Day 1 - 3rd January 2022 - "Shots Fired"

Have finally bitten the bullet and committed to getting started.

Step 1: Off to Bunnings I go for clamps, Timbermate wood filler, straight ruler and a coping saw.

Step 2: Return home and have coffee - all good adventures start with coffee

Step 3: No more putting it off - time for cutting the headstock

Step 4: Open coping saw packaging and struggle to work out the various "teeth per inch" blades. I have four to chose from. I go for the one which (I think) has 18 TPI. Ah yes, I remember (vaguely) what it was like to be 18. Acne and awkwardness around girls. Good times.

Step 5: Pace nervously around the kitchen table after trying to work out the best way to secure the neck, in preparation for headstock cutting. Clamps applied, frets protected. Let's get this sucker.

Step 6: Holy crap! First thing I found out - coping saws are not my best friend. My complete lack of any practical woodworking skills shines like a beacon. I adopt the approach of giving myself as much margin for error as possible. I think (at best) I got within a centimetre of what I'd marked (and even the marking had been generous). Oh well, better that than overdoing it.

Step 6: So...much...rasping. Why is it so damn hard to create gentle curves? Curse you, Leo Fender and your gorgeous Telecaster shapes! And whoever said that sculpting was like finding the subject within a block of marble (all you have to do is chip away the excess marble) was full of crap. Aaarggh.

Step 7: Lots and lots of sanding. Lots of sweating and squinting (does it look ANYTHING like a Tele?) and 3 hours later I think I have something which is worth putting down and proceeding to the next stage of mock up build. There will be more sanding and smoothing, I know, when doing the finish. Destiny awaits...

Memo to self: Post help request. We have a problem - slight split in the grain and I don't know how to fix. Fingers crossed that some good soul here can help.

Step 8: More coffee. Everything seems better after coffee.

Summary: We've made a start. Wish I had some basic woodworking skills. Headstock is in the ballpark of looking "telecaster-ish". I'm pretty crap but, in spite of it all, having fun.