I didn't have a lot of time to work on the guitar today, but I did get to shape the peghead. I decided to use the same design I did on my Dreadnaught as I really liked it. The only thing I changed was the two inside curves are a touch more 'curvy'. Since the stewmac kit had pre-drilled tuner holes, I was limited on how much curve I could do on the side. Since I can drill my own holes on this one, I was able to make a bigger curve. I like it better. I think I might just keep this design as a "signature" for my guitars. Anyways, I cut out a template using masonite, drilled out spots for the tuners, and attached it to the peghead blank. Then I rough cut it using my drill press and micro plane drum to get it close to the template. Once that was done, I took it to my router table and flush cut it to the template. I cut the two notches with my bandsaw, and rough sanded/filed it to final shape.
Before I did any cutting on the peghead, I did a little experiment. I ran the peghead through my router with a 45 deg. champher bit to knock the edges down so the maple would show as a line around it. I just wanted to see how it would look. I have to say, I kind of like the look. I am still undecided on whether I will do it or not, but there is a pretty good chance I will. The only difficult spot will be the two notches which I will have to file by hand.
None the less, I am not going to do anything else with the neck and fingerboard until I get the inlay done in the peghead. With this being my first attempt at inlay work, I would hate to mess up and have to replace everything including the fingerboard. I figure if I mess it up beyond repair, I can get a new neck and peghead veneer and still have my truss rod and fingerboard to use.
I don't know how much I will get done this weekend. I have another frozen pipe to deal with, and this one split so it needs to be repaired. I would like to get the heal graft glued on and start working with the neck angles while I wait for the inlay materials to arrive.
This is the template I made for the peghead. The picture makes it look a little off center, but it is very symmetric and all of the holes are lined up correctly.
Here is the peghead blank with the edges champhered. I kind of like the look and I might just do it on the finished guitar. I am still thinking about it.
The template centered and screwed to the peghead.
The peghead rough cut to within about 1/8" of the template.
The final shape after a bit of rough sanding.
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