Finding body centerline at tail end?

[HogTime]

Building a StewMac soprano uke kit. Ready to attach neck to body. Have a long piece of MDF marked with a straight line. No problem aligning neck w/line. However, not so w/body. Neck end of body has a rib seam for a center mark. However, tail end of body has no mark. Might have at one time, but got sanded off.

I used a centering ruler to approximate the centerline of the tail end, by finding the center at a couple of spots between neck end and tail end. However, since I doubt the body is perfectly symmetrical to the centerline, I'm not sure how accurate it is.

Neck heel to body joint not perfect, so I can't go by it.

Any tips? Or, am I worrying too much?

Thanks,

[sunburst]

The center line will ultimately be the center of the neck, because the strings will have to track the center of the neck. In other words, regardless of where the center of the body is now, it will end up aligned with the center of the neck after the neck is attached. In other other words, you decide where the center line of the body is and then make sure the neck aligns with it when you attach it... or else "move" the body center line after the neck is installed if it does not align with the body center line.
I would find the center of the upper bout, find the center of the lower bout, and then draw a line connecting those two center points, then align the neck center line to that.

[fscotte]

I use a long ruler that bends easily but keeps it straightness.

[pelone]

This issue can be annoying...but fixable. After determining the center line and establishing that it passes through the center of the round sound hole, true up the top of the body to make it 90 degrees to reference line. This can be done on a fixed and large disk sander after you insure that the table is square also.

[Timbofood]

I love flexible straightedges!

[HogTime]

Thanks for the tips.

Per John's tip, I used a centering ruler to find the center at the wide part of each bout and connected them. Then had the idea to pin a cloth measuring tape at the neck end seam and run it tight around each side to the tail end. Both techniques ended up finding the same center.

BTW, hadn't read the tip here on using a bendable ruler yet. I have one, so I'll keep that in mind for future projects. Same idea as the cloth measuring tape.

I don't have a fixed disk sander (or similar), so just going to live with whatever fit I get and fill the gap.