Pegbox and heel finishing

The neck is much more unwieldy to carve with a violin attached, so I did as much work to it as possible before setting it.

The pegs that came with the kit were, mercifully, already reamed and drilled.

I ordered a full rosewood fitting set but the pegs, alas, are not reamed or drilled, and though I may yet fit them, I am too impatient to do it now. I have very little patience for pegs in general; they were probably fine for gut strings in a baroque setup, but for modern steel/synthetic strings they are far from ideal. Something shouldn't have to be perfect to work at all, or it's a bad design! I want some Pegheds or Knillings, but not out of the gate for an experimental instrument.

The ebony pegs that came with the kit needed only a bit of sanding, and the holes enlarged for my very fat toddler cello strings. I then carved out the bottom of the pegbox to accomodate those same fat strings. It was exceedingly awkward to get to with exacto knives, and I broke two before I gave up and broke out the chisels, the use of which henceforth I have entirely avoided.

On the other end, the heel, I carved away the excess to allow for a 7mm deep mortise and a button diameter that now, in hindsight, seems a bit small. It looks very odd, like a cartoonishly miniscule nose in the center of a normal face. The button is rather structurally important, so I regret this. I read that many good makers carve out the heel curve a little extra to allow for greater ease in reaching higher positions, so I did that, since it's no skin off my teeth to remove a little extra wood. However, I am no great musician and don't see myself needing that feature, well, ever.