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Here is the finished product. After letting the glue cure, I sanded the pipes with 220 sandpaper to rough up the surface just a bit. I only did enough sanding to remove the shine. After sanding the...

Assembly

Once you have all of your cuts done, let's assemble the two sides. You should dry fit your parts first to make sure you've got everything cut to the right length and pointing the correct...

My wife and I both play musical instruments. As our collection has grown, our instruments have taken up more and more floor space. In an effort to store our instruments efficiently, I decided we...

Here is a friend's H2 Mandola in my Collings mandola case. It fits like it was made for it. I hope this helps!

http://i.imgur.com/sHeRRwZ.jpg

Hello all. A few weeks ago I sent my 1993 Gibson A5L to Steve Smith at Cumberland Acoustics to get some work done, and I just wanted to share my experience.

I had Steve do the following:
1)...

Fretboard Binding and Inlay

I started working on my body binding channel and fretboard this past weekend. I will post about the binding channel when I have completed the scroll channel.

Before...

The router platform is indeed adjustable. To set the thickness of the inlay, you have to have the inlay up against the base of the platform next to the bit and adjust until they're the same thickness.

Inlay continued

Last night, I glued the inlay pieces in. If you buy the completion kit with your Siminoff kit, you get a nice jar of fine ebony dust for filler. He also sends some great...

Oops. Here you go!

http://i.imgur.com/0XZR1bm.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/VUWjcX1.jpg

Neck installation

The next thing I did after finishing the tone bars and kerfing was to install the neck. As a part of my kit I had Roger cut his v-joint for me, which is held firmly by two dowels...

Hello all. This summer I started working on an H5 kit from Roger Siminoff. To help beginner kit builders like myself, I thought I would start a thread going over the major assembly steps, the tools...

I'm sure you could do X-Bracing, though I did parallel for mine. The H5 I'm putting together is Adirondack spruce on top with maple back and sides.

http://i.imgur.com/hLq58GM.jpg

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...

Here's a video featuring the J'Bovier FM5 mandola. It looks like a good alternative to the Eastman mandola, and I've heard good things about it (but have yet to play one). However the J'Bovier is...

I will soon be attempting my first hand rubbed sunburst stain. I'll be using the Colortone Liquid Stain in three colors as my stains. I plan to follow the application technique shown in the video...

I've had great experiences with The Mandolin Store, Greg Boyd's House of Fine Instruments, and Janet Davis Music in Bentonville, AR. All three shops gave me great customer service and did terrific...

Here's my International Violin kit strung up in the white. I still haven't decided what stains I'm going to use to finish it with. After staining, I plan on sealing with shellac with Tru-oil varnish...

I'd love to try out one of Chris Baird's kits. They look wonderful. However, I put my name on the waiting list last summer and sent him an email asking about kits a couple of weeks ago. I haven't...

I prefer the older, loar A5 shape with the slimmer neck block as well. That's one of the reasons I looked for an older A5L. I'm planning on holding onto this one for a long, long time.

It looks...

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...

Also, if you're looking at a Gallatin, I say go for it. The craftsmanship and wood quality is just as good as the more expensive models. Mine looks and plays great. I bought mine from JDMC. They were...

That's an ebony veneer. Ebony can have lighter stripes in it, and is referred to as B grade. Some prefer to have a uniform black appearance(A Grade), but mandolin and guitar makers have gradually...