No. 4 - my attempt at a mahogany/sitka folk size

[nkwak]

Update as of March 5th:

I've proceeded with the use of the neck and admit that I still need to refine the volute but with the dovetail glued and pinned/screwed back in place it sits firmly enough to be placed in a string swing:



As you can see I plugged the previous holes for the tuning machines at that time and had removed the purfling on the top. I've done some things since that I will go on to describe in following posts.

[nkwak]

Here's what things look like as of March 31st, 2026:



- tuning machines are back on,
- the neck is aligned along the centerline (but not the neck angle and I STILL need to refine the volute,)
- I've removed the binding and purfling from the top in order to clean up the ledges for the purfling which had been coming out because it was too shallow
- the side dots are in place (I spent a good couple of hours on it with the effort of being methodical and not rushing,) and:
- I've fretted and filed the first 14 frets (but not completely dressed them.) I am waiting until the neck is properly set so that I can finish the rest with the neck attached to the body; these were done on a cradle.

[nkwak]

I glued in the new binding and purfling the other day but the channel for the inner purfling ring wasn't wide enough and the strip tore out while leveling it.

[nkwak]

I'm learning from my mistakes and opted to try the violin purfling took instead - at least to start:



I supplemented the tool with use of an Exacto knife and a fine pointed file:

[nkwak]

Long story short, after using thin CA glue and carefully sanding it flush here's how the repair turned out:



From a distance it's barely noticable: