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I remember a post on Maestronet about someone trying button lac in 1704 without success. It might be that the wax content of seed lac is part of what makes 1704 varnish what it is. I don't know what...

I don't really see how paper would work as a release layer over the mold since glue would inevitably leak through it. Nor do I see how you could achieve a neat paper lining if it was used in this...

Very nice! It's Blackwood bowlback week.

Did you use the Seiffert bracing scheme?

Here are some pictures of an Embergher model 5 I recently completed in Queensland Blackwood. The curl in the grain is more broken than in maple, so it was hard to get the same continuity of pattern...

This coincidence is too weird not to post. Here's another Australian acacia bowl-in-progress, this one an Embergher copy made from Queensland Blackwood (which might be one of several Acacia species)....

Very intriguing. If the tanbur is reversible, and has been flipped between the two segments of the video, then the only way I can make sense of it is that it has a very shallow body (the same...

Thank you Martino. A fine sounding (and fine looking) instrument.

'Adrian Hooper Conducts the Sydney Mandolins' is the only one I know of that is all mandolin content.

https://www.australianmusiccentre.com.au/product/adrian-hooper-conducts-the-sydney-mandolins

Thanks, I hadn't come across the C.L. video. Sometimes when I play this movement I'm tempted to take the same kind of license with the rhythm that she does, and wondered whether I 'should'.

It...

Nice result Bill. It's a beautiful instrument. (And thanks for reminding me about Plektra.)

Thanks Bob. The back, sides and neck are Queensland Maple, the soundboards are European spruce and all the black is ebony.

As for the internal soundboard, I couldn't really picture how Kerman...

After listening to Avi Avital and Jacob Reuven recordings last year, and liking their sound more and more, I decided to have a go at making an Arik Kerman style of mandolin based on all the...

Chris Acquavella has two very useful repertoire lists on his website, one Baroque/Classical, the other Romantic/contemporary:
...

Lovely instrument.

I'd say the varnishes used by the Cremonese violin makers are pretty successful. Some of them still look great after 300 years. Although there's a lot of argument about how they were made, the...

Very nice, as always.

What kind of mould/form do use when making the bowls?

Great stuff! I enjoyed that a lot.

You can tell that you haven't exceeded the open time of the glue if liquid glue squeezes from the joint when you clamp it. If the glue looks or feels 'jellied' while you're gluing up, then you were...

That's right, the nut is 28mm. Standard width on a Gibson bowlback ;)

This is my first bowlback instrument - a sort of 'German' classical. I say 'sort of' because the body shape is not quite as round as other Seiffert-style mandolins, and it has a Gibson scale length...

With the 'Siminoff' joint (or tapered mortise and tenon, violin neck joint or whatever) I've done the chalk fitting the other way round. Get the neck part of the joint to a perfect taper, then don't...

I think that's one of the most exciting mandolin ensemble performances I've ever heard. Really wonderful. Thank you.

Alcohol.

A baby bottle/food warmer works well, has adjustable thermostat, and is a nice neat size. You can pick them up pretty cheaply, especially secondhand.

Just to confuse you with a different perspective... I've been through the same difficulty with similar results to yours and decided I couldn't live with the blotchiness (particularly around the...