Yeah Buffalo Nickel is my unofficial brand for the wood carvings and musical instruments I create in my work shop. I place one or more nickels in or on every project. The reason for the Buffalo Nickel is that they remind me of a time when I was a kid and my dad would come home from work and give my brother and I a nickel. That was big money for a 5 year old in the early 1960s. I even have gold with white borders water slide decals that will go on each headstock. See them in the pic below.
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Sorry I forgot to take a pic of the backbone but basically I drilled a hole through the rim and the two inside end blocks then I stuck the dowel in the hole through to the end and glued it in place before adding the top and bottom pieces. I also drilled a hole in the neck to mount it to the body on the exposed end of the dowel. I also drilled separate holes on the neck block, rim, and neck to glue in a short dowel to help support the neck and to keep it from twisting during the glue up. I hope this answers your question. I have not glued the necks on yet so I will take a pic that shows this setup tomorrow.