One step forward, two steps back. I leveled the frets, and began doing the final sanding of the neck...but ended up sanding through on a couple of the edges of the headstock. While fixing that, I realized that I had not yet prepared a neckplate. I don't like to use a plain one. So on one build I have a "poop emoji" that my daughters find funny. On the others I have a DIY etched design. Not perfect, but cheap and unique, so I am thinking it will do for now...
...I botched one of them, but two are more or less acceptable. I don't have access to something as fancy as a cricket printer, but I am sure this would work better with one of those. Instead I use 3M quarter inch vinyl tape and electrician's tape. I suspect that a cricket sticker would prevent seepage better. The tape did OK on two of the three, but there's two much seepage on the third to use. That's OK, I only need one for the Tele and one for the Jazz bass build. But this method is unsure enough (at least in my hands) to have a backup or two ;-)
For anyone who wants try, neck plates are made out of copper that has been chromed. The approach I use removes the chrome from the copper. I put tape over all the places that are still chromed. I use a cotton swab dipped in a solution of salt and white vinegar as a stylus. I attach an alligator clip to the wet cotton swab, and attach the other end of the wire to the cathode of a power tool battery. I attach a wire to the back of the neck plate and the other end to the anode of the battery. Swabbing the exposed with the chrome transfers the chrome to the cotton swab. As you can see, it also makes a mess of the alligator clip. You have to change the swabs frequently as it fills with chrome. I also do it under the hood of the stove with the fan on full blast because the fumes also have chrome in them.
I added my "logo" at the bottom of the pic... The "A" on the neck plate is supposed to resemble that font more or less ;-) Hand made, though so none are identical
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