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PostPosted: Sat Aug 11, 2012 3:41 am 
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First name: Peter
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Looks good, but why does it only have a few frets?

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PostPosted: Sat Aug 11, 2012 8:04 am 
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Good morning Peter,

This insturment, like many American folk insturments the design is derived from, utilizes a diatonic scale as opposed to a guitars chromatic scale. The diatonc scale contains only the whole notes of the scale whereas the chromatic scale contains both the whole notes and the half notes. Why the origianl designer added the F# fret to this insturment, I don't have the answer. I did add the 3rd fret (C) yesterday before the first coat of finish.

Steve


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PostPosted: Sat Aug 11, 2012 9:05 am 
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Sheesh, you're almost done and here I am rebending the sides I screwed up [headinwall]

It looks cool though - looking forward to here what it sounds like.

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PostPosted: Sat Aug 11, 2012 3:03 pm 
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SteveSmith wrote:
Sheesh, you're almost done and here I am rebending the sides I screwed up [headinwall]

It looks cool though - looking forward to here what it sounds like.


I started with this one to get a good jump start to the challenge. Simple, cheap and easy to build. With that small soundbox they have a plunky, thin sound. A bit like a broken banjo. Fun to play though.

So I'm calling that one done for a total of $2. $1.25 for frets, $.50 for the finish and $.25 for the nails to hook the strings to. Are we counting the price of strings? I haven't seen those on anyone else's list yet.


So I've never built a mandolin, an archtop acoustic or an acoustic with a cutaway. So I started an archtop mandolin with a cutaway. The lumber is from the scrap pile and from a pile my friend Joe dropped off with me when he moved to Hawaii.

The douglas fir for the top was a stair tread that I saved after replacing an exterior entrance to a house. Out of five treads this was the only one with decent grain. The fretboard and headplate will be from a piece of jatoba flooring. The bridge will be the leftover piece from the wishbone part of the pickin' stick.
From Joe's pile, some reasonably flamed maple for the back and sides and a chunk of mahogany for the neck and end blocks.
Attachment:
Challange Mandolin 001.JPG


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PostPosted: Sat Aug 11, 2012 3:13 pm 
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So I started by cutting the top and back pieces to size and jointing them. Both will be slip matched as that's what you get when you scrounge. Then I made a plexiglass template and traced the shape onto the boards and cut them out on the bandsaw.
Attachment:
Challange Mandolin 002.JPG

Attachment:
Challange Mandolin 003.JPG


In this photo you can see the good side of the back. Yep, you're supposed to flip the template for the back.
Attachment:
Challange Mandolin 004.JPG


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PostPosted: Sat Aug 11, 2012 3:15 pm 
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Here's the top carved and awaiting thicknessing.


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PostPosted: Sat Aug 11, 2012 4:12 pm 
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Wow you work fast.

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PostPosted: Mon Aug 13, 2012 6:30 pm 
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I got a bit more done yesterday. The top and back are carved and the tone bars are in. I haven't the first clue on how to voice one of these so I'm going to wander over to the mandolin forum and try to scare up Chris Oliver for some tips.

Here is the back.
Attachment:
DSC00673.JPG


And some brace work.
Attachment:
DSC00675.JPG

Attachment:
DSC00676.JPG

Attachment:
DSC00677.JPG


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PostPosted: Tue Aug 14, 2012 9:35 pm 
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When you use this,
Attachment:
DSC00655.JPG


to do this,
Attachment:
DSC00659.JPG


you get this.
Attachment:
DSC00660.JPG


I missed the memo about using a cork tip on the post. Good thing for wet rags and clothes irons.


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PostPosted: Tue Aug 14, 2012 10:44 pm 
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Regarding all the little dents: Yep, that will even happen on some hardwoods. I put a bunch of those on a carved, arched walnut back once. But, as you say, lesson learned, and the fix isn't such a big deal.
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PostPosted: Wed Aug 15, 2012 1:34 am 
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Wow! You are cracking on with the work Steve! I can't believe how much you've gotten done so fast!

Looking forward to seeing/hearing the final products!

Cheers,
Dave F.

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PostPosted: Wed Aug 15, 2012 7:04 am 
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How about a Vid on the " Using "this" to do "this" to get "this" Process ?

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PostPosted: Wed Aug 15, 2012 7:59 pm 
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I had an hour to spare this morning so I fired up the pipe bender.
Attachment:
Challange Mandolin 003.JPG


Dave F's words kept echoing in my head. "Cracking". Thanks Dave.
Attachment:
Challange Mandolin 002.JPG


Wound up with this which will need some touch up. Might be a few days though, paying work is on the agenda.
Attachment:
Challange Mandolin 004.JPG


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PostPosted: Thu Aug 16, 2012 6:32 pm 
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WudWerkr wrote:
How about a Vid on the " Using "this" to do "this" to get "this" Process ?


Hey Jim,
I'm a bit video challenged, maybe Dave F can come over with his camera. I do have some stills for you.

You set up a dowel with a cork tip (see Filippo's pic above) centerd below a drill bit and secured to the drill press table. Mine is glued in a piece of 3/4" plywood and the plywood is screwed to the table from below.
Attachment:
DSC00655.JPG


Make a gauge block with the various thickneses called for in the carving of your top or back. The plans for this inturment called for 1/4" under the bridge, 3/16" for the bulk of the top and 1/8" for the edges. Since the edges were carved to 1/8" from the top side I'll only be using that part of the gauge for a handle. I made this on the table saw. A similar gauge was made for the back using it's proper thicknesses.
Attachment:
DSC00656.JPG


Use the gauge to set the drilling depth.
Attachment:
DSC00657.JPG


Mark the top with the area that you want drilled and make a bunch of holes.
Attachment:
DSC00658.JPG


Using your gauge reset the drill depth and make a bunch more holes.
Attachment:
DSC00659.JPG


You'll notice in the above picture that the 3/16" depth holes are drilled right up to the 1/4" depth holes. Don't do that. Leave yourself some space so you can make a smoother transition between the different depths. That will help tremenduosly with fitting the braces and help with the strength of the top. I don't think I over carved this one, I'll find out in a year or so.


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Last edited by StevenWheeler on Thu Aug 16, 2012 6:50 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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PostPosted: Thu Aug 16, 2012 6:46 pm 
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With my carving weapon of choice it's good to have a downdraft sanding table. The one is made from some used hollow core doors, a used furnace fan and a 3/4' MDF top. Someone posted a plan for this here on the forum a few years ago. Rod True or Todd Stock or ???, not sure.
Attachment:
DSC00662.JPG


Said weapon, 4 1/4" angle grinder with a 60 grit flap sander. I think I'll order a scorp for the next time I do this.
Attachment:
DSC00661.JPG


Grind away until your close.
Attachment:
DSC00664.JPG


At this point I switch to some more civilized tooling.
Attachment:
DSC00663.JPG


Here it is all done and ready for braces.
Attachment:
DSC00674.JPG


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PostPosted: Thu Aug 16, 2012 6:57 pm 
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Thanks [:Y:] I kinda figured that was the idea , but seeing some info in pics helps .

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The Shallower the depth of the stream , The Louder the Babble !
The Taking Of Offense Is the Life Course Of The Stupid One !
Wanna Leave a Better Planet for our Kids? How about Working on BETTER KIDS for our Planet !
Forgiveness is the ability to accept an apology that you will probably NEVER GET
The truth will set you free , But FIRST, it will probably Piss you Off !
Creativity is allowing yourself to make Mistakes, Art is knowing which ones to Keep !
The Saddest thing anyone can do , is push a Loyal Person to the point that they Dont Care Anymore
Never met a STRONG person who had an EASY past !
http://wiksnwudwerks.blogspot.com/
http://www.facebook.com/groups/GatewayA ... rAssembly/


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PostPosted: Sat Sep 15, 2012 8:22 pm 
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I've been back at it an hour or so here and there for the past couple of weeks. Haven't been taking many pics as shop time has been sparse. Here are the highlights up to yesterday.
After I got the top braced, it was f-hole time.
Attachment:
Challange Mandolin 002.JPG

Attachment:
Challange Mandolin 003.JPG

Attachment:
Challange Mandolin 004.JPG


Then I bound them in jatoba (cut offs from the Stick's neck). First time doing that, now I know what Todd Stock was talking (typing) about.


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PostPosted: Sat Sep 15, 2012 8:32 pm 
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A little neck action. Mandolin... little neck... laughing6-hehe laughing6-hehe laughing6-hehe that's funny stuff. I slay me.

Attachment:
Challange Mandolin 008.JPG

Attachment:
Challange Mandolin 010.JPG


I cut the angle at the wrong point so I had to glue the headstock the way I don't like to have enough length. I'll get over it after I add a back strap.
Attachment:
Challange Mandolin 011.JPG


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PostPosted: Sat Sep 15, 2012 8:50 pm 
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I glued in this corner block,
Attachment:
Challange Mandolin 001.JPG


and seemingly like magic, the box was closed, binding channels were cut and the neck was roughed to shape.

Attachment:
Challange Mandolin 014.JPG


This is the binding jig I built for my arch top flat back electrics. Worked fine for this, I made a carriage out of 1x6 pine to hold the body level. There is just a big hole under there that is cut 1/4" in from the body outline and a piece of 1/8" birch plywood stapled the bottom.
Attachment:
Challange Mandolin 015.JPG


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PostPosted: Sat Sep 15, 2012 9:25 pm 
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That looks awesome. I like the shape a lot. What are the dimensions of the body, looks similar the size of the flat-top I'm making. Those f-holes are great. I'll have to resist the temptation to steal that shape.

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PostPosted: Sat Sep 15, 2012 10:06 pm 
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I like the look of it too. Bound f-holes look nice.

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PostPosted: Sun Sep 16, 2012 2:21 pm 
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Those F-holes look great.


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PostPosted: Sun Sep 16, 2012 4:31 pm 
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Filippo, you do make some handsome jigs and fixtures. What's with the rounded corners and dust collection? Don't you want to look like you went to war when you come in from the shop?

Bryan,
The body is 9 1/4" x 13 1/4" with a 7 1/4" upper bout and 5 5/8" waist. It uses a standard 13 7/8" scale neck. The plan was purchased from a guy in southern Illinois. Do a google search for "Don's Plans". He has plans for ukuleles mandos and others, they are fairly cheap and you get what you pay for.

The F holes are really just the standard ones adjusted a bit to loose those unsightly bulbs. It took about a minute with a pencil and a french curve to fix the mistake people have been making for centuries. Glad everyone approves.


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PostPosted: Sun Sep 16, 2012 4:33 pm 
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Here is a nice shot of the binding process.


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PostPosted: Sun Sep 16, 2012 6:10 pm 
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More neck stuff.
Fret slots.
Attachment:
Challange Mandolin 008.JPG


Found a piece of 3/32"x1" steel in the shop so I cut it up to make a non-adjustable truss rod.
Attachment:
Challange Mandolin 013.JPG


Ran the pieces through the thickness sander to clean them up. This takes a while as you can't take much off at a time or you will bugger up your drum.
Attachment:
Challange Mandolin 014.JPG


Glued the two pieces in with polyurethane glue. The package claims the adhesive works on metal so I thought I'd give it a shot.
Attachment:
Challange Mandolin 016.JPG


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