Mando Project 001

[Eddie Blevins]

So I'm about two months into my first mandolin build form scratch. More time spent making my fixtures and jigs than actually constructing the instrument. I'm not complaining. I know that the next ones will go faster with all of this work done on 001. Here are a few shots that my wife took this weekend. I should have started taking pictures earlier, but I was too focused on building.

[George R. Lane]

Looks like you are off to a good start. I like the Weber T-Shirt.

[Eddie Blevins]

Thanks, George. I got a Weber Special Edition for myself for Christmas this year. Awesome instrument. Don't tell Bruce, but I made the shirt too.

[Dobe]

Are those Maple tone bars? Odd.

[j. condino]

TT:

The photos look like you are off to a very good start. One question- it may be the light or camera angle, but it sure looks like you used curly maple for the tonebars on the inside of the top; they should be spruce.

Blountville is an afternoon drive from Asheville. Before you glue the back on, I'd encourage you to make a drive up the hill and come by for a visit with the mandolin; 'nice to get another perspective before it is all sealed up.

j.
www.condino.com
www.kaybassrepair.com

[fscotte]

Hey don't knock maple bars till you've tried em. Yummy.

[bmac]

Stunning.... Gosh, if this is your first I wonder what your second will look like... Looking forward to seeing it finished.

[Bill Snyder]

Take James up on his offer. It would definitely be worth the drive to have someone like him take a look at it and give you some pointers.

[Eddie Blevins]

I did use maple for the tone bars. That was an oversight on my part. I used hyde glue. I assume that I can heat those out of there with a knife. Any suggestions? I don't want to mess up my top.

[Eddie Blevins]

A little more research tells me that I'll be carving those maple bars out tonight to replace them with spruce. Thanks for the heads up on that. That's the reason I posted my pics here.

[Max Girouard]

I would stay away form the heat, and just carve them out with a finger plane.

[Steve Sorensen]

Grab James' offer and head to Asheville! My guess is that his feedback on replacing and shaping your tonebars . . . as well as how to graduate the top and back . . . will move you into a different tone-universe from the Siminoff book.

While you're there talk about finishing too!

Steve

[fscotte]

Yeah you can carve the tone bars down to paper thin. Then they peel off real nice with a little warm water on a rag.

[Eddie Blevins]

Thanks for the catch, James and the offer to look it over in person. I'll try to take you up on the one on one in Asheville. Not sure when I can work it in.

[Eddie Blevins]

OK, lesson learned...pay attention. I spent tonight taking out the maple tone bars with thumb planes and replacing them with spruce. Thanks again. I'll post new pics at my next milestone for further review.

[ADAL]

Lookin good !

[Eddie Blevins]

So I finally finished 001. Here are a few pics. What a great experience to build from scratch build. It has a good tone and should open up nicely. I'll be starting 002 next month with many lessons learned from this one.

[Matt the Mead Maker]

Nice work! I love the brown finish, too.

[belbein]

Congrats on finishing. Beautiful instrument. I love the color. What dyes/finishes did you use?

[Eddie Blevins]

Thanks. I used Transtint Mission Brown and Honey Amber dyes from LMI. I mixed them with water for the base colors and did some direct application from the dye bottle to get the dark brown toward the edges of the top and back and on the headstock. The finish is Tru-oil finished off with lemon oil and rubbed with burlap. Five coats of tru-oil over a three day period and then let it harden for a week before the lemon and burlap.