Walking the ice in Copper Harbor, MI
The week was full of careful work, notching sides and kerfing to receive the top and back of the guitar. Cam clamps and bungee cord were then used to glue the components together one at a time. Once the overhang was routed, it actually looked like a guitar! It was with not a little excitement that I removed the completed body from the plywood mold. It feels alive, responsive to the touch, and it looks good from all angles. I’m feeling good!
The gluing surface is radiused to match the top and back, then notched with a chisel to allow the main braces to integrated into the lining. This step helps prevent future weakening and delamination of the braces
The top is ready to go on!
A fun clamping operation, where my rope handling skills came in handy.
Throughout the build, much time is taken to prepare before any major glueing operation. We are encouraged to dry clamp everything carefully before any attempt at gluing; this has saved me plenty of headaches by catching problems early on. All seams were checked visually and with a 0.0015″ feeler gauge before gluing.
I want to make sure that the fit and finish of this guitar is as good as it can, so it goes that patience and diligence are to be the order of the day.
The Claro Walnut back and sides. You can see the ends of the braces exposed along the edge. The edge will be routed away for ivoroid binding, so this nice work all remains secret underneath the decor.
I couldn’t help breaking out the pickguard, just to get a better visual of the guitar. I love the “firestripe” tortoloid pickguard, a dead ringer for old Gibson pickguards
Chris Miller Guitars 
Beautiful work UNCLE!!!!!!