Stu.

I had to give it a little trim! There were some little gaps on the back, where the ears weren't quite long enough. I'm competing for "dullest update within a month" with this one: Fingerboard trimmed flush with the neck Nut to headstock transition cut in Headstock sides trimmed and sanded Tuner holes drilled in Lots more radius sanding Untitled by S K, on Flickr Untitled by S K, on Flickr Untitled by S K, on Flickr Untitled by S K, on Flickr Untitled by S K, on Flickr Untitled by S K, on Flickr The 10mm forstner bit actually cut the holes closer to 9.5mm, so they need some more attention before the tuners will press in. I also still need to sand ~0.6mm off the fingerboard before filling those couple of bubbles in the inlays.

Are you rocking a wooden CNC?!

This transformation is wild. You've really brought it to life!

And now the fingerboard is glued to the neck! The radius jig was amazing, but I should get closer to the desired thickness next time. I've left myself about 0.5mm to sand off (it's 7mm in the centre right now). I also managed to get a few bubbles in the epoxy, so I'll have to fill those delicately. I basically did what I should have done last time: Uniform radiusing, with regular checks Squared the back of the neck with a router sled Clamped a block onto the heel end, to provide an end stop for the board Applied Titebond carefully with my lovely roller Squidged the fingerboard on and wriggled to get squeeze-out Clamped to hell and back I'd usually attach the fingerboard on flat, but I quite like being confident that everything is okay before gluing it up. It makes the individual parts easier to work on too. Next time I'll attach some guides down the side of the board to hold it in place and glue it BEFORE cutting the taper into the neck from behind. It's amazing how much easier guitar hobbying is when the stress of work is on hold for Christmas Untitled by S K, on Flickr Untitled by S K, on Flickr

I actually had similar marks in the ash of my first build! Isn't it from some kind of wood borer larvae?

There's something really calming and zen about this one! I'm not sure if it's the flowing curves, or the straight grain, but it's lovely.

I should imagine so I was aiming for a neat theme, and it seems to work! 11-13 shows the nine realms of Norse mythology in interwoven triangles, and then the individual runes for the nine realms are spread out across the fingerboard. The 12th pretty much had to get flooded with ebony dust and CA, then routed again. Poor thing!

That sure is a stunning spalt! The padauk and purpleheart go together really well in the neck too!

I decided to take this week off as annual leave, so I could make some progress. This is the new fingerboard for the black limba V. It's going to be left unbound, and I feel like it fits the rustic aesthetic of the V better than the sawtooth stuff. It started pretty well... Untitled by S K, on Flickr The machine even survived a 50 mile drive and continued working perfectly, until this happened: Untitled by S K, on Flickr Untitled by S K, on Flickr Luckily I had a spare ER11 collet, which went on with a little encouragement: Untitled by S K, on Flickr Followed by a little pigment and epoxy resin*: Untitled by S K, on Flickr *Thank you to PG for the tutorial with Z-Poxy PT39. I wasn't happy with the results with low viscosity epoxy casting resin, but PT39 was perfect. Untitled by S K, on Flickr Last fret slot milling: Untitled by S K, on Flickr Untitled by S K, on Flickr Yay! Untitled by S K, on Flickr Radius jig prep: Untitled by S K, on Flickr Fingerboard taper cut in: Untitled by S K, on Flickr And getting started with the radius work: Untitled by S K, on Flickr Untitled by S K, on Flickr Those inlays are going to require a significant amount of fine sanding and polishing before they sparkle again.

Welcome to PG! It's nice to see more guitars coming out of Oxfordshire!

I'm really looking forward to using it! It's very well built and went together in a couple of minutes. The width seems enough for 7 strings at least (maybe 8? I'm not sure).

This build is still alive, but I haven't had decent workshop time for months. I'm definitely redoing the fingerboard, because I couldn't stand knowing the sawtooth one had been bodged on. I feel like it didn't fit cosmetically either; maybe I'll ditch the binding and choose a classier inlay. I bought a couple of new things too: Untitled by S K, on Flickr Untitled by S K, on Flickr (Ebony, lightly figured purpleheart, ovangkol)

Congratulations on the GOTM win! I've just logged back in and seen the results.

The transformation from the raw wood is spectacular!

I did try them on one side, but they didn't go in particularly straight and still wriggled with the glue on. I could try the opposite sides though! When I was clamping up, I also noticed that there's a drop-off at the high frets from sanding the radius in by hand; it made getting even clamping pressure very difficult, even before the sliding around. The glue also needs to be removed from the fingerboard base (I prioritised cleaning the neck up at the time). It gives me a rotten feeling about the board, you know?

It's been a while, but I have been working on things slowly! I've also had personal things to deal with. The truss rod channel is routed, side dots are done, and the taper is cut in. Since cutting the taper, I've found out that one of my faces wasn't perfectly square; the laminates are centered on the fingerboard face (which will be hidden ), and are slightly off-centre undernearth. Hopefully carving will draw the eye away from that. I also tried getting the fingerboard on, which was an absolute nightmare. I've always glued it on flat in the past, then routed the taper, routed and glued binding, and finally done the radius sanding. I'm preparing to make a whole new fingerboard. Untitled by S K, on Flickr Untitled by S K, on Flickr Untitled by S K, on Flickr Untitled by S K, on Flickr Untitled by S K, on Flickr Side dots in, ready to be sanded flush when the fingerboard goes on: Untitled by S K, on Flickr

Watching your last cutter flex momentarily and then snap is a wonderful

I wish I could take credit, but I basically stole the idea from the ESP Alexi Blacky model! It's such a good combination though. Unless I change my mind overnight, I'm not heading back to do any guitar work this weekend. I did manage to solve my CNC issue though! I've used a small gantry with four wheels, which is attached to the cradle via a 90° bracket and runs along the top section of 2020. It's just enough to stabilise everything whilst it moves. Untitled by S K, on Flickr

I can't wait to see how this turns out! Your stuff never disappoints.

I saw his CNC build thread... that thing is insane! I have the rails installed - there's a bit of deflection in the Z axis, towards the weight of the motor. I'm thinking about attaching a bearing beneath the cradle, with a length of 2020 and PTFE strip to run against. It might be enough for the thing to reference against and stay level. I took things very easy this weekend. Just a bit of slot sawing, fingerboard binding, and truss rod routing jig prep: Untitled by S K, on Flickr Untitled by S K, on Flickr Untitled by S K, on Flickr

This is kind of unrelated... I fancied extending the working area of my little CNC machine. I used 2020 and 2080 aluminium extrusion to extend the X axis and bed, with a longer lead screw to match. The 8mm stainless steel rod should arrive this weekend to support the cradle. Hopefully it won't flex, but I'll find out soon! Untitled by S K, on Flickr If everything goes to plan, it'll have a working area of 500x100mm (just enough for a 25.5" fingerboard with 24 frets).

The headstock is looking very tidy indeed! All of the effort and prep definitely paid off!

These are pretty sweet!

That's a beautiful shade of green! Did you do much build-up, or is that one concentration straight onto the maple?

My bad! Feel free to ignore my previous post. I'll give a sharp 10mm forstner a try next time.