find some creative way to use something in the shop to create a nice, swooping curve that will complement the faux body.

Speaking of the faux body, I've decided to use thin strips of black walnut about 3" or so wide. The thing is, I've not yet run a 240v power outlet for my new Laguna 14" SUV bandsaw I purchased for resawing wood. I'm hoping to get it going this weekend. When I do, I'll cut up the walnut and take it from there.

Back to the photo. Along with major tasks come several minor tasks I've not yet considered. For instance, drilling out the peg holes in the pegbox at the top of the neck is something I need to do before mounting the fingerboard. A friend, Darrel Wallen, loaned me a couple cylindrical reamers that should do the trick just fine. First, I'll put one in the drill press and get the holes started. Then, I'll finish up manually so I don't over-drill the holes. That would be a point from which there is no return, so that ain't gonna happen.

I also need to start thinking about how I'm going to mount the neck securly to the body block. This is not something I considered before cutting the neck to length. In hindsight, I sure with I would have left a little extra to accommodate a more secure way to mount the neck. The main issue with this is mounting it in a way that not only keeps the neck attached to the body, but also keeps is from rotating from string tension and playing. I'm thinking an oddly-shaped (triangular or square) dowel will do the trick. Chalk this one up to inexperience for sure.

Until next time...