So, it's been a while... Having not built a guitar for some time, I was quite surprised to come back here and see how long it actually was since I last put a guitar together. Searching for my last build thread it turns out I haven't been active for 7 years: I did change the plans for that build to a body milled from billet aluminium, I even managed to finish one half of the body on a CNC before graduating from university. Having lost easy access to a workshop, and spending a number of years living on three different continents, I had to put most guitar-building activities aside for a while. However, I always liked the body shape and I think it's about time I do something useful with it. So I've settled into an apartment, and have managed to turn one of the rooms into a small work space. Trying to keep dust and noise to a minimum, I've sworn off power tools and have presented myself with the challenge of building a guitar using (mostly) hand tools. Anyway, here it is, my first progress pics in 7 years, and also my first attempt to plane a piece of wood using only hand planes. First passes Manageable 'dust' levels Result after smoothing. One big piece of quarter sawn mahogany -hoping to get two bodies out of this.