You may have noticed in the last update that the sides were fully sanded down to the sealer layer. The finish has now been sanded off the back as well. This wasn't originally part of the plan, but Mark felt that if he could thin out the back a bit it would result in a better sounding instrument.
At the same time the binding and purfling were bent:
We're keeping the same purfling pattern as before: seven .020" violin lines composed of dyed black Birch, Maple, and Mahogany. The order is b-w-b-m-b-w-b. Here is a picture from the guitar's Spruce-topped days:
Mark cuts the Mahogany line and sandwiches it between two pre-made purfling sticks of b-w-b. It's easy to find such sticks online, but Mark custom orders his from Gurian because he wants dyed black Birch instead of "wood fiber." Birch is actually wood--not an artificial cardboard-esque composite. Not only do "wood fiber" sticks (probably) dampen the soundboard's vibrations, but their dyes bleed more easily.
Once bent, the purfling and binding were attached to the body:
Because raw Red Cedar is so delicate, there's a coat of shellac under the taped region to firm it up.
Here's the body all cleaned up and ready to be finished.
It shipped off for that work this past week. While it's gone, we'll be shifting focus to the neck.