Tops signed, one neck carved....

Today was a good day in the shop. I was able to get the tops all finished, signed with a little note to each recipient, and the labels on. I glued the first top to the rims and it is drying int he go bar deck. I did have a bit of difficulty with that little task however. When I notched the kerfed linings I had all three clamps in the body to hold it tightly to the mold. Well when I put the label in and cleaned up the glue squeeze out from the back, I removed the waist clamp. I didn't bother to put it back when I glued to top on. I had set the top on to dry fit it just before I glued it, and since it dropped in place I thought it lined up fine and I didn't give it a second thought. Well that was a mistake. I applied all the glue, set the top on and started to insert the go bars. This is when I realized that the waist clamp being removed had allowed the rim to flex back inwards just enough to keep the braces from lining up perfectly in the notches. Since I have the notches cut tightly there really isn't any room for flex so when I removed the clamp, it knocked the notches out of alignment just a touch. Well it was a mad scramble trying to get the clamp back in, re-apply glue, clean up any runs, and get the top back on before the first glue application started to dry. I got it all done, but I learned a lesson! Make sure that the top and back get glued on in the same way as the rims were when the linings are notched.

Anyways, after that I carved the volutes on the two necks. I think I have mentioned that the sapele necks are very prone to splintering and the wood is very hard. It took quite a while to carve the volutes and I had to sharpen the chisels twice during the process. I got one neck shaped to close to final, and the other neck has the heel carved.

Here is the second back in the go bar deck. I did this yesterday.

Here are the two necks with the heels rough shaped.

Two bodies with the labels ready for tops.

The two tops signed with personal notes to the recipients.

The first box glued up.

One neck is rough shaped and the other neck is still in need of shaping.