I am going to use some pretty Honduran Rosewood for the heel plates. The same wood I used for the fretboards. The challenge here is fitting them to the curve of the back. I begin with scissors and paper cutting out a simple pattern. A few tries with the scissors will get you pretty close to the fit you want, Transfer that curve to the wood with a pencil and then saw it out rough with the bandsaw. Now for the fine fitting.
I have made plenty of these with a scroll saw, knives and hand sanding but the bandsaw and a stationary oscillating sander like this sure makes life easier. a few trips to the sanding drum fine tuning this curve and you are ready to cut it to shape.
Now draw in the rough shape of the heel plate and head for the band saw. you can cut it pretty large at this point as the final shaping will be done once it is firmly glued to the heel.
Glue it on and clamp it tight. I used these clamps after having trouble with screw clamps applying side pressure on the plate and slipping it sideways. These spring clamps apply plenty of pressure and held the plate where I wanted it , up tight against the back. The lesson is, when glueing on anything, have a few alternative clamps ready, you never know which type of clamp will work best. Tomorrow I will have the pleasure of carving these plates and heels into attractive shapes. I am apt to use an exact knife, several rasps, maybe a chisel, maybe a scraper. Then the heel plates are done I will attach the fretboard and peg head plates.