# Instruments and Equipment > Builders and Repair >  Saga AM-10 Build Thread

## Whittle

Well I finally pulled the trigger. After much deliberation on what kit to start with, I decided to go with the Saga kit from IV. I was previously only interested in finding a round or oval hole kit(thanks to all for the suggestions!), but I decided on the AM-10 for a couple of reasons. 

The first and most important reason is that I've decided to build this kit for my father. When my wife and I were visiting my parents a couple of months ago, he had mentioned wanting to learn to play. He doesn't spend a lot of money on himself however, so I doubt he'd end up getting one unless it was given to him. The second and third reasons are that a lot of the hardest steps are completed on the IV kit, and it's one of the least expensive! I'll be able to learn from the experience, and my father gets a new mandolin. 

Here's what I have done so far:

1) Before doing the binding, I did a quick sand of some of the tool marks on the inside and outside of the front and back plates. I didn't want the ridges to throw off my thickness measurements when I graduate the plates. 

2) I decided on Loctite CA gel to glue my binding. I've put together smaller projects with the liquid variety and had some trouble with running. I felt I had a little more control with the gel. I went with 3M safe release painters tape to hold the binding on during its cure time. It worked great! I only had one hair thin splinter get pulled up from the top(I wasn't being careful). After cleaning up the channel, I started gluing at the tailpiece and worked my way forward on one side, then the other. I glued the pieces closest to the neck last.

Here's the front with the binding glued and taped.



Here's the binding with tape removed; and the ends trimmed and filed at the neck joint. 





Before I do anything else, I'll need some more tools. I'll be building a graduating caliper this weekend, and perhaps some spool clamps. Time for a Harbor Freight run!

I'm having a blast with this. I can see how it can get addicting. I've already caught myself talking about "the next build". By the way, I'm planning on getting one of Don Kawalek's kits for my second build. I guess another reason for getting the kit from IV was so I could get experience in basic skills before attempting something a little more advanced like his kits.

Lastly, I need to find some good clamps to fix the supports to the sound board for gluing. Does anyone have any suggestions?

Thanks!

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## belbein

You're doing great.I. I built a Kawalek for my second build__and a Waldron for my third.  Both great experiences.

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## Ron Cox

Have you checked out the Siminoff book?  He has some great descriptions of homemade tools and clamps.  I liked the idea of the spool clamps he has.

Great resource to have.

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## Brandon Sumner

Stupid question... Who is IV? I am interested in a kit as well?

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## Ron Cox

International Violin.  Look under white kits or instruments in the white.

Oh Bother
http://www.internationalviolin.com/S...ategoryCode=58

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Brandon Sumner

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## Ron Cox

easier this way.  there are two pages.  look at all of them!

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Brandon Sumner

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## Whittle

Thanks belbein!

Ron, I read the Siminoff book from cover to cover before I picked up a tool. It's been very educational! I found some wooden toy wheels on sale that I'm planning on using for my spool clamps. I'll post some pictures of my clamps when they're done. 

Brandon, the IV kit is an excellent start. I'm having a blast! It's challenging, but not to the point of discouragement. Plus the IV customer service is excellent!

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## tdnate

Some cities have a Plastics supply (ours does) and sell scrap by the pound. I have picked up UHMW in the past pretty cheap.
I bet if you have something like that and a hole saw that would allow you to put a larger bit in the center, you could crank out some pretty cool spool clamp pads. That is what I intend to do soon. UMHW is Ultra High Molecular Weight plastic, and not much sticks to it. I use it for slides and such.

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## Wilbur Tabacsko

> Lastly, I need to find some good clamps to fix the supports to the sound board for gluing. Does anyone have any suggestions?


I assume you are talking about the tone bars.  If you have your bars fitted well it don't take much to hold them in place.  I use these cheap clamps which serve me well.
Enjoy your new addiction.  Like you say, "It's a blast"!

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Whittle

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## bigskygirl

Looks nice, I learned a lot when I built mine a few years ago.

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Whittle

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## kkmm

> Lastly, I need to find some good clamps to fix the supports to the sound board for gluing. Does anyone have any suggestions?


When glueing the top and the back to the body, I use a long long elastic cord and tie it all around the body.
I found this rubber cord at 99 cents store as a net basket costing 1$+tax. By undoing the net, I end up with a really long elastic cord. I also used it when glueing the fretboard (frets already installed) on the neck. The elastic cord automatically keep both parts well aligned (sideways only).

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Whittle

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## Bill Snyder

Use a go-bar deck to glue the braces/tone bars to the top. 
Not wanting to take the time to build a go-bar deck and mandolins being small enough I have used my kitchen cabinets for this.
Mandolin top on the counter top shimmed level and go-bars going from upper cabinets to the braces. Works well.

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Brandon Sumner

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## Whittle

> Use a go-bar deck to glue the braces/tone bars to the top.


Now there's a neat idea! I think I could pull that off. What do you use for the go bars? Did you buy the ones from stewmac?

In unrelated news, here are my new spool clamps! Hobby Lobby was having a sale on the wooden toy wheels, so I used those instead of cutting and drilling a dowel. I used 1/4" x 4" carriage bolts plus some washers and wing nuts as hardware. I picked up a 12" x 12" cork tile for the cork padding. I glued the flat side of the wheels to the cork before cutting them back out when the glue dried.

Before:


After:

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fatt-dad

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## Bill Snyder

You can cut some wood down until it is flexible enough to use but still has enough stiffness to exert the needed pressure. You could also purchase some very thin dowels from Lowes, Walmart, etc.

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Whittle

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## Whittle

Did a dry fit of the neck today after taking a break from graduating. I may have encountered a small stumbling block.

Per the instructions: "Push the heel of the neck gently but firmly into the mortise joint in the body. There should be no gaps."



The neck and mortise joint is pretty loose. I can pull the neck straight out of the joint without pulling up on it first. As you can see, I have some gaps. Can it be saved with shimming and lots of Titebond?

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## Bill Snyder

Not lots of Titebond. Titebond is no good for gap filling. Most glues are not any good for gap filling and the ones that might be you don't want to use for this. You need to glue shims in and properly fit the joint in order to avoid problems later on down the road.

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Whittle

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## Whittle

Thanks Bill. When the time comes to glue on the neck I'll be sure to shim it.

Here's the headstock cut to shape. That veneer likes to splinter!

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## Michael Lewis

glue oversize shims (blocks) into the mortise, and re-fit the joint when it is dry.

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Whittle

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## Whittle

I'm definitely going to be doing some shimming. Even with the dowels dry fit in place, the joint is laughably loose. 

Here's my recently finished graduating caliper. I used the digital dial indicator from Harbor Freight for the dial. It works great!



I'm hoping to start graduating the front and back tomorrow.

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## Whittle

I started graduating the soundboard and backboard tonight. The backboard is pretty much done, but will need a few minor tweaks tomorrow. I'm about halfway done with the soundboard. It's amazing how much the "tone" of the wood is changing. Before starting the graduation process, both the soundboard and backboard gave a very dull, muddy sort of tone when tapped. Now, they're starting to wake up and talk. Hopefully, with a little more refining, they'll begin to sing.





I'm hoping to have the graduations done tomorrow or Wednesday. After that I'll be fitting the tone bars.

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## Whittle

Phew! It's been awhile. My summer has been busier than I thought it would be. I finally found some time to make some progress after finishing graduations back in May. Here's what I've been doing over the past few days:

Thanks to a suggestion by Bill Snyder, I fabricated a cheap go-bar deck using a TV tray covered in books for weight and a couple of thin dowels from Walmart. Here is how it looked to attach the tone bars after I shaped them with sandpaper taped to the inside of the soundboard.



I glued on the kerfing while the tone bars were curing.



Here's the top with both the kerfing attached and the tone bars shaped.



Earlier in the thread I mentioned how loose the neck joint was. After some significant shimming, I finally got a fit I was happy with. I checked the neck alignment using a laser level.



Just a few minutes ago, I glued on the neck. Here's hoping it holds well!



After I let the neck cure and I've sanded everything down flat, I'll put on the back; and string it up for the first time. I'm getting closer! What kind of glue do you all use to glue on the nut?

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## bigskygirl

Wow, looks good, can't wait to see it finished.

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Whittle

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## Michael Lewis

Just about any kind of glue will do for the nut, but only put a small dab on the end of the fingerboard, not in the bottom of the slot.  The reason is for future removal without damaging the neck.  The strings will hold the nut in place and the glue is to keep it in place when the strings are off.

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## bart mcneil

Regarding neck joint adjustment and filling gaps on the Saga kit, Which this is. We refer to it as the IV, or International Violin kit, because they, among others, sell it. But IV supports the kit with spare parts etc, and assistance if you need it. While others just sell the kit and can offer no help whatsoever.

I used pieces of veneer available in small sheets at lumber supply stores. Far easier than trying to cut and shape shims by hand when fine tuning the neck joint.

regarding the nut glue. I just used a small drop of Elmers wood glue to simply hold the nut in place while stringing it up. Once stung up the tension from the strings will keep the nut in place even should the glue come loose at some point. There is no advantage in using a lot of glue. Just a very small drop in the center of the nut will do it.

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## Whittle

Great suggestions Michael and Bart regarding installing the nut. It makes sense to simply use a little glue on the end of the fingerboard.

Bart, I looked for veneer at all of my local stores. Unfortunately, the only kind they all carried was either adhesive backed, or a special order. Thus, I was limited to shimming. Before my next build I'm going to try to find some veneer in a few other cities and get a small supply. The hand shaping got a little tedious!

I'm assuming that the veneer on the headstock is rosewood. For those that have worked with the IV kit before, what did you use to fill/seal the rosewood before finishing the rest of the instrument? I'm thinking of using an oil finish.

Looking at the StewMac site, they have a Colortone Waterbased grain filler. Has anyone ever used this stuff?

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## bart mcneil

I built three some years ago (5?). I found the extremely thin veneer on the headstock close to useless so I removed it and used a little purchased veneer which was thicker and more interesting (IMO). If I recall I sealed the the veneer with lacquer but I really don't remember positively what I used.

For shim stock I have an old broken dresser which was veneered with thin mahogany (I think). I just peel a little off as needed. It is glued on with hide glue so it comes off easily with hot water.

For headstock veneer google veneer and you should come up with some very interesting headstock veneer if you want to customize your headstock,

certainly veneer is available on the internet but I would think would be available at any furniture restoration/repair shop.

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Whittle

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## Whittle

I'd thought about replacing the supplied headstock veneer, but since this is my first build I decided to keep it on rather than spend extra on a mandolin that looks great but sounds like junk. If this build turns out well and I get another IV kit, I'll look at getting some nicer veneer online.

That being said; I am interested in replacing the supplied plastic nut with something a little better. Has anyone worked with Tusq synthetic bone nuts before? I don't have the equipment available to form and slot a bone nut from scratch, so I'm looking at pre-slotted for this first build.

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## Nevin

I have a Tusq nut on a guitar and like it.  It was easy to work and looks good.  Great thread BTW.

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Whittle

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## belbein

Whittle:  You don't say where you are.  If you're close to one of us, we might be able to supply you with some scrap veneer.  I, for example, have a basement full of scrap.  I'd love to give some of it away!

I replaced the headstock veneer on the SAGA with some other veneer I had around the shop.  It worked fine.  But it also made me overconfident, so on my next build--an octave mandolin--when I replaced the head stock veneer, it was too thick for the tuner posts to have enough clearance.  What a pain in the patoot.  I mean, what a great opportunity to learn another skill and build character at the same time.  

By the way, my first mandolin was a Saga kit.  It was a great foundation to learn how to build.  Every problem you're facing now is a bit of a lesson in luthiery that will come in handy later.  

Not that your later neck joints will ever be loose.  No.  No chance.  Not ever.

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Whittle

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## bart mcneil

Any of those products probably work fine. As will whatever sealer you use (or used) on the raw mando wood itself. A sealer on the mando is quite important. Otherwise the wood, on the top and back will simply suck up the finish and leave a blotchy surface. On one of my IV kits I did not use a sealer and found that my thinned out base color went right through the top and back wood leaving spots of color on the inside visible through the sound hole (or f holes). In my opinion a sealer is very important to give the best surface for finishing the mandoliin.. Mine looked so awful that I painted the whole thing gloss black to hide the damage I had done to the raw wood on the top and back. It looked fine black, but that was not my original intention.

This was years ago and the top and back wood may be different now but I would always use a sealer before finishing the mando.

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## bart mcneil

Any of those products probably work fine. As will whatever sealer you use (or used) on the raw mando wood itself. A sealer on the mando is quite important. Otherwise the wood, on the top and back will simply suck up the finish and leave a blotchy surface. On one of my IV kits I did not use a sealer and found that my thinned out base color went right through the top and back wood leaving spots of color on the inside visible through the sound hole (or f holes). In my opinion a sealer is very important to give the best surface for finishing the mandoliin.. Mine looked so awful that I sealed it properly and then painted the whole thing gloss black to hide the damage I had done to the raw wood on the top and back. It looked fine black, but that was not my original intention.

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## bart mcneil

Regarding nuts: You can of course buy nut material from parts suppliers, but In a pinch I have made my own nuts out of scrap hardwood I had laying around. In another case I used an old black plastic comb and shaped a nut out of it.... It worked fine of course. And by the way, some nuts you can purchase already have indentations in them for strings. These are useless and have to be reshaped like any decent nut always does. For making nuts I have found one of those model maker saws with very thin replaceable blades perfect for nut cutting. Available at Walmart. A xmall triangular file is also very handy for cutting string slots in nuts.

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## bart mcneil

Regarding shims for securing neck to body and other uses: 
I always have a bunch of ice-cream bar sticks (or popcycle sticks) handy for shims, cleats, or whatever. Very handy for small woodworking projects.

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## Whittle

> Regarding shims for securing neck to body and other uses: 
> I always have a bunch of ice-cream bar sticks (or popcycle sticks) handy for shims, cleats, or whatever. Very handy for small woodworking projects.


I used some flat toothpicks for part of the neck shimming process. The rest I had some standard wood shims I use around the house that I shaved down.

Thanks for the advice on the sealer. I'll look at that more.

In the absence of a belt sander, does anyone have any recommendations on how to gently remove the excess hard maple from the back plate after I glue it on? I'm thinking of using a coping saw. I'm gluing on the back tonight.

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## bart mcneil

If I recall I used primarily high quality sand paper or cloth,,, and a one inch dowel as a hard backing surface for the sanding paper or cloth. I started using a round rasp but I got cautious about gouging too deeply with that,

One problem that folks on their first kit build have had is that the sides tend to splay outward, so that when you fit the back it seems too narrow, I found it helpful to build or buy a long clamp to squeeze the sides together a bit during the gluing process.This may, or may not be a problem with yours but it has caused problems with other folks  in the past. If you haven't already glued the back on you might consider this. I am assuming that you are not going to fine fit the  back until it is glued onto the mando body,,,, If I recall this possibility is not discussed in the instructions but it can cause problems if you don't catch it before you begin installing the back.

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## Whittle

Thankfully, they left me plenty of extra space on the back plate, so I don't think that will be a problem. I'm only concerned with efficiently (and safely) removing the excess. It took forever to graduate. It's hard stuff!

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## Larry Simonson

Nice work, reminds me of my kit maybe 6 or 7 years ago.   An oscillating spindle sander works nicely for removing the overlap of the plates.  In its absence you could use a small drill press mounted drum sander.  If neither is available, a very sharp block plane will do a nice job but will require chisels in the places not reached by the plane. In any case, final hand sanding will likely be needed.

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## Whittle

Thanks!

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## Bill Snyder

Don't remove any of the extra until you have it glued up. Then if you don't have the power tools to remove the overhang I suggest using a hard rubber sanding block like this one.

Start out with something fairly course such as 60 or 80 grit. Make sure you switch to something finer before you come into contact with the sides. 80 grit scratches would not be any fun to sand out.
Also note that you can attach sandpaper to the arched part of the block as well as the flat part.

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## Whittle

Thanks Bill. I'm working with 80 grit backed by a large rubber eraser right now. I might invest in a sanding block to help me out. I got the back plate glued on. Here it is after I took the clamps off!



At the current rate that the extra is coming off, I expect to have it all off on Monday or Tuesday. Then it's time to install the hardware. As you can see from the picture, I took the liberty of dry fitting the tuners. The bushings are really loose, so I'll need to use a little CA on the inside of the hole to build up a few layers so they're more snug.

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## PaulBills

she's looking good so far  :Smile:

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Whittle

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## bart mcneil

I am sure a lot of folks will appreciate your photos and description of the Saga kit build. In my opinion it is the perfect intro to mandolin construction without breaking the bank.

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PaulBills, 

Whittle

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## PaulBills

> I am sure a lot of folks will appreciate your photos and description of the Saga kit build. In my opinion it is the perfect intro to mandolin construction without breaking the bank.


I know I'll be following it through when I get my kit at christmas (yule)

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## bart mcneil

One more comment on  the Saga kit we are discussing. On one of my kit builds I basically ruined the top wood on a section of the top edge where the binding was supposed to rest,,,, At the time I didn't have the confidence to rebuild the wood in that area. So in desperation I decided to file and sand away the channel for the binding strip,,,, Holding the file (or sand paper) at a 45 degree angle I gently and gradually "rounded off the sharp edges so that there was no binding channel. It looks great in my opinion and is an option for those who don't want the binding on their mando, In fact I think it is my favorite of the three I have built. I gave it to my grandson and am now kind of sorry I did.

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## ryderlane

Good Morning!

Just finished my kit this week.  Here's my last video, i had a series of them that i uploaded as far as my progress was concerned. I found the bridge to be really sub-par and therefore used my cumberland accoustic's.  I'm also going to be replacing the nut as it seems very cheap.  

http://youtu.be/Y8yKf0k6hBI

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## Whittle

Looks good, ryderlane.  Best of luck with refinements!

I just finished removing all of the excess maple from the back plate, meaning that my mandolin in progress has officially entered white instrument status!



I have begun putting on the hardware. I want to play it before I decide how to finish it. Before I put on the strings, I need to make some shallow slots on the bridge. I'm planning on using a few passes of a small, triangular file. I've found the proper spacing on Roger Siminoff's website, but I want to make sure I'm not putting the bridge on backwards. 

Which of these two is correct?

One
 

Two


I'm overjoyed at how close I am to hearing it for the first time. Thanks for the help, everyone!

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## ryderlane

My original bridge is in the garbage  :Smile:   I had an extra cumberland accoustic bridge kicking around.  The second one looks right, my eyes are bad though.  Can you put up a video?  i'd like to hear this little beauty.  You sure did get the sanding and prep work to a beautiful pre-paint state.

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Whittle

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## roberto216

Looks like you are doing excellent work on this one. Nice!!  Looking forward to seeing more progress.

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Whittle

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## Whittle

The time has come to finish it. I'm looking at various stains and finishes at the moment. For a final finish, I'm thinking of using Tru-oil. It looks easy to apply and very forgiving.

As for stains, I'm a little lost. Does anyone have any recommendations on a quality, easy to use stain? I'm not planning on doing a sunburst.

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## Bill Snyder

Use a dye and not a stain such as you would get at Lowes. Something like Trans Tint or Colortone

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Whittle

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## Whittle

I finally committed to a stain and finish. I ended up using the Vintage Amber, Medium Brown, and Tobacco Brown stains from Colortone. After staining, I sprayed on a seal coat of shellac. After that dried overnight, I started putting on coats of Tru-oil. What a nice finish to work with! I'm 5 or 6 coats in to the varnish now, lightly buffing with 0000 steel wool in between coats. It definitely has a "handmade" look to it, but I'm pretty proud of it for my first attempt at building with minimal woodworking experience. After I'm done adding coats and it's cured, I'll post a few more pictures of it all done along with a recording or video. Overall, this has been a very nice experience. I've learned a lot, and am looking forward to my next build.

Thank you for the help everyone!

Stain Prep


Vintage amber


Stain on, prior to seal coat and binding cleanup


2 or 3 coats on


4 coats on

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Mandobart, 

Rob Zamites

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## Seattle

No final picture?  :Smile:

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## Whittle

> No final picture?


Oops. Here you go!

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Mandobart, 

Seattle

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## Seattle

Can you describe the headstock veneer? I assume the one that comes with the kit is the same as on the manufacturer models. Is it black or is it just a darker wood that you then finish?

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## Bill Snyder

The Saga kit has a rosewood peghead veneer - not black. They are easy to remove by heating them up with a clothes iron. They are VERY thin. Maple (the neck wood) underneath.

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## Bernie Daniel

> The Saga kit has a rosewood peghead veneer - not black. They are easy to remove by heating them up with a clothes iron. They are VERY thin. Maple (the neck wood) underneath.



I dyed the rosewood veneer on the head plate black to look like ebony -- seemed to work out OK after a coat of clear shellac then five coats of nitro on top.  

Also replaced the binding with black and changed out the tuners to Stew Mac Golden Age with black buttons to match.

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## Seattle

> I dyed the rosewood veneer on the head plate black to look like ebony -- seemed to work out OK after a coat of clear shellac then five coats of nitro on top.  
> 
> Also replaced the binding with black and changed out the tuners to Stew Mac Golden Age with black buttons to match.


Nice looking mandolin. Did you take the binding off? I can't tell about the body binding but the neck doesn't seem to have any or did you dye it black?

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## Bernie Daniel

> Nice looking mandolin. Did you take the binding off? I can't tell about the body binding but the neck doesn't seem to have any or did you dye it black?



Thanks!

Yes, the neck is bound with black plastic binding.  I removed the original white stuff that was supplied -- hard to work it under the frets -- lots of sanding required!

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## Seattle

> Thanks!
> 
> Yes, the neck is bound with black plastic binding.  I removed the original white stuff that was supplied -- hard to work it under the frets -- lots of sanding required!


How hard was it to remove and would it have been possible to remove it and just sand (smooth out) the binding channel that would be left behind (without replacing it with any binding)?

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## Bernie Daniel

> How hard was it to remove and would it have been possible to remove it and just sand (smooth out) the binding channel that would be left behind (without replacing it with any binding)?


It's not too hard to remove the binding but one thing to watch for -- the black fret markers are actually short pieces of plastic round stock and they are embedded into the maple of the neck serving to "peg" the binding to the fret board channel.  

That is important to know if you are trying to remove the white (old) binding intact as I was trying to do.  I wanted the old binding to serve as a template for locating fret marker points in the new binding.

 MIGHT be possible to go with no fret board binding as you suggest.   But when you pull the binding you will have a 1/32" - 1/16" or so of fret wire hanging over each side which would have to be leveled with the edge of the board.  Then you'd have to dress the end of each fret so it would be smooth to play on.

Not sure it would be too big of a deal to sand away the binding channel.  

I'd advise letting some more experienced builders weigh in on this idea.  :Mandosmiley: 

You just don't like the white binding?

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## Seattle

Yes, I just don't like the white binding. I think I'll just stain it and seal it rather than remove it. I'll be staining the double body binding anyway.

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## Bernie Daniel

> Yes, I just don't like the white binding. I think I'll just stain it and seal it rather than remove it. I'll be staining the double doby binding anyway.



Should be possible to do I would think.

One other modification that I did on my kit was to to take about 1" off the very long neck heel and then re-contoured it. This makes it a lot eaisier to get to the higher frets.

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## Seattle

How is the tail peg attached? It looks like that has to come off to take off the tail piece (which just has 3 small screws). The tuners look easy to disassemble but I'm not sure if the tail peg just unscrews or whether it is glued on.

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## Bill Snyder

You have to drill a tapered hole for it just like 95% of the mandolins that have an end pin and just about 100% of violins and a fairly substantial percentage of guitars.
It is a friction fit.
There is also the option of getting and end pin that screws on. Just a small pilot hole is needed for them or a non-tapered end pin that has an expanding rubber seal.

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## Whittle

The tailpiece that came with my AM10 kit had a screw on endpin. After installing the tailpiece, I drilled a pilot hole and screwed in the endpin with the supplied Phillips head screw.

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## Danidog

Very nice documentation and build. How does it sound?

thanks,

Dan

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## bbcee

@Whittle, what's your as-unbiased-as-possible impression of the sound? I know it's got to be hard to separate yourself from the pride of making it, but how does it compare to the nice instruments I see in your signature?

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## Larry Nixon

> I finally committed to a stain and finish. I ended up using the Vintage Amber, Medium Brown, and Tobacco Brown stains from Colortone. After staining, I sprayed on a seal coat of shellac. After that dried overnight, I started putting on coats of Tru-oil. What a nice finish to work with! I'm 5 or 6 coats in to the varnish now, lightly buffing with 0000 steel wool in between coats. It definitely has a "handmade" look to it, but I'm pretty proud of it for my first attempt at building with minimal woodworking experience. After I'm done adding coats and it's cured, I'll post a few more pictures of it all done along with a recording or video. Overall, this has been a very nice experience. I've learned a lot, and am looking forward to my next build.
> 
> Thank you for the help everyone!
> 
> Stain Prep
> 
> 
> Vintage amber
> 
> ...



Well I had been going along fine and then I stained with the amber dy and disaster..blotched terrible...help?

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## Larry Nixon

> Well I had been going along fine and then I stained with the amber dy and disaster..blotched terrible......help?


Hmm no answers to this problem?

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## Marvino

People might be associating your pictures with the O.P.'s finished mandolin, your post maybe got a little lost. Maybe start a separate new post.

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bennyb

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## houseworker

> Well I had been going along fine and then I stained with the amber dy and disaster..blotched terrible...help?


It looks pretty normal to me, maybe a bit heavy-handed around the fretboard.

You'll find that the wood eventually darkens down to a more even tone through exposure to natural light - keep it out on a stand rather than in a case.

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## Houngan

Hello!  I'm building my first mandolin from this kit, and wanted to ask a few questions, if that's all right.

I have some limited woodworking experience (hand dovetailing, table building, etc.) but very little knowledge of fitment and the type of finishing that goes into an instrument.  So, first question:

By hand, the neck/body fitting is tight enough that I can't get it any tighter than 1/8" gap remaining.  I wanted to ask before I start sanding/shaving or hitting it with a mallet:  How tight should a dry fit of the neck/body be before going at it with glue?  All the way to flush with a mallet, or short of that, or less force than that to flush?

Second question:  

I have Tru-Oil and spray shellac (rattle can from Home Depot) and I've only really worked with Poly and Linseed oil in the past.  I'd like to do it properly with no concern for elbow grease, should I be looking at some other method, or would 6-10 applications of either with 0000 scuffing and smoothing in between be sufficient?   Also, what's a good final coat/treatment?  Polishing wax?

I'm reading other threads as fast as I can, so sorry for questions I'm sure have already been answered.

Matt

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## Houngan

The gap in question:

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## pelone

Fun to read your posts...my first build gave me the confidence to ramp up to buy wood working tools and I now build from scratch.

Some "late to the party" advice on my part.  1.  Before installing the braces to your top and while graduating the top from the inside, I would hold the top up to a strong light to determine where material could be removed. As the light penetrates through the lighter toned wood I then had the general idea that I had removed enough wood and could then concentrate my disk sander to thicker areas.  2.  If "gaposis" on the neck to block joint, use shims and try to plug and then re-drill holes to receive your dowels.  3. Using wipe on poly with a soft cloth and building up subsequent layers can result in a very nice and smooth finish.

Whittle did a lovely job..Now----keep up the good work and plunge into another build.

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