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I got the Sitka Spruce book matched halves from LMII 2 weeks ago

but its been too cold do any work in  the garage.  We finally have some nice weather so I was able to get the two halves jointed and glued together.  The joint isn't as transparent as I would like it to be, but I think its solid.  When I held the two halves up to a light (prior to gluing), I didn't see any light coming through the joint, so it should be fine.

Next step is to start the rosette

Headstock Inlay

I got the headstock inlay in tonight.  I'm pretty pleased with how it turned out.  I chiseled out the hole for the inlay and then used superglue to glue the 1/32 inch thick piece of maple into the channel.  I then used some sawdust from a piece of walnut (because its a dark wood) to fill in the gaps.  Lesson learned for next time is to use sawdust from the same type of wood.  You can tell that the center triangle in the A and around the edges are a slightly different color.  From a distance of more than a few inches you wouldn't be able to tell though.  And especially after its sanded down and with the finish applied, I think it will look good.

Solera

I made the Solera (the Spanish term for the workboard that a guitar is built upon) this weekend.  I'm following Roy Courtnall's model from his book "Making Masters Guitars".  The slots and holes are for spool clamps and right-angle blocks that are used for attaching the sides and then ultimately the back.  This solera is flat.  Classical guitars typically have the lower bout dished out which creates a dome on the top of the guitar.  According to Augustine Escobar (Schertz, TX), bajo sexto's usually have a flat top.  From a structural standpoint, it seems to make more sense to put some arch on the top, but it also complicates the neck geometry.  I'm going to make this one flat, and then use another method for my next instrument (either a radius dish or a dished solera).

Additionally, I ordered some Sitka Spruce a few days ago for the top which should get here in a few days.

Headstock Ramps

I chiseled the ramps on the nut end of the tuner slots today.  I used tape to draw the lines because its hard to see pencil marks on the wood.

Here are two different views after the carving was complete.

I've also started thinking about an inlay for the headstock.  I think I'll do just a letter A (for Atkinson), but I'm still trying to determine a font to use.  I think I'll just do a plain jane letter A because it will probably be easier, but I'm also looking at other fonts also.  I've got a sample cut out of 1/16 thick basswood.  I think a light inlay with the dark mahogany head will look good.  I'm going to practice doing the inlay on a piece of scrap wood first so that I don't mess up my head doing it for the first time.

Heel cutting

I made the first cut on the heel today with a coping saw.  I definitely need to invest in a band saw for my next instrument.

Headstock

I got the tuner holes drilled today and cut out the headstock slots

I used a doweling jig from Harbor Freight to drill the 5 tuner holes

After drilling all the holes I did a check and noticed that I got my headstock a little bit too thin so the tuner plate over hangs the edge a little bit.  I was aiming for a 3/4 inch thickness, but got a little bit aggressive with the hand plane so ended up taking too much off.  I'll be more careful next time.

To make the slots in the headstock, I drilled 4 1/2 inch holes on each end of the slots and then drew lines between the holes to cut with a coping saw

I got a little bit too close to my line on the treble side, so that slot is pretty ugly.  I don't think I'll be able to correct it.  Next time I won't cut so close to my line and then clean up the slot with chisels and files.  I'm fairly pleased with the bass side slot though.  I think it will clean up nice with just a little work with a file and sandpaper.

Since nobody (as far as I know) makes tuners for a 10 string instrument, I bought tuners for a 12 string guitar and had to cut off one of the tuners.  I felt a little bit uneasy about cutting off one of the tuner keys after paying 80 dollars for the set, but it seems like that is the standard method.  Alternatively, I could buy 10 individual tuners, but I don't think that would look as clean.

Its finally starting to look like something with the tuners in.  Obviously I need to clean up the slots, but here it is with the tuners installed.

Neck

I'm starting with the neck because the rest of the instrument is built around the neck.  I got the neck blank from StewMac.

http://www.stewmac.com/shop/Bodies,_necks,_wood/Acoustic_guitar_necks/Sipo_Mahogany_Neck_Blanks_for_Classical_Guitar.html

Its Sipo Mahogany, which is supposed to be very similar to "regular" Mahogany which is the traditional wood used for guitar necks.

1 - Scarf joint cut at a 15 degree angle.

2 - Cleaning up joint - I previously had no experience with hand planes so I signed up for a hand tool class in Dallas that taught me how to use and most importantly sharpen planes, chisels and saws.

3. Glueing the joint

4. Final glue joint - This isn't the best joint in the world, I probably could have sanded the two pieces more to get a flatter surface.  Hopefully this little gap won't become a problem later on.

5. Glueing the heel block - Yet another reason that I wanted to build in the Spanish style, is the use of a stacked heel block.  Steel String necks are generally cut from a single large mahogany block which requires a large band saw.  A stacked heel block is thought to be inferior from a craftsmanship perspective on Steel string guitars.  However, on classical guitars it's standard.  Its weird to me how different "tribes" are snobbish about different things.  The neck blank that I bought either wasn't long enough, or I didn't measure very well because it wasn't long enough to make enough sections for the stacked block.  So I went to the local lumberyard and bought some maple.  So the neck block will be alternating dark (mahogany) and light (maple).

6.  Rib (side) slots - In the Spanish method, the sides connect to the neck with thin slots like this:

However, my handsaw use isn't very precise so I messed up the cuts.  I then discovered a different method used by many classical builders.  Rather than make a thin slot, they make a large slot and then use wedges to hold the sides tight against the neck block.

Here is a good looking example, note that the wedges haven't been trimmed flush yet.

Here is what it should look like after the wedges are trimmed:

And here is what mine looks like.  Its not a very pretty cut, but I think once the heel block gets trimmed down, and I clean up the slot with files and sandpaper, it should be fine.

7. Headstock - I'm cutting out the rough shape with a coping saw.  I'll clean it up with files and sandpaper.