Thanks Matthew and pgilmor, I appreciate the kind compliments very much.
Well here are some more shots of the build...
here is a shot of the top after the arching and purfling have been installed and I'm working on graduating....
here is a shot showing the start of the bracing process...all my internal braces are cut from large3/4" billets of Balsa wood. Balsa wood can vary dramatically, some being extremely light and soft , some being more "wood like" but even that stock is very light compared to other woods. When cut in the proper dimensions and the proper property type has been choosen for the individual brace needed, nothing, imo, surpasses its sonic capabilities, with its radiation {speed of sound travel across the material} being the highest of any wood and its unusual stiffness characteristics of being able to support static load yet have a very broad range of motion in a dynamic states makes for a very "hot" material.
here is a peek of the braces half done, as seen in the previous shot the braces must be contour fit to the curvature of the inside of the plate. Those that have made violins and fit bassbar understand this process, its like that but many more than just one bar. Fortunately the Balsa shapes fast and easy.
a shot showing the fingerboard being made with my trusty stew mac jig.
a shot showing the fret slots cut and the inlays for the Opals
a shot showing the Opal after being epoxied in. These are Opal made for the jewelery industry, they are fat cabochon cut stones with flatish backs, being 6.5 on the morh scale, they are "reworkable" so I flattened down the rounder side to make a flat rougher than polished surface and then installed them upside down leaving the factory flat side up exposed about .5 mill so when ground they would be nice and flat with the fingerboard.
a close up of the Opal fit, real impossible to get a good shot of the Opals, they do real cool stuff under regular lights inside at night, glow blue with red sparkles.
put in the label
getting ready for the corpus connection
the Chrome diopside goes in much later after the varnish starts...
well more later, thanks for the interest in the build.