DLP Lap Steel Guitar - 3 - Carving the Headstock

Continuing with Lap Steel Guitar no.1 I started to shape the headstock.  I want the headstock to lean back giving the strings a fall back like on a traditional scarf jointed headstock.  Working within the restraints of the thickness of the wood I was able to mark out a 10 degree angle for the headstock.  I decided to chisel the excess wood away from the headstock, ideally I should have cut this on my band saw while I still had a straight edge before I cut the body out but there is nothing wrong with a little hard work and it's good practice!

Taking my time and working with the grain I started to chisel away the excess material from the face of the headstock, when I started to get close to the line I used a small plane to start to level everything up.

Once I was happy with the face I started on the back of the headstock, initially I carved the transition between the neck and the back of the headstock and gradually shaved away the rest of the material to make a smooth neat transition.

I then used a course sandpaper on a flat block to remove unevenness and then finally went to work with my cabinet scraper to leave a nice smooth finish.  I will be rounding over the edges on the back of the neck and body, I haven't decided if I will do this on the top of the body as the shape of the body is all about strong sharp lines.  The back edges will be rounded over for comfort only.

The mahogany fret board will give a nice subtle contrast to the cherry body, once I have drilled the machine head holes and routed the pickup and control cavity I will be ready to glue it on.

I plan to install a P90 pickup and use a piece of aluminium angle to make the bridge and nut and then have the strings go through the body.  I found a piece of Meccano which has hole spacing almost identical to the poles spacing on the pickup so my thought is to have this recessed in the back of the guitar to retain the strings (I don't want the ball end of the strings standing proud of the back for comfort reasons).

I might use one on the front as well rather than string ferrules but that is yet to be decided.  The metal plate might be too thin and cause the strings to break under tension.