Hello folks!
First, let me expound on the finish sanding of the box. After raising the grain, I would use a flat block, for a good, even edge.I don't need to round any edges... not yet.
Once the sanding is done, and everything is checked off by an instructor, then...you begin to round some edges.
You might have to look closely, though. i did not want an extreme roundover. Basically, you would round these edges for two reasons. 1) to aid in the comfort of the instrument. If you are banging chords away for 3 hours a night, you don't want your arm resting on a 90 degree angle...that might hurt.
2) When spraying lacquer, the corners will be difficult to sand. Let me rephrase that, it will be very easy to sand through to the wood on the corners.
I also added a "bullnose" around the soundhole. basically rounding the top edge, and the underside edge, making a more aesthetically pleasing form.
I might go back and touch that up...we'll see.
After those things were done, Josiah told me "Put it away, don't think about it, don't look at it, don't touch it". You get the picture.
So, it was time to move on to the neck...still lots to go!
I re-glued a small portion of the binding. I had to replace the whole piece on the bass side, as there was no real way to fix where the ebony dust had filled in some chip-out.
So, after gluing the replacement on, I noticed some gaps. In the morning, I scraped the excess glue off, then glued the last section together. Then, I scraped everything flush... back to normal!
From here, I used a jig to drill the new holes. last time, I clamped the fretboard down to my workbench, which, I assumed was level, and drilled where I had marked, using my cordless drill, which, also has a level. josh told me that I should have used the jig, so, this time, I used the jig!
Very simple little tool, but, it ensures that you have continuity on each dot. I would still be using ebony dust, to fill the holes, then super glue. After lining up the new hole locations, I drilled. I still had tear-out, but, I used some glue, squeezed it shut, sprayed accelerator, and moved on. Koa is a nasty beast. You really have to have sharp tools, when working with it! After filling the holes with dust, I wicked some glue in. Then when it was dry, I sanded them flush.
Now that this project is done, time for the truss rod!
first, a plug had to be made for the end of the channel.
That was easy enough, (it is at the heel end of the neck) so, I now needed access through the headcap.( and, BTW... Go Vols!!!)
Oh, and just so you know, we will NOT be wrapping the truss rod with electrical tape. I didn't really see how that would work, anyway...
The access... I drew a center line, then measured about 1/8" on either side, measured 1/2" from top to bottom of slot, then using my 1/8" mill bit, routed the initial hole...
Problem is, you need a bigger hole
So, I may work more on this on Monday, to perfect it. i can get a wrench in there, but, it's not "sweet" yet.
Moving on, fretboard inlay!!!
I decided to go classy, going with the diamonds this time. As you can see, I measured diagonally, vertically, and horizontally, to make sure that those puppies were truly centered and aligned well.
The 12th fret was twice as fun!
After everything was good, I spot glued them in, traced around them, and went to town with the Dremel. I also discovered that you can take out too much wood around your inlay. and, you can cut the rout too shallow. It was a lot of extra work, this time.
Jumping ahead of the game, here... After routing the holes, making sure of the alignment, I added enough ebony dust to fill in the gaps, everywhere. From here, it was just drip the super glue...
After glue dries, you will need a radiused sanding block. Our radius is 16. After a few passes, here is one little gem.
Sorry for the glare...it is MOP, after all.
It seemed to take forever, and I was really nervous about sanding too much off of my fretboard, but, I was told to "get it level".
Done!
and here is that lovely 12th fret...
I am very happy with how these turned out.
Monday, it will be time to glue on the fretboard, then start carving the neck!!!
Thanks for watching!
Thumpin_P
Congrats on the awesome work, and sorry about the bad luck you've had. I was considering going to RV last year, during my senior year in high school, but I figured I wouldn't have the patience or precision required for the work. It may be time to reconsider, however, as you make it sound like anyone could do it! 
