Shaping and Gluing the Fingerboard

To shape the rough ebony fingerboard blank, wood is first removed from the section of the underside of the fingerboard that extends beyond the neck, keeping 1.5mm of flat space on each side:

Then, the fingerboard surface of the neck and the underside of the fingerboard are planed flat:

The fingerboard is then fastened to the neck with hide glue and clamped:

When the glue has dried, the upper surface of the fingerboard must be finished.  The rough curve is created using a block plane:

When the rough curve has been completed, the fingerboard surface is finished with scrapers and then several grits of sandpaper, using modeling clay as a sanding block (it conforms to the curved surface nicely):

When finished, the fingerboard surface has a smooth, mirror-like finish:

The next step is to remove the excess wood on the sides of the neck, which is done roughly using the bandsaw:

The edge is then refined with a gouge, and the root is planed to shape:

 

Here is the fingerboard installed.  The next step is to shape the remainder of the neck.