DLP Mandolin - 5 - Cutting Out The Neck and More Bodywork

After gluing together the two pieces of oak I found for the neck I then cut out the shape of the neck from the template I previously made.  The neck will have an angled head but I want to get fairly close to the finished shape before cutting the scarf joint.

As the piece is so small I used a spoke shave to remove most of the material from the sides of the blank, I then used a sharp chisel to create the curve from the nut to the sides of the headstock.  I have left about 1.5mm extra material on each side which I will tidy up later once I'm happy with the rest of the neck thickness and dimensions.

While I am looking at the neck I should mention that I am going to use mahogany for the fret board.  I had a piece in the garage and have already started thinning it the correct thickness and planed it to approximately the correct width and length.

I cut and glued the neck joint as well, not my greatest joinery moment but I'm happy with the end result enough not the chuck it in the bin!

Onto the body, I want the top to appear thinner than what it actually is.  It will do little for the sound or the weight but is a great bit of psychological kidology!  So I started off by using my dremel tool to route away the material millimeter by millimeter but this was slow going to I stuck the middle to the top  as a guide and used the full size router to quickly take away half the thickness of the top.

When the f-holes are cut it should look like the top is much thinner that it actually is!  I routed both sides to the same depth and lightly sanded the new cavities although they will never be seen.

I can't think of anything else to do with the back so I might as well glue it to the middle section.

I used plenty of glue and almost every clamp I own to secure the back of the body to the middle piece.

I will let the glue dry for 24 hours before removing the clamps.  There is still a lot of work to do to the top before it is attached to the body, I need to route for a pickup and the neck, cut the two f-holes and decide where to position the volume and tone controls yet.