Andy Chase

After gluing on the fingerboard, there were a couple of spots where saw marks in the neck were deeper than the edge of the fingerboard. Without doing any research on the preferred filler material for luthiers, I picked up a small tube of DAP Plastic Wood, which filled the space nicely. It's quite obvious, but it's on the side of the neck that will be facing the ground, and with the mahogany stain I also picked up over the weekend it should be fairly inoffensive when all is said and done.

I spent more time doing final shaping on the neck and peghead last night. It still feels a bit chunky, but due to my decision not to install a truss rod, I'm hesitant to take very much more wood off lest I weaken the neck.

On the other hand, I am also trying to be vigilant about not rushing things now that things are so far along. It's looking like I won't have much evening time to work on it this week anyway, so I'll continue to mull it over.

I also took the plunge and tried installing a fret. After doing just one manually, I have a better appreciation for some of the expensive gadgets Stewart MacDonald sells for fret installation. Someday when I have a drill press I'll probably shell out for a fret press caul.