More photos for your amusement.
Carbon fibre truss rod. 8mm x 4mm. Dremmel routed a 3mm slot then widened it with sandpaper on a 2,5mm bit of ply.
Fretboard slot template was drawn on tracing paper using Stewmac calculator for spacing and digital caliper for drawing them. checked it 3 times for accuracy then stuck it onto blank fretboard.
Freehand slot cutting using a scalpel to get the template transferred to the wood then a Stanley knife to get a heavier indent then a fine (18 thousandth of an inch kerf) saw to carefully cut the actual slots.
And now.The headstock logo.
My "Thistle" logo was adapted to suit the narrower head and transferred onto 1/64th plywood then taped onto the headstock. careful scribing with a scalpel then an angled cut left a clean outline for routing with a 2mm Dremel bit.
The pattern was then transferred to the Mother of pearl and cut, shaped and glued into the recesses.
Another small step for man.
And now.The headstock logo.
That's great work, I do like that. That's a skill that I'm going to have learn.
Very nice work on the logo, it’s good to see work like that being done by hand and not using CNC. Also like the fretboard as it’s the way I started many years ago before it got fret templates and a fancy gadget.
Some people call me a tool, others are less complimentary. Tools being useful things.
Thanks for the comments guys. My philosophy is to imagine how they built instruments 100 years ago using mainly hand tools and an imagination. Also, I am only building one-off instruments as a personal challenge. If they turn out sounding good, that is all I can ask. Both of the "Thistle" guitars have developed great tone with playing. The octave mandolin, being elm, is simply an experiment. As I always say, "If it sounds rubbish, at least it will look good hanging on the wall".
Well. That is the end of this story. I used sanding sealer and cellulose aerosols to spray the instrument then 400 and 800 grit sandpaper for the elm which gave me a sort of satin finish. I was originally thinking of an oiled finish but this has given the effect with the hardness of the cellulose. I went to 1500, 2000 then 2500 grit for the headstock rosewood, followed by car rubbing compound then "T Cut" car polish and finally guitar wax for the final polish.
Setting up was laborious getting nut and bridge and fret heights to work. I should have sanded some relief into the neck which would have helped but may do this yet which will mean re-fretting. Hmmm!!
Anyway. Here are photos of the finished instrument. Maybe a video of the sound to follow.
