my homemade mandolin and case

[Lappy]

Sitka spruce top, bigleaf maple back and sides, carbon fibre bars, unknown wood from Mexico fingerboard ,lined and padded leather case

[jcothron]

I like it! How's she sound?

[Chris Cochran]

nice!

[slimt]

That looks good. Very Nice.

[MrMoe]

Very very nice. The bag is super cool. I am a big avocate for the hard case.

[Denny Gies]

Lappy, that is very nice. How long did it take you to build?

[MediumMando5722]

I really like that binding. Fancy without being gaudy.

[NotMelloCello]

Love the carving on the back. Was the binding dyed blue?

[Lappy]

I like it! How's she sound?

nothing to write home about but I’m happy with it. I posted a video of “Miss McLeod’s Reel” in the old time forum.

[Lappy]

I bought the blue binding on Amazon.

[Verne Andru]

Very nice. And it's super special!

(Not sure if it's the lighting or not but in pic 5 it doesn't look like the bridge foot is making even contact with the top.)

[Lappy]

I still have to finish fitting the feet by lateral 1/8th inch sanding. This loses its glamour quickly.....

[Rob Roy]

I still have to finish fitting the feet by lateral 1/8th inch sanding. This loses its glamour quickly.....

Mating the bridge to the top will give you a much fuller tone. I scribe a line by laying a piece of 1/16" (or thinner) binding on the top abutting the bridge foot, then scribe a pencil line on the side of the bridge. Then you can use tools to get close to that line (I have an oscillating spindle sander which makes it a piece of cake) before sanding it in place. You may also want to consider a full ebony or rosewood bridge for optimum tone.

*For the sanding, I use 220 grit sticky back paper, pin one end of the bridge down to the top with light finger pressure while I stroke the other end in an 1/2 - 3/4" arc. If you scribble on the bottom of the foot with pencil, you'll know you're done when all the pencil marking is gone. Because I'm picky, I repeat the process with 320 grit (probably unnecessary).

* this is NOT the recommended method, but I've managed to make it work for me and get a fit that you can't slip paper under anywhere. Your craftsmanship looks good, enjoy that new mando!