Josh,
The answer to your first question depends upon how thick your overlay is, and what tools you have. ButwWhat I try to do is begin to taper the ends of the overlays a bit. This reduces the work I have to do later. I don’t take it down to the edge because I have found that I don’t get good pressure when clamping it together, and the edges don’t sand down nice and clean later. I try to leave 1/2 of the thickness at the ends.
When finishing up the work a small drum sander helps get the ends down pretty close. Then sand paper finishes it up.
Smooth on is good. I stay away from super glues anywhere there is flexing. People use it for tip overlays. I stick with smooth on. It’s slower. But so what?
Overlay length is a matter of taste. I started out making them pretty long, say just short of the end of the fades on both limbs. But then I started getting shorter with them.
