mattharris75

10 hours ago, ScottR said:

For sure!

I'm not sure I'll be following him into the acoustic world anytime soon. All those thin little pieces of wood are surely very unforgiving, and something about bending them intimidates me. I do find find the idea of something like @mattharris75's mandol0 quite intriguing though.. There's a lot of room for freedom of expression with the shape and the carved top and back are very appealing. There is still some side bending involved though....

SR

Side bending is cake compared to some of the stuff you've done, Scott! I'd love to see your take on a carved acoustic instrument of some sort, get going!

Thanks Scott! That's correct as far as the procedure I've used in the past, on either porous wood or over stain/dye. In this particular build, because it is acoustic, and based on reading and talking with folks,  I decided to use shellac as the layer between the wood and Tru Oil instead of Z-Poxy.

Not a huge update here. I've been working exclusively on finishing the top. The back and sides seemed to have plenty of build after 5 coats.

I've applied 5 additional coats to the top at this point. Three of them thinned with naptha, and all applied with 600 grit sandpaper and then burnished with a soft cloth after about 1 1/2 hours of drying time. It's getting quite smooth.

This finish is going to be really thin, and it's getting close to where it needs to be on the top. There are a few problem areas, and hopefully a couple more applications of Tru Oil will take care of those.

I've also slightly re-shaped the pickguard. I need to re-polish it, and I'll probably wait to post a picture until I get it mounted on the mandola.

The finishing is coming along well. I've mentioned before that I really want this instrument to have a vintage look, so I want to keep the finish warm, thin, and with a satin or semi-gloss look. So in pursuit of that after the initial build coats I've been using thinned Tru Oil and applying it with 600 grit sandpaper, and once it is partially dry I burnish it with some synthetic steel wool. It's getting there, I'm working slowly and doing my best to keep the finish thin, with a bit of the character of the grain coming through.

My big issue right now is these tuner bushings...

I'd like to be able to remove them to complete the finishing of the headstock. It's got a decent enough finish on there right now, but it's not exactly what I want...

The tuner bushings are counterbored, so there's no easy way to push them out from the back. StewMac has a $70 tool with an expanding pin that will do the trick, but I find it physically painful to spend that kind of money on a one trick pony tool. So if anyone has any bright ideas, I'd love to hear them!

8 hours ago, komodo said:

This one is such a great build. Especially love the elongated scroll carve.

I think we've both been on PG for quite some time. Think I remember you from waaay back? 2007ish or before was probably when I started.

Thanks! Yeah, we're both old timers. 2007 was when I started here as well. Lots of folks have come and gone since then...

The finishing process has begun!

I finished re-sanding and tweaking, and now this is with two coats of orange shellac and a coat of Tru Oil. So far so good...

A bunch more non-instrument related projects that have taken up my time this year. Here are a handful.

The big one was a master bathroom renovation. New plumbing fixtures, new light fixtures, new mirrors, painted cabinets and walls, etc, etc. But the big thing was the new vanity cabinet I built with custom gothic mullion inlays. There's also a matching cabinet in the water closet room over the toilet. It's rare when a project actually turns out pretty much exactly as you expect it to, but this one did. 

You can see in the reflection of the left mirror the towel rack I made as well. It's made of a piece of the figured walnut out of the big stash I managed to score for free a few years ago. A simple project, but man that walnut is 'purdy'!

Also, my kids started getting into Harry Potter so hey, it's time to learn a little bit about lathes and turn a few wands for them! Walnut and walnut + figured maple (more free wood from a cabinet maker buddy of mine). 

And finally, we had a robot combat competition here in town last month, so I decided to throw together a bot in just a few weeks time. Mostly with stuff I had on hand. This one is an 'antweight' (1 pound) named 'Gus Gus'. I finished 3rd in the competition, and if not for catching my plow on the chewed up floor I probably would have won the whole thing. Had a blast competing too! That's grade 5 titanium that's all bent up like that. It's impressive the amount of power that some of these little guys have!

So, the mandola spent a week on the Tonerite. Then it was time to break things down and do some work.

After playing it for a while I decided that the neck was just too large. I wanted to have a chunky vintage neck, especially considering that there is no truss rod, just a graphite stiffening bar. But it was like playing a baseball bat... So I spent a few hours yesterday re-profiling the neck. The trick is that I had designed it where the backstrap seamlessly faded into the back of the neck. It looked cool, but because of the amount of wood I needed to take off it just wasn't going to work. So I had to create a little volute. I'll probably mess with it a bit more before I go back and re-sand everything before starting the finishing process...

I think both mock ups look really nice. My issue with the purpleheart is that it's not likely to stay that color. You could always pick up some bloodwood if you want something more in that color family that will continue to look that way over time...

I would just use whatever drawing program  you use to make the design and add center points to all the circles. I use a small 'X' in the middle. Then print out the design, attach it to the top with spray adhesive, mark the center points with an awl, and go to town with your drill bits.

I would probably make a little jig with a dowel the size of the tuner holes to align the holes correctly on the drill press.

I feel confident you can pull off A. You just need the right drill bit (extra long), and it will be easier than you think. 

This method gives off an audible buzz, but the coolest thing is that you can put your hand on the top and feel some significant vibration.

I've heard of mandolin builders doing the same. This method is slightly less obtrusive.

No idea if either method works, but based on watching some Tonerite videos, something is happening!

So, I 've been playing the mandola for a week or so. It's settling in nicely, holding tune, sounding good, etc. Before I break it back down for final sanding (and a little tweaking of the neck profile) and finishing, it's time for a little 'voo doo'!

For the next week the mandola will stay locked in our guest bedroom, laying on a quilt, with a Tonerite running at full blast. This thing theoretically replicates many many hours of playing by constantly vibrating the strings. Essentially rapidly breaking the instrument in and causing it to sound like an older more mature instrument. 

Does it work? No clue. But a friend had one and let me borrow it, so I figured it was worth a week...

Thanks!

And once again, something completely different. I purchased a Harry Potter wand at Universal Studios some years ago, and thought it would be cool to make a display stand for it. If you're familiar with the movies, I went with a sort of creepy 'Borgin & Burkes' vibe. It was the most extensive wood carving I've done outside of an instrument, and it was a blast! Not a lot of thinking and measuring, just get after the wood until it looks like something cool!

It's three pieces of walnut glued up, finished with a couple of coats of danish oil, and then a black glaze to give it a more weathered and antique look.

9 hours ago, Mr Natural said:

this turned out great Matt. I dont know why I had it in my head (without re-reading beginning of your thread)- but somehow I had it in my head this was an octave mando -hell if I know why. did you build one of those before(?) maybe I am getting other builds on youtube in my head mixed up. 

regardless- the volume appears to be LOUD on that puppy. NICE. nice work as always. 

Thanks!

I got the second C string put on today, and it's even louder and fuller!

I own an octave mandolin, which I think I mentioned early in the thread, so that could be part of the confusion. Also, across the pond they call an octave mandolin an octave mandola, which just clouds things more...

28 minutes ago, mistermikev said:

for a guy who's put out about as many as the greatful dead... I can't think of one that isn't great!  or doesn't have LOTS of mandolin -esp on 'crossing muddy waters'

Speaking of... My favorite version of the song. I've seen this band twice, and they're amazing, just won a Grammy in fact.

A quick sound file for those interested. It will sound a little different, a little more bass and volume, with the doubled C string and a little more pressure on the top. But this gives you a good idea of the sound.

Thanks all!

I got the nut and bridge slotted and got her strung up in the white. Well, 7 out of 8 strings anyway... One of the C strings slipped off the loop and I cut it before I realized, and it ended up being too short.

Regardless, it sounds surprisingly good! I'm very excited, as I now actually have a functional acoustic instrument!

Well, now I know what my next shop/tool purchase is going to be!

Thanks guys.

On a completely different note...

Built my second beetleweight (3 pound) combat robot and competed with it at a local competition this past summer. It's a lifter named 'Vrepit Sa' (from Voltron). I hand made all the parts. The chassis, motor mounts, self righting arm, struts, etc, etc, are made out of 6061 aluminum of several thicknesses. The lifting fork is 1/8" thick mild steel. The wedge is 2mm grade 5 titanium. The plastic parts are UHMW.

Finished 3rd in the competition losing to the eventual champion in the semi finals.