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I've got a mandolin kit with the top and back already joined, and 'rough carved'. Wondering what to make the final thickness.

CrowDuck

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Chris Nielsen
Soquel, CA.

Yes.

Good answer Mario! I'm building an F5 style mando now. I'm just using the thicknesses in the siminoff book. But you could go to Mowry Stringed Instruments and download the Contours from his site. Go Here then click DOWNLOADS at the bottom, and you will see a link for the F5 Contours in PDF format. You can try that if you want. Good luck, and I'd like to see some pics when your done.
Tracy

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Tracy
http://www.luthiersuppliers.com

The reason I gave the one word answer is because any real answer will be a very long one.

In short, a carved instrument is a MUCH more complicated beast than a flat top instrument. The carving, that arch, the re-curve, all has a huge bearing on stiffness, and just using numbers alone, without knowing how stiff the top wood is, and knowing what your graduations will be, won't cut it.

The regular range of thicknesses will get you close, and Tracy's put up s good link top some, but head out to the mandolin cafe and do some reading there, also.

Thanks for the link. My kit is an A5, but the F5 contour pdf helps. I'm ordering the Simonoff book too.

CrowDuck

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Chris Nielsen
Soquel, CA.

Here's a nice little map of a Loar...