The Neck

This is my work log of how work with the neck progressed:

When doing this, do not forget to think about the body too. There are many things to keep in mind, one example is how the distance of the neck effects the location of the bridge. I made both the body and the neck at the same time.

Before you commence with this you will need to choose what dimensions you want for your neck, you should also consider if you want to use a truss rod or not. I decided the dimensions during the work, but I do not recommend it.

22nd of December:
Today I glued the headstock to the neck, see the pictures below. I choose to let it dry in my room since it is pretty cold in the basement... I believe that I will let it glue for two days, even though it should be dry tomorrow.

24th of December:
Today I removed the clamps from the neck, it feels very strong, I am thinking of testing if it can stand the pressure from the strings soon.

Some of the wood from the other material got stuck in the glue so I will have to use sand paper to remove it.

Here are the colored screws.

26th of December:
Today I began with testing to fasten the three strings on the balalajka, and it seems like the neck can stand the pressure without any trouble. In conclusion the neck is a success, now it really feels like it is starting to take its final shape, but there is still much to be done.

Here are some pictures:

I have also begun to improve the neck and its shape, below are some pictures of the progress.

Here you can see the extra part that needs to be added before the fretboard can be added to the neck.

The total weight of the instrument is now somewhere between 3,0 and 3,6 kilos, so it is not as high as I feared that it would be.

When I had removed the extra wood I wanted to restring it and I recorded how it sounds. I did not use any amplification at all, the microphone was placed near the body. The tapping in the middle is when I taped it at various location to hear what it sounds like.
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