Hey Parker, take a look at this picture...



Look at the tail end of the scale slab (left edge) I buzzed the end off with a jigsaw very carefully and got that chipping out. Also notice how close I got to my line, which I always draw a little oversized from my pattern anyways. I cut to just less than 1/8" from my line. I profile sand the shape with a good quality 100 grit paper wrapped around a 1" dowel. These scales were cut by hand with a coping saw in under two minutes, btw.

Remember, power tools don't make better product, they just make mistakes happen faster. Working by hand often let's you fix a potential mistake before its an irreversible screw up.


-Xander