Tonight I started sanding the 20" radius in the fingerboard. I made the following setup, taping my neck to the table and clamping a straight (in this case flamed maple) blank next to the neck, to guide the sanding block:

It’s very basic, but it works quite well. First I thought of guiding it on both sides, but that would lock up the sanding block constantly and I found out having the guide on one side only is enough. Here’s an action photo:

After this picture was taken, I continued sanding for over 45 minutes and got just past the fret markers. The result of one hour of continious sanding… It’s tough sanding through ebony, even more with the medium quality 80 grit sandpaper I’m using. Maybe I will try to find better quality sandpaper or switch to 40 grit, although I feel that might leave quite deep marks in the pearl, so I think I’ll stick to 80 grit.

I guess I need at least two or three more of those exercises to complete this task. So, to be continued…