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Congratulations! The way to check to see if the rod rattles is simply to knock on the neck with your knuckles - if it passes the rattle test, I think you've succeeded.

Well I haven't knocked on it with my knuckles but the neck has undergone a lot of sawing, clamping and general moving around while cutting the tenon, taper and so on and so forth. Would the rattle be loud?

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"I'm not going to say that perfection has never been achieved. However, if it has, it probably went unnoticed due to it's lack of character."

You've got the rod in, so I'm late in the game with this comment. But it might be useful for your next instrument or for someone reading this thread. You can wrap the rod with teflon plumber's tape--the same stuff they use to seal pipe threads. This is a quick and easy way to pad the rod and ensure that it operates smoothly. It makes for a very comfortable press fit in the channel. Just a simple spiral wrap does the trick.
Patrick

Thought about that. Makes sense. I had to pick something and what I did apparently worked. Good to know for the future.

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"I'm not going to say that perfection has never been achieved. However, if it has, it probably went unnoticed due to it's lack of character."

I'm about to glue the fretboard on but I have a question before I do that. Is there anyway to test the trust rod and its function before gluing the fretboard on? I tried tightening the truss rod but didn't get any back bow. Now the neck isn't carved and it's also over an inch thick. I imagine this makes a difference. I also imagine that after gluing the fretboard on, the filler strip will become more stable and give the truss rod more to press against. Any thoughts?

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"I'm not going to say that perfection has never been achieved. However, if it has, it probably went unnoticed due to it's lack of character."

It's pretty obvious if the rod rattles. Again, just give it a good rap with your knuckles (like you're knocking on a door). If the rod's rattling, you'll know. If it's somehow frozen in place with glue, or in a bind because you clamped the fillet in too tight, it won't be apparent until you get a little further along.

I doubt it would move too much until you get it closer to final thickness. I think the thing to do is to glue on the fingerboard, and rough carve the neck closer to final dimensions, and then try the rod again. If it works, proceed - if not, bail and start over.

It's definitely not rattling. I'm able to (with a bit of muscle) slide the rod in it's channel. It doesn't have much room to do so but I know for sure it's not stuck. It's sitting in a curved channel which, once carved, should be sitting around 1/8" to 3/16" from the back of the neck at its deepest point.

Anyway, what you said was basically my plan. The fretboard is glued and drying at the moment. Shouldn't be too long before I can fire it up. I'm pretty excited to get it all put together.

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"I'm not going to say that perfection has never been achieved. However, if it has, it probably went unnoticed due to it's lack of character."