Body and neck joining

1. Draw the joining pattern that fits the neck dove tail, and then sculpt it until the neck dove
tail fits in.
2. Join the body and the neck.
3. Dig a truss rod slot on the neck with a router, with the depth of 9 mm, width of 7 mm, length
of 28 cm. The truss rod was made out of rosewood.

4. Install the fingerboard on the neck.

5. The neck width is still wider than the fingerboard. Take off the excess wood with a sand
paper or planer. Try not to scratch the fingerboard.
6. Sand the fingerboard with a sanding beam to make it level.

7. The depth of the fret slots will be decreased after the fingerboard is leveled. Increase the
depth with a saw.

8. Hollow out the sound hole with a drill and rolling sander. It also can be done with a bow
compass that has a knife or nail on the tip to get a perfect circle of the sound hole. The
diameter of the sound hole is 86 mm.
9. This is a rosewood bridge with the length of 187 mm, width of 27 mm, and height of 8.5 mm.
Scratch the bottom of the bridge that will be glued to the top to allow the bridge grip the
surface stronger.

10. Measure the distance from the 12th fret to the bridge saddle with 32.5 cm. Hold it with two
wooden clamps.
11. Clean the fret slots from the dust wood powder with a claw-shaped knife. Tighten the fret
wire with a dead-blow hammer.

12. Cut the excess fret wire with a pliers.

13. Level the frets by checking them three by three with a straight cutter blade. Check the first
three frets. If the cutter blade tilts to the right or left, the 2nd fret has to be filed with the
fret file until the three frets are level. Keep doing the same step for the rest of the frets.
14. Crown the frets with a fret crowning file to make the strings sit on the highest tip of the fret
when played so that the sound could has the longer sustain.

15. Bevel the excess of the frets with a fret file and a little rasp to flatten the fret end to the
fingerboard so that the grip is comfortable in the player hand and avoid the hand from
getting injured.

16. Polish the frets with a 400 grit or finer sand paper and steel wool to erase the scratches on
the fret and make the frets shine brighter.
17. Mix shellac and vegetable oil to polish the body and the neck.

18. Polish the fingerboard and the headstock with this polishing liquid.