The first job is to sand off all that dried and baked oil that was cooked out of the Cocobolo, It cakes on the surface but is quite easy to sand off with 220 grit.
Look at the strange red sawdust you get when sanding Cocobolo. This wood is toxic so I wear gloves. I failed to wear a dust mask at first and within ten minutes of starting this sanding my nose was streaming. I got a mask on promptly. No point to taking a chance. The sanding was done over the shop garbage can and gloves and paper towels I used to wipe the sanded surface with acetone were all discarded after use.
This is my assembly jig. The neck is clamped onto it and the sides are carefully trimmed to fit. This was a really good bend and I don't think I have ever had a better fit. Now to trim the ends so they meet at the center of the butt plate and I will be ready to glue it down.
I scrubbed all of the Cocobolo surfaces that would receive glue, with a rag wet with acetone. That is to remove some of the oil that would resist the glue. Then glued the edges and clamped them down. The sides are held perfectly in place by the movable toggles on the assembly jig, and the clamp and caul on the butt plate.
The glue is dry now. I put in about half of the tentalones while the side was still clamped down just to be safe. That edge is a pretty narrow glueing surface. The rest will go in tomorrow, This tenor is still progressing very well. And by the way, It will be available if you want to buy it. It is not yet spoken for.
