After the clamps came off:
- Cut headstock to thickness. Aim is 16mm thick, though I suffered a lot of blade wander. After tightening the blade and going very slowly, it’s 17mm at the top and 18.5mm at nut side. Hopefully I can tidy up with sanding
- Rough cut the back of neck to 24-25mm thickness, to speed up shaping. Target is 22mm at the nut and 24mm at the 12th (to copy my favourite neck dimensions from the Axis Super Sport)
- Tidy up the fretboard to the side of the neck. Cut close on the bandsaw and sanded to the side (normally I use a template bit on a router, but this time I just used the big sander)
- Quick tidy up of the headstock front and back, nothing too precise as it always picks up marks during shaping
- Drill side dots – 2mm bit. I should of done this before cutting down the back of the neck, instead I forgot. First time using a clamp on this drill press, wasn’t perfect, however I can see with practice it could be a lot more accurate than my last drill setup. I drilled them in the middle of each fret, height and width wise. I need to get more light sorted out over the drill press, as that was one of the main issues with checking alignment
- Glued in white dots, as they provide decent contrast with the rosewood ‘board.
