Attachment 196050
My first attempt at 2-points, and my first mandolins after a long hiatus. Sycamore (Platanus occidentalis) on the left, and Pacific yew (Taxus brevifolia) on the right.
Printable View
Attachment 196050
My first attempt at 2-points, and my first mandolins after a long hiatus. Sycamore (Platanus occidentalis) on the left, and Pacific yew (Taxus brevifolia) on the right.
10 years ago, my mentor, Randy Torno, my hard-working wife, and I decided it would be a fine idea to turn the garage into a full-time mandolin and guitar shop.
Of course, it started with good insulation and drywalling before the woodchips could really fly!
Attachment 196139
My son is now 21, and engineering Senior at CalPoly Pomona (and the brains behind all the 3D printing projects we have tried in the past few years).
Steve
I have no pictures, but I've re-fretted four instruments in the last month: 2 mandolins, a modern Martin guitar, and an older Martin tenor guitar.
Next week I have to pull a severely over-set neck from a gut string Martin that's had too many less than ideal previous repairs. I don't know what I'm going to run in to, but I'm going to hope it wasn't glued with epoxy. We'll see . . .
Sneak preview of a new Condino Brazilian rosewood & red spruce mandolin w/ tuning machines by Nicolo Alessi:
Love the natural look of the Brazillian! Like natural untreated Cherry, it looks its best with natural age, but I'm probably the odd guy out on this thought process.
Just finished a shellback skiff...
Love it! I also am enjoying the scenery behind it. I really enjoy sailing small boats like this one, more so even than larger boats. Sailing dinghies have an immediacy about them that make them so much fun. Plus, you can explore small coves and creeks larger boats have to pass by. You, or some lucky person you built it for, will have a lot of fun with this boat, I am sure! If not, just send it to me. I'll know how to enjoy it:grin:!
Thanks Bob. After 30 years as a professional luthier, my wife and I retired to St Augustine where I volunteer at the Heritage Boatworks at the St. Augustine Lighthouse.
This boat will be raffled off in December as a fund raiser for the lighthouse.
Beautiful Boat. I'm sure the pictures don't begin to do it justice.
Adam
That is amazing, Charley. I guess there are similarities between instrument building and boat making. Neither should let water inside.
Thanks Jim, I will admit that I like working with hot hide glue a whole lot more than working with epoxy! But that's how it goes. We have a good crew working on various boats at one time. I will be starting a strip built canoe using white cedar, mahogany and ash in a week or two. For those who might be curious, it will be a "Wee Lassie" canoe designed by Feather canoes.....
https://www.feathercanoes.com/
I will post the finished product in a few months. :)
I love this thread and love seeing all the cool instruments everyone is building!
Boats, particularly wooden boats, have beautiful natural lines. The lines form almost automatically when wood is bent into position, the water line dictates a natural curve to the sides so even a simple utility boat has good lines. Add in the treatment of the transom (I believe it's called) and the bench (or whatever it's called) in front of it on this boat, along with all the other attention to detail and it is a thing of deceptively simple looking beauty! The more I look at it the more details I pick up.
Bravo!
Been trying to get this done for a couple of years now. Between moving and repairs I haven't had much time but I'm on a roll now. The neck isn't attached I just put there for the photo. The inlay is from DePaul.
Attachment 196244Attachment 196245
I'm going with em6000 even though I had problems the last time I used it. I'm somewhat determined to make it work.
The next two mandolins, or at least a mandolin and a mandola, on the bench. The mandolin is the second of the D'Aquisto inspired art-deco madels, this one made from Sitka and Blackheart sassafras. No back binding as yet and the neck has yet to be carved.
The mandola is the next mandolin quartet prototype and is an interpretation of a Lyon & Healy Style A two-point from the 19-teens also with a Sitka soundboard. The body is made from a pale, almost mottled Victorian blackwood with a Queensland maple neck and a Solomons Islands ebony fretboard. The head design is after the L&H Style C. 16.5"/42cm scale.
Attachment 196271 Attachment 196272 Attachment 196273
Attachment 196274 Attachment 196275
Inspiring work, Graham. Beautiful figuring in the timbers too.
Finished up F#50 today. Attachment 196307Attachment 196308
Attachment 196462
Doing some finishing work on these two mandos.
looks good Skip, is that two point Claro Walnut?
Attachment 196464 Been working through most of the summer and here they are.. five F5's and one A5... One of the F5's is a lefty.. I offered it up for sale about a year age when it was unfinished.. No one was interested, so I went ahead and finished it in my own way.. Oh, and they are looking for homes...