Also agree with this.
I think shape is irrelevant. The actual shape is aesthetics.
Positioning the tuners with respect to the strings is the important bit. Once the position of the tuners is established then it can be frozen (i.e., never changes thereafter) and the shape of the headstock is a matter of finding curves that allow the buttons to operate and look aesthetically pleasing. That of course implies that you must have decided which tuners will be used.
To that end, I tried to engineer the position of the tuners, starting from the strings at the bridge:
And then defining exactly where the strings will be on the nut, accounting for their thickness too (10-46 gauge, and obviously by that point the width of the neck at the nut must have been determined):
Then I extended the strings and found where they should meet the tuning posts. In the folowing image the yellow line is the centreline of the string, the small yellow circle the string’s diameter and the larger yellow circle the tuning post diameter at it’s constant value, not accounting for the inwards curved bit.
Once I was happy with that, i just tried to come up with curves that fit as I described before. That’s an iterative process though as, if you can’t find the curves that make you happy, you have to space the tuners (along the length) differently which means different points of intersections with the strings.
So after many hours, I came up with the design in my previous post with which I’m quite happy.
However, once I’ve ordered amd received the tuners, I’ll double check the dimensions are correct and if necessary I’ll adapt the design.
Hm, that might be a little deceiving. I’m happy about that though as it was intentional.
I have made the top cutaway very deep so yes, closer to the body, there is material missing compared to other guitars. However, here’s a comparison with a Solar guitar:
You can see that the lower horn has the same width but ive made it longer and more curved.
The upper horn is more curved too but it’s the deeper cutaway that makes it look much thinner but it’s not all that much different in width.
As I said, that was very intentional so I’ll take your point as good feedback on my design
Mechanically or aesthetically?
If the latter, I’ll adapt the design for the 2nd project, as and when…
But mechanically, I’d like to do some FEA on it but I’d have to enlist a friend’s help. You’re not supposed to grab it by the horns though. Only figuratively 
A bit of both but I was thinking mainly mechanically. Point taken that you shouldn’t pick up the guitar by the horn, but Sod’s Law says………
I was only thinking mechanically. Aesthetically you can do whatever you want - that’s really a personal choice and entirely up to you. I was only concerned about places where the amount of wood seemed like it might be a weak point. So the top of the headstock in #2 where the tuner is very close to the edge. And the pointy horns in the body that look like they could break/chip fairly easily. But I’m not a guitar builder so maybe there is actually plenty of wood strength there.
Agreed!
Yep, that idea was ditched in the end. But you’re right.
I think the horns might be a bit pointier than they should. The top one might not have enough meat at the edge to put the strap button. It’ll be a happy mistake if that turns out to be the case.
Oh these goodies had arrived in Athens since end of October and just now I had the chance to meet them in person 
Solid brass.
See if it makes any audible difference… It made a notable dent in my bank account but at least it looks good (i.e., black 
)
The location of the strap button on the horn will alter how it hangs with a strap. Look at some basses, they have some long horns to account for the neck length.
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Thanks Michael.
The location of the strap button will be something I’ll need to study a bit so I’ll check those basses you mentioned!
Things have been going slowly but there’s a good reason for that.
Good Santa Claus (shout out to Brian @brianlarsen) offered me a handheld plane which was amazing. The plane is pretty much unused so the blade needed some sharpening.
So, last week I started working on that. After three hours I was at that stage:
Today, I continued where I left off last week and after a couple more hours the back of the blade was ready to a nice mirror finish:
I still had some time left so, on I went to sharpen the bevel and I managed to get it through the Tormek which was pretty fast if I’m honest and then through the first grade of sharpening stone (fine).
Getting from this:
To this:
I still have to go through through one more grade but that would be mainly for polishing.
Overall it took me 6 hours to sharpen the brand new plane. Very laborious and physical but well worth it.
I’m eternally grateful to Brian for giving me the plane for this project!
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Haha, if I had known it would take that long, I probably never would have offered it!
On the bright side, your attention to detail promises a high-quality build.
Good luck 
Hahaha noooo I’m really grateful you did. The emphasis was that the blade was brand new, hardly used at all!
I am told that all new blades take a lot of time sharpen the first time!
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Progressing… Slowly but surely… I’ll get there eventually…
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Ah, you have a Tormek. Best tool in the workshop. The hollow grind makes the fine sharpening so much easier.
Yes, luckily the workshop has two of those.
Does the job well and fast! Indeed without it, sharpening on the stone would probably take a loooooong time!
Update 09 March 2024
So, after quite some time of failing to get the surfaces flat and smooth, I had a breakthrough two weeks ago. I started understanding what I’m doing right and what wrong and what I need to achieve and most importantly, how…
So in the end (of this step) I managed to get the two pieces of the back to match and glued them together.
Still doesn’t look like a guitar yet without using some imagination.
Now I’m doing the same for the top (two pieces of quilted maple) and while this is a lot more diffto work with, I hope I’ll get it done faster…
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