With guitar builds I fret after gluing the board to the neck and setting the neck in the body, with mandolins I fret the 'board before gluing to the neck/extender.
I can't really give you a reason...
With guitar builds I fret after gluing the board to the neck and setting the neck in the body, with mandolins I fret the 'board before gluing to the neck/extender.
I can't really give you a reason...
While I think of my instrument making as being only slightly "art", there are those who tell me I'm an artist and consider my work to be art. Not an uncommon situation for someone who does this sort...
I read a book quite a few years ago. I wasn't overly impressed with the book (and much less with another in the series that i gave up on), but it made me think of art, what art is, what art is not,...
Loosening the gear screw creates added clearance at the tuner plates and makes turning easier, but it also causes lost screws and gears. Loosening the gear screws is a "quick and dirty" way to...
I have a gouge or two with missing ferrules and since I don't drive them hard with a mallet they're fine.
If the handle with remove easily and you can find copper or brass the right size, you could...
That is correct, as long as the string is the same material and diameter.
Experiments have been done regarding after-length (distance from bridge to tailpiece) and break-over angle, and as far as I...
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Some are in better shape than others due to past use and abuse. I don't need museum pieces for cutting wood.
These came from various sources, flea markets mostly, and are of various brands.
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Here are the "old" gouges that I use regularly. I have a few others that I use that are newer, and I have some more old ones that I don't use, but these are the 'antiques' that I find most useful. I...
Almost all of my gouges are old with the exception of 2 custom made ones (one of them is good, the other doesn't live up to it's supposed quality) and some small carvers gouges that I bought new...
The top and back may not be coupling well. If, as you say, the top is thin, then the back may be too thick to work well with the top. You might be able to thin the back (requiring, of course,...
A++?
To me, I've heard maybe 5 or 10 mandolins that I would grade as A++, and none of them were moderately priced factory instruments (although some are rather old factory instruments that were...
Just clicked on this thread...
Although I haven't seen her in some years, I consider Judy Threet a friend. She is an excellent builder with a deep understanding of guitars and how they work.
I like selecting and milling wood and the early, fast part of building. I also like hearing the instrument played for the first time. All the stuff in between is work, mostly enjoyable to one degree...
It's actually a sling psychrometer, and it is considered the gold standard for measuring relative humidity.
Another devise that is considered to be very accurate, and that we can make at home, is a...
When I want to use hide glue with Teeter clamps I do 2 things:
1. warm the work to increase open time and working time
2. pull up on the clamp to hold the cleat in place while cranking the...
Even though wood is usually kiln dried to 6% moisture I feel that tonewood does not need to be that dry, and in fact that dryness in difficult to maintain. I try to keep my shop between 40% and 50%...
In the highly recommended (essential, IMO) book Understanding Wood by R. Bruce Hoadley there is this graph. He tells the reader to copy it, hang it on your shop wall, make it public, so I have no...
Using magnetic clamping has become fairly common, with all sorts of variation in methods and makeshift tooling. It works well for cracks that are well aligned.
To align and glue cracks that are not...
The depth/width/height (depending upon perspective) of the rim is usually reasonably consistent in carved arched mandolins at between 1 1/4" to 1 3/8" with outliers, of course. The thickness of the...
Read everything you can find and when you compare sources and find many discrepancies, try to figure out who is mostly right and who is mostly wrong. Unfortunately, one does not have correct...
I cut templates oversize and clean up the edges with a belt sander and/or spindle sander. It takes quick intermittent cuts with sanders to control heat because the edge tends to 'melt' and form a...
Photos would help, as has been said, but seeing it in hand would be much better.
In short, light surface finish scratches can usually be rubbed and buffed out. With deeper scratches, it may be...
Well done! ;)
Yes, the strings must be the same height at the nut and bridge (relative to the frets) for intonation.