Sit, in the literal sense
The sole has to be the one touching
A mallet that is too long toes up. Too short, heel up. Either way the hang you measured on the peg is no longer the hang in your hands. We measure before we cut.
Order
Eyes, wrists, then steel
Eye over the ball, or slightly inside — we photograph both because players lie about this without meaning to. Wrist-to-mat with the posture you actually use on a four-footer, not the posture you use for a photograph. Then the sole on a plate: heel, mid, toe. A mallet with wings makes a heel sit look “aimed left” even when the face is square. That is a lie we have to catch before Della’s lamp session is wasted.
Recut is a quarter or a half, rarely more in one visit. Lie bend is a degree or two on a hosel that will take it. Some mallets will not take a bend; the card says so, and we talk length instead of pretending the hosel is a wishbone.
Hang after the recut
Moss re-pegs every time. Length moves the toe story. A face-balanced head can start nodding after a half-inch comes off if the grip mass changed with it. That is why pistol work happens after, or gets redone. The till for a length-and-lie-only plate is on bay rates.