I didn't make it over to my dad's shop to make the part for the neck to install the nut. I did take some measurements and draw the part up, though. And some more stuff arrived, so I'm posting to keep the thread alive.
I didn't bother to trig it out, but slapping a protractor on my drawing indicates the 13-degree angle I need. I designed the part to leave room to shim the nut for proper height. That's also good for the future, since a fret dress often requires some lowering of the nut.
I love it when new stuff gets delivered! Battery box, and bigger block for the Floyd.
I put the block on to check the fit. Very good! See how much bigger it is than the stock one. I can't report the difference in the sound because I will probably never play this guitar with the stock block. I have nothing to compare it to. A great thing about putting guitars together yourself is you get to start right out with the good stuff!
The purpose of the block on the original Strat vibrato is to make up for the mass lost from the big hole in the guitar body. I figure since this is a semi-hollow body, I need even MORE mass! This block is from "hoockey" on eBay. Much less expensive than floydupgrades, and it got here pretty quickly.
Could I have made this simple piece myself? Absolutely. But don't I already have enough stuff to do on this thing? And I don't have a chunk of brass lying around. AND for $30.49 shipped, this is a great deal.
The holiday weekend is coming up, and more progress will be made on this guitar.