You take a step forward, you take a step back.

Ok, so I got lazy. So here's two days of work in one post.

I took the body to my dad's work to sand the edges down to a smoother texture in prep for the final hand sanding.

This is an oscillating spindle sander. As the spindle rotates, it moves up and down to create a perfectly even sanding job. I had to move quickly around the body, or else the spindle would create divots in the body.

Then, I took the body home and started the belly cut. I clamped the body to the table so it wouldn't move.

Using the belt sander (upper left) to take most of the material away, I progressed to using a file to take more material away in a less abrasive manner. Then, I moved to sand paper to give the result you see above.

Today, I went about installing some hardware. I used some masking tape to make some markings.

I carefully drilled some holes for the tailpiece. It wasn't a very exact science, as I used a brad point drill bit as a transfer punch to mark where the holes went.

This hardware fit just fine.

And so did the tailpiece.

A very exciting part of the whole process was putting some strings on the guitar in order to place the bridge in the right spot. For the first time, I was able to PLAY the guitar! It had a bit a of bark to it, similar sounding to a Gibson SG without an amp.

Then, the disaster happened when I drilled the hole for the bridge. I drilled the holes ever so slightly too close to each other, and the bridge refused to fit onto the body. So, I pulled the hardware out of the hole I drilled (harder to pull than a dentist pulling a tooth).

So, I cut a dowel and filled the hole. Next, I plan to saw off the top of the dowel and sand it flush with the body. Then, I'll re-drill the hole so that the bridge fits. Not the best way to learn how critical hole placement on a guitar is, but at least the hardware will cover up the mistake, not to mention the paint that is to come.