Parlour Acoustic - more finger board fun and rough neck shaping.

As soon as I'm happy with the glue surface of the fingerboard, I place the nut in position and make sure I get a really straight and accurate line up before I add clamps to hold it in position.  At various strategic positions I drill 2mm holes through the fret slots and 5mm deep into the neck.  Cocktail sticks through these holes help anchor the fingerboard to the neck to stop any drift when I'm glueing later.

Next i prepare a caul the same shape as the fingerboard to protect the laburnum and to provide even pressure through the calmping.

Next I apply glue evenly all over the neck and upper bout area, not actually on the underside of the finger board as it will curl.  I place the finger board in position accurately with the help of my cocktail sticks; snap them flush, put the caul in place then add clamps from the nut end down. In the photo below you can see the caul.

After leaving the clamps overnight I'm ready to remove the wings and the waste areas of the neck around the edges of the fingerboard.

I saw the wings off with a coping saw then start taking the waste away with an in-channel gouge. I follow up with a chisel to make the surface flat and flush with the fingerboard edge.  A satisfying job on a Saturday morning, with the radio on and a cuppa close to hand.

Compare the two photos above and you can see I've also done some shaping to the cheeks of the headstock, doing some initial blending into the neck shape.

Next its some rough neck shaping,  I'll remove some of the bulk of the neck.  In the picture below I'm using the calipers to measure down to my initial neck thickness.  I'll do this at 1st fret and 12th fret then use my block plane to take the waste material down to these levels.  The neck is made from Mahogany, by the way.