My first Classical guitar

[johnnparchem]

I liked the squared off transition, it has a clean look. If the neck is still a bit thick at the nut you can consider rounding off the back strap with may be a 3 or 4" radius circle. That would give you a bit of space to carve the neck to the desired thickness and transition up to the back strap. I also like the look of having the back strap stay at the plane of the head stock and having the mahogany transition up as opposed to having the back strap transition down to the neck.

[Kevin Sjostrand]

I have the fretwork done, and the bridge is in process.
Complete the bridge, it is not done yet, do final sanding and inspection, and I'll be ready to start pore filling.

[johnnparchem]

wow that is a sweet looking guitar!

[Kevin Sjostrand]

I've done the pore filling using shellac and end grain sawdust, EIR sawdust for the body, and mahogany sawdust for the neck. Last night I started padding shellac on the back. Once I got some on, I lightly sanded just to see how good the pore filling was done. It looked good except for a couple of spots around the edge, and some gaps showed up along the purfling line. Took care of that with CA and some sanding. Looks filled now and smooth so I'll begin the process again tonight on the back. I am using blonde shellac flakes, so just a little bit of color going on. The curly maple binding will darken a bit but the curl will be enhanced. This process takes awhile for me, and this is just my second time French polishing.

[Diane Kauffmds]

It's looking great Kevin. I use blond shellac too. It seems to add just the right amount of shading to enhance wood figures. The maple will look perfect.

[Kevin Sjostrand]

Started padding shellac on the top. It's going to be lovely.

[Diane Kauffmds]

It's going to be outstanding Kevin.

[johnnparchem]

I love the look of the darker wood on the top. Looks like the finishing work is going well.

[Kevin Sjostrand]

Made a lot of progress today. Got a surprise about the time I was finishing the top.......an area around the rosette with voids. I never saw them before. I had used compressed air on the guitar for the purpose of blow out dust that can hide these voids. Can't believe it. I'm not going to go back and try to fill the area. We will live with it and try to be more diligent the next time.
So top and back are done, started on one side. I will be rubbing this finish out to a satin with 0000 steel wool and I've found the finish does not need to be perfect for this, just thick enough and flat.

[Diane Kauffmds]

I never thought about using compressed air to blow the dust out. That's a good idea.