John,

I think you'll find you're on the right forum. The folks here run the entire range from
pros, to part-timers w/pro-level skills, to hobbyists of varying skill levels, to learners.
I've been amazed about much patience folks in the former groups have in sharing
information and discussing basics with folks in the latter groups.

Your own comments about working slowly and respecting the wood tell me you're on the
right track.

Be sure to make use of the search function here - there is a goldmine of info in the archives postings.

I'm somewhere between learner and hobbyist, but I did notice one thing on your photos. Its a bit
hard to tell, but it looks like you've trimmed the back brace ends short of your pencil outline.
Standard practice for back back braces is to "tuck" the ends of braces to into the linings, leaving
them ending just shy of the sides, but well nestled into the lining. (Same goes for the upper arms
of the X-braces on the tops and the upper transervse brace - some tuck in the lower arms of the
X-braces, too, but not all.) I think most folks glue them on longer than needed and then wait until the back
fitting process to determine the exact length to trim them to.

If you end up with a problem here, don't despair - its pretty easy to carve away the braces and then re-brace
the back (I speak from experience here - a back on an earlier build of my mine warped when the sun angle
changed with the season and it took a sunbath in my workshop).

Good luck and congrats on being brave enough to post pix of your early efforts.

Eric

John, that looks great, and I think it's really cool that you are going at it with scrap, or found wood . I salute you. I would like to add that Eric's post, which I've quoted above, is right on IME. I have built several electrics, from used parts as well as aftermarket, but never straight from scratch. And never an acoustic. I'm a rank amateur beginner, although I do have experience in set up work(for pay). As a result, I generally keep my mouth shut around here, and just soak up all the knowledge and encouragement I can. I have learned a lot. One piece of advice I'd echo is to read through the archives section. There is a wealth of knowledge there. Absolutely invaluable IMHO. I haven't decided yet whether I'll built an electric from scratch or an acoustic from an LMI kit. And I can only afford to build one this year. I think the only thing stopping me with the electric is just to buy the wood and do it. I'm pretty confident I could do the thing justice. But I know I'm not quite ready for the acoustic, yet. Therein lies the rub. I REALLY wanna build an acoustic. So, for now, I'm going to continue to lurk quietly around here, and build that guitar in my head a couple hundred more times before I put hands to wood. Good luck, and I look forward to watching your progress.