Four Part Harmony

I haven’t had much opportunity to post any updates on my guitar- and mandolin-building projects lately. For good reason I guess, I’m finding it a lot harder to find appropriate times to even get down to the basement to get anything productive done, much less update the blog about it. Usually, the best free time comes when Milo is asleep, but then using the power tools isn’t an option. I’ve taken to planning out a list of cuts I need to make on the bandsaw and things that need sanded (the shop vac is the loudest thing ever), and go down for an hour on a Saturday or Sunday morning and crank it all out as quick as I can. Then I fill in the quiet work of cleaning up the cuts, planing, measuring, hand cutting, gluing etc in 20 minute bursts here and there or in the hours after everyone goes to bed. It works out pretty well.

I’ve been spending most of my time working on Anna’s guitar, mostly because it’s easier because I kind of know what I’m doing. The body mold is very nearly done, I’ve just got to finish making the inside spreader clamps and I’ll be ready to bend the sides.

I’ve got the headblock and tailblock cut too, so I’ll be able to bend the sides and glue up the whole rim assembly pretty quickly.

Several weeks ago I was able to get the top completely finished up. I started by laying out the channels for the rosette I wanted to make. I started this guitar with the notion that I didn’t really want to use premium materials, since it’s intended for a kid, and I fully expect it to get beat up, banged around, dropped etc. I used pretty inexpensive woods, and have kept things pretty simple for the most part. But I really wanted to do an abalone rosette, and I figured this would be a good chance to get some practice doing one. Here I’ve already routed the channels and layed in two thin trips of purfling as a test fit.

And here’s the finished rosette. It came out pretty nice! (Those openings on the left are intentional. They’ll be covered by the neck, and there’s no use wasting beautiful shell underneath the neck). It’s a shame I didn’t take more pictures of the inlaying process. It went pretty smoothly, I’ll definitely want to do a few more though…for practice.

With the rosette inlaid and the soundhole cut I roughed out the bracing, glued it up, and carved the braces. This is my favorite part by far. It goes too quickly. I’m currently trying to decide whether to leave these braces a bit heavy (for stability/strength/resistance to destruction) or trim them down a bit (for potentially more responsive top/better sound). Probably better leave them heavy for this one.

The back bracing is all done too. Wow, I guess I’ve done more than I remembered…should’ve taken more photos.

Since I haven’t been quite ready (or willing) to start on the side bending yet, I’ve also started in on the neck. I’ve cut and glued up the scarf joint at the headstock, and glued up some pieces for the neck heel block. I just need to lay out all the measurements on the blank, rough cut this on the bandsaw, and I’ll be able to start in carving.

Looking forward to doing the bending. I’m planning on doing it by hand with a torch and pipe (old school). I’ll pretty much need to do the mandolin bending that way, so I better practice. Bending guitar sides seems easy by comparison.

Speaking of the mandolin…I’ve made a little progress, but I haven’t been working too hard at it lately.

Several weeks ago I cut most of the templates I will need.

I’ve also cut out and been working on a body mold for the mandolin. This hasn’t been easy, and I’m not sure at this point how well it will work, but I’ll likely give it a shot.

I cut a set of blocks from mahogany, which will form the internal structure of the mandolin, and will be what the bent sides are glued to. I had to put a 1/4″ blade on the bandsaw to cut the scroll and it came out pretty rough (I’ve subsequently learned that most people use an 1/8″ blade). As a result I’ve been filing and sanding away at the inside of the scroll trying to fair out that curve. Unfortunately, as I do that it gets further from matching my template exactly.  This may or may not be a big deal, and at this point I could just cut a new block. Or I might just fair out the curve and make that the proprietary shape of my new scroll…we’ll see.

I’ve had better luck with the neck. I’ve trued it up, glued some “ears” to the peghead, for the oversized headstock, and laid out the neck on the neck blank.

I fashioned and installed a cross grain “scroll strengthener” at the peghead scroll location. Now I’m ready to install the ebony peghead veneer.

I’ve also built a crude “sled” for the neck to ride on as the peghead is cut out so that the cut stays parallel to the fretboard. Once the peghead veneer is glued on, I’ll be ready to cut the neck out and carve the neck.

Well, at this rate, the next time I manage to post any updates the instruments will be finished, so be sure to ask me about them in person if you’re interested! Adios.