but it DOES look good 
My Rock Maple is finally here!! Now to start on the Sao and Tenjin.
Whoa!! A two-tone shamisen, this is gonna be awesome!! 
Well if you’re going to make it out of Kouki and Karin (as most seem to be? ) why not make it out of two contrasting woods
Yes, the very light, almost white colour of the Rock Maple combined with the dark purple heart is quite possibly one of the most beautiful timber combinations out there.
I really should invest in a band saw. I had to hand saw this piece of ROCK maple in half lengthways, bit sore now.
Ho!! I haven’t hand-ripped (like that) a piece that long, but have done enough to remember the soreness in my arms!
If you will be doing it a lot more, a table saw is quite nice, I will admit. (For my first shamisen, I made the whole thing by hand as a matter of principle. But as time got shorter, I started enjoying the ease of electricity. :P) However, if you’ll only be making one, you can consider hand sawing it as personal achievement!
Here’s a magic trick for all you new players!
Make parallel cuts along the section you wish to remove making sure you don’t go too deep.
Next, grab your chisel and just knock the blocks straight off.
So easy it feels like you’re cheating!
Assuming you didn’t want to use the wood for something else 
That’s my favorite trick! A saw and a slotted screwdriver for prying. Saved several hours of chisel sharpening. 
It is a great trick indeed but yes I have already cut out the nakago piece.
Sao slowly but surely taking shape. The maple is much easier to work than the purple heart.
ooooo
Starting to look like a sao now.
I can’t wait till it’s finished and I can finally get to play it!
nice!
Flattening out the two tenjin halves. I found that the easiest way to get them flat is to attach some sandpaper to a flat surface and rub the timber over the sandpaper as shown.
That’s a great way to get both pieces even. However, you will still want to clamp the two pieces together tightly, hold it up to light and see if there are any cracks. I did the same method as you and still noticed that I still had to do some “spot shaving” with the blade to get the two halves flush.
Oh!! Here’s another tip! I didn’t realize this until my latest shamisen - Cut out the main side shape for both pieces before gluing. It is soooo much easier to cut to smaller pieces than a larger block. Plus, the smaller surface area is easier for gluing.
and THIS is why Bachido is an awesome learning resource
That is actually a really good idea, didn’t think of that. Will you be making a second revision of your book?