Yes indeed. if you look closely, when I cut the pieces in half I flipped one over and traced on the other side in order to give it a symmetrical look, a technique called “Bookmatching.” I’m not sure how it will turn out considering I took a huge chunk from the middle but it still looks fantastic anyway.
So the pieces are now joined together and I’m starting to level them out. I would have liked it to have a bit less of a line down the middle but it should be fine. You can now start to see the bookmatched grain showing through.
Nice video. Watching Kyle making the Shamisen seems pretty easy to do it (but I´m sure is not =)
Starting to get a bit more shape.
Anderson: You’d be surprised! 
Unlike guitars or such thin-wood instruments where you need to get precise millimeter measurements, most of the shamisen parts are so thick parts that it’s just a matter of carving the right shapes. If you give yourself time and patience for it, you can have a decent homemade shamisen and a fun time to boot! (Even better if you do it with a friend)
Daniel: Looking swell, and good call on the bookmatching!
Wow is this project a beauty~!
I’m excited to see the final product. Gotta admit; super jealous of the purple dou. 
Thanks to your handy work, the two-tone shamisen is gonna be a hot item, now!
Keep up the awesome over there, dudes!
So I’m finally back after a short holiday hiatus and the tenjin is starting to near completion. I’m just waiting for a spoon gouge to arrive so I can begin on the internal curve.
I have also made a slight chamfer on the top edge which should hopefully reduce if not completely alleviate some of the end chipping which is quite common and looks terrible. You probably won’t even be able to see the chamfer with the cap on.
Rough cut
A nakago is (being) born. I had to do some serious re-dimensioning as the timber was way to big.
This is really coming along splendidly!
I hope the purple heart hasn’t browned up too much while you’ve been in Italy.
No it was stored in a dark room so it’s all good
So that’s the nakago pretty much done.
I have intentionally made everything a bit bigger and it may look slightly unfinished as I will have to make everything fit together and it is much easier to remove wood than it is to put it back on.
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So I’ve rounded off the inside of the nakago/sao joint and attached the two together.
Took me ages of fine twiddling with a file and chisel to get everything to fit together as I had to make all 6 individual surfaces mate.
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