mattharris75

Very nice, I dig the vintage vibe! The video is cool too, always neat to hear how builds turn out. And a nice studio setup, BTW!

Just for fun, a size comparison between a standard F5 mandolin, the mandola, and a 00 body sized acoustic guitar.

Thanks guys! Scott, I think I've mentioned in this thread before that I was going for a vintage vibe with this project. Almost like an alternate history. Gibson never made an instrument like this in the 1920's (or ever), but what if they had?... So I think a mix of vintage and modern, old and new, is a good thing. I hope I'm able to reflect that in the finish as well.

I've been paying a lot of attention to the rear! Hours of scraping, filing, and sanding this week and I've got the back plate pretty well cleaned up. At least up to 80 grit. The scroll is flush with the head block and the front, as is the area around the neck heel. Once I got the scroll flush with the sides I had to re-carve the scroll area. It's close but I'm not entirely happy yet. It'll get there... I've also introduced a small round over into the back as well. Softens things up nicely. In the second picture you can see my biggest issue, an ugly glue joint under the scroll. It's actually a good join on the block, but the bent side (the rib) somehow was a hair short on the end. I knew it was going to be an issue, but fortunately it's in the least noticeable place on the instrument. Once it's filled and finished I don't expect it will be too obvious.

That sounds like a challenge!

The back plate has been attached and about 90% filed/sanded/scraped flush with the sides. It's very close in most areas except for the scroll and neck join/heel areas. The join is pretty solid. There are a few imperfections in the 'usual suspect' areas. I don't expect it will be very noticeable when it's all said and done. Once I get the scroll/neck areas cleaned up I'll add a small roundover on the back, since I'm not planning on binding it. I've tapped on the box some, and it has that 'high ping' sort of resonance. I don't honestly know what I'm listening for, but I do like the sound of it!

Don't use wood putty! Square the blowout areas off, find some scraps of body wood, and cut and glue in replacement pieces. Then sand everything flush.

I have some small flat files, a few that even flex a bit, and some various sized sanding drums. I figured I would just wrap them all with progressively higher grits as I go. Not planning to glue them on.

Thanks! Well, got the neck heel sanded flush with the rest of the neck. A few little scratches here and there, but it's getting close. Quite a fiddly little piece of work. Of course everything in this neck and scroll area is just a nightmare to sand. Small, detailed, and poor access. It's going to be weeks of sanding on the neck join and scroll once the back gets attached to get everything in shape. Fun, fun... The dark line at the join is all the crud I couldn't manage to clean out with the naptha. Going to have to take a tiny scraper to it I suppose.

Glueless necks joints are definitely a thing in the acoustic guitar world (Taylor Guitars for example). There are a ton of different neck joints on acoustics, from bolt on, to M&T bolt on, to spanish heel, to dovetail, and on and on. Less of a thing in the mandolin world, but they are out there. But this guy is sort of a hybrid between guitar and mandolin, and my initial idea was to make it glueless. It's just that my lack of skill necessitated changes...

Neither sort of joint is bad or uncommon on mandolin family instruments. But combining the two isn't common. Small scale instruments don't need neck resets as often as guitars, but if one is necessary it's going to require the removal of the back, instead of just removing screws through the end pin hole. But it really is a secure joint! The bolt pulled the body and neck together really well, very snugly. And the dowels will hold it there. So I think I may actually use a single bolt and a pinned mortise on my next acoustic instrument build, if I ever get to it...

Thanks guys! So, here is my frankenstein of a neck joint... The neck heel isn't the full depth of the body, and the original plan was to just cut a spacer to take up that space in the mortise between the neck heel and the back plate, and then attach an externally visible heel. You can see that part here, with the small chunk of walnut in the mortise, and then the macassar ebony heel (which is actually a sandwich of mac ebony/cherry/mac ebony, which I'll have a better pic of at some point I'm sure). Initially this was just supposed to be a bolt on mortise and tenon, but you can see that only one bolt is in place, which is due to a screw up in aligning the second bolt insert. I'm not quite sure how I made the mistake, but there it is. So, I used the single screw to tighten the neck to the body, which it did nicely, then drilled 1.25" deep 3/8" holes which I then glued oak dowels into. It's not pretty, and it's not to plan, but it's going to be plenty strong!

Well guys, it's been quite a while. Plenty of house renovation projects, real life responsibilities, and maybe another combat robot project, have occurred since I last pulled the mandola out of storage. Took a couple of weeks of vacation over the holidays and finally got back to it. I managed to finish gluing and scraping the binding. The scroll was tricky, but I think it turned out about as well as I could have hoped. I was planning to stack the binding around the scroll because of the height of the carving, but I ended up deciding to carve down the scroll area to match the single layer of binding, which is basically matching the shape of the carving on the back anyway. I think it looks quite good. I also set the neck. What was supposed to be a simple mortise and tenon bolt on ended up becoming a M&T bolt on/doweled M&T hybrid. I somehow managed to screw up the alignment on the second insert for the bolt on, so I just used the one that worked and secured the neck with a dowel on each side of the tenon. Next up I'll close the box, get that back glued on and sanded flush. Then start finish sanding and doing some other small miscellaneous tasks like drilling for the end pin, mounting the tailpiece, fitting the bridge to the top, etc, etc. Glad to be back at it!

Man Scott, I love it. Looking at the latest photos of the body, it looks like it could be the big brother to the little guitar I built for my girls. IPA burst and all!

Since I moved last fall I've been building/rebuilding my shop. I used to live close enough to my father in law to use his tools for rough wood prep (planing and jointing and whatnot). But we're a bit further away now, and I've a bit more shop space. So, new additions: I should be adding a planer in the next few weeks, then I just need to build some additional storage and I'll be pretty well organized!

Still no mandola update, knee deep in house projects. But this is at least instrument related. I came into a rather nice supply of walnut! My father in law and brother in law bought all the hardwood off a family friend whose father, an avid woodworker, had died several years before. He and his mother decided to clear out the house, and the guy had hardwood stored everywhere. This lot came out of the attic! We still have more to move, and more of it will be mine, but this is a couple hundred board feet that they were nice enough to give to me for helping them lug wood around. Pretty sweet deal! Some boards have cracked ends, some are rather strangely sawn, but many are beautiful, including quite a few figured pieces and some live edged boards. I'll use some for instruments, some for furniture, and some for other smaller projects. Walnut has started to get ridiculously expensive, so this was quite a windfall!

Hey, I..... Yeah, that's true.

Yeah, I do like em small. The largest thing on either of those walls is a Taylor GS Mini. I do have a full sized electric guitar and a bass that aren't visible in the pics though.

Well, no mandola update, but just checking in with a life update. As mentioned elsewhere we moved several months ago. So, lots of unpacking, hanging curtains, TVs, pictures, wiring, painting, and a plethora of other things related to settling into a new house. Beyond that I've started renovations! First up, my office (sorry for the picture quality). - Stained Tongue & Groove bead board ceiling -Three piece crown molding -Two shiplap walls -Built-in cabinets and desk (The doors are still a work in progress) -Walnut stained/poly finished birch butcher block desktops -Flamed ambrosia maple open shelving And all the many details that go along with that, including painting every freaking surface... I also needed a matching side table to hold a book and beer/whisky, so I built one out of scraps: So, I have not been idle! But, no musical instrument building. However, have no fear! This was my weekend project: It was a productive weekend. I need to add doors to the front cabinet and mount the clamp holder to the support on the right hand wall, but I'm nearly done with the shop, so there is a light at the end of the tunnel! Except, my wife is pregnant with child #3, so that changes priorities slightly. While I have a rather exhaustive list of house projects to keep me busy before the kid gets here I imagine I'll be able to find a little time here and there to get back to the mandola. We shall see... I really am itching to get it done!

It does take a little longer to dry, but it's good for top coating. Goes on thin and self levels better.

I've thinned Tru Oil with mineral spirits, works just fine.

That's just awesome, Scott!

If you can't bend the top you could chisel out a bit of the tenon on the treble side of the neck right to the height of the top, just enough until it slides over. Maybe?...

Very slick. Looks like the kind of guitar these guys would play:

Well, that's certainly a charitable way of putting it. Maybe within the next month or so I can get the binding knocked out, do a few more fiddly but time consuming things (neck bolts, adding thickness to the neck heel, etc), and then get the neck and back attached. I'm close, and that will be quite a milestone... This time of year just keeps me busy. High school football is serious business in Alabama. We're also contemplating building a new house, so I need to get things moving forward so that this doesn't get pushed right off the back burner if/when I get consumed by all that.