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I know it probably doesn't matter at all for a mando, but I don't like the look of a flat board so I did a very slight compound radius. I didn't measure anything though. I started at the zero fret end and planed following the taper of the board and the imaginary string paths. I ended up with a very gentle curve at the top and an almost flat radius at the saddle end.


The next step is to forget to take pictures of the fretting process.

After that step, it is time to hold the board and pretend you are a giant guitar maker.


I wanted to get an idea of the proportions so I taped the board on (and a peghead cutout). Here it is with a dred sized guitar and my little wood-top banjo for comparison.

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Bryan Bear PMoMC

Take care of your feet, and your feet will take care of you.

My daughter wanted to visit grandma and I don't own any taps or dies, sot it was time to go to my parent's house for a visit and to make a gibsonish style single action truss rod. Time to listen to my dad tell me I should buy my own tools and then explain to him that I make a truss rod about once a year and that I would inherit his long before I wear it out (I don't think he has used it since the Regan administration). While he was down there supervising I made him take an action shot of my threading one end of the rod.


He soon got bored and went upstairs for some recliner time so I had to shoot my own pictures after that.

This will adjust from the soundhole, mostly because I don't like the look of truss rod covers. In fact, I'm not even sure I made room to access it when I braced the top. I may have to remove the neck for adjustments (r often will I have to tweak this little thing anyway). I made a semi-round anchor for the nut end out of some scrap steel and tapped some threads in it.


then threaded one end on and peened it over.

judging from this picture, I should have left the photography to the old man.

Now I have a completed truss rod. I'll inlay the rectangular steel "washer" thing into the heel. I'm not sure how much curve to put in the rod on such a short neck though.


Dont't worry the neck will not be that thick (ignore the line on there, I sketched that on without considering the fretboard thickness).

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Bryan Bear PMoMC

Take care of your feet, and your feet will take care of you.

This one is coming along nicely. I like the overall shape. It's nice to have cool tools but that doesn't mean you can't get the job done - just takes a bit of skill and perseverance.

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Steve Smith
"Music is what feelings sound like"

Is that the old StewMac fret saw? That was the first "luthier" tool I purchased, it took me a couple of months to save up the $25 it cost at the time. Money was much tighter then, I've upgraded to the japanese fret saw from StewMac. I like it a lot better, but I still cut fret slots with a hand saw and a square, just like you're doing it. As a matter of fact, I did that on my challange L-00 just last weekend. I forgot to shoot any pictures, I'll just refer everyone here to see how it's done.

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A man hears what he wants to hear, and disreguards the rest. Paul Simon

Thanks, I’ll look at the Japanese fret saw. I love using Japanese style saws, mine cuts a kerf that is too wide for frets though. It take a long time to finish instruments so I don’t do too many boards. Every time I do one I remember that I meant to get a better setup (powered or unpowered) but didn’t get around to doing it. My next though is “hey it’s not that many slots, I’ll just do it the old way and move on with this project. Around the 15th slot I get tired of having to push a thinn blade through hard wood, not physically just tired of having to saw so carefully. When it is all done I tell myself I’m going to set up a better operation for the next one. Come to think of it, that is exactly what happens when I joint my tops and backs. . .

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Bryan Bear PMoMC

Take care of your feet, and your feet will take care of you.

The japanese saw makes a huge difference! I know what you mean about getting tired of cutting halfway through, I used to take two or three half-hour sessions to cut slots. With the new saw, I can cut all the slots in half an hour with no trouble. I'm not even considering using the table saw and a jig any more, for the number I build the hand saw and square works just fine. And I did shoot a photo.

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A man hears what he wants to hear, and disreguards the rest. Paul Simon

I have crappy tools too Bryan. NTYC. The build looks nice. I like the jatoba.

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http://www.CostaGuitars.com
PMoMC

The lack of specialized and power tools won't stop you from building, but it really does slow you down!

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A man hears what he wants to hear, and disreguards the rest. Paul Simon

Thanks guys, I’m at the point in this project where I always tend to stall out a bit. I have a body ready to be bound and a neck ready to be carved, but I always get nervous at this point. Binding is not something I am good at and for some reason I am always reluctant to start fitting the neck joint (even though [other than the tedium] I don’t really have a problem with it). I really can’t do any more work until I get the binding done, so I need to just get off my duff and do it!
This challenge has been great for me. I have been working much faster and more confidently than I have in the past and it is good to see other people’s methods and set-ups. I am comforted to see that (contrary to the image in my head) not all OLFers have super fancy specialized tools/workshops. But. . . the level of craftsmanship displayed in this challenge has me intimidated to say the least. Not that I expected to come close to winning, but you folks are making me sheepish (settle down Tony, that’s just an expression) about showing my work. The good news is that it helps motivate me.

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Bryan Bear PMoMC

Take care of your feet, and your feet will take care of you.

Well I obviously dont really care !!



OHHH wait !! Wrong Thread !

_________________
The Shallower the depth of the stream , The Louder the Babble !
The Taking Of Offense Is the Life Course Of The Stupid One !
Wanna Leave a Better Planet for our Kids? How about Working on BETTER KIDS for our Planet !
Forgiveness is the ability to accept an apology that you will probably NEVER GET
The truth will set you free , But FIRST, it will probably Piss you Off !
Creativity is allowing yourself to make Mistakes, Art is knowing which ones to Keep !
The Saddest thing anyone can do , is push a Loyal Person to the point that they Dont Care Anymore
Never met a STRONG person who had an EASY past !
http://wiksnwudwerks.blogspot.com/
http://www.facebook.com/groups/GatewayA ... rAssembly/

This is gong to be a bolt on but joint with a single hangar bolt and a brass allen head fastener. I glue in a hardwood dowel with polyurethane glue, this allows the wood threads to grab something other than end-grain. In retrospect, I wish I had gone with a smaller bolt and thinner dowel, this would have allowed me a smaller heel than what I am going to be stuck with. But, these were the bits I had lying around. . .


When I moved to a slightly larger shop space, I had a little extra room. I decided to fill that space with a dirt cheap craigslist table saw. I thought I would use it all the time, as it turns out this was the first time I found use for it. I used it to cut the channel for the truss rod. I hope I get used to this table saw thing, right now it just scares the you know what out of me.

I chiseled the space for the truss rod anchor by hand.


I know I am sitting at the computer putting off cutting the binding channel, but I do think I am going to like the jatoba on maple sans perfling (once I get around to doing it).

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Bryan Bear PMoMC

Take care of your feet, and your feet will take care of you.

Looks good so far.

Your instincts about the table saw are good. I don't like getting close to the blade either and I've been using them for 30+ years. I use shop-made push sticks of various shapes on the table saw to keep my hands away from the blade.

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Steve Smith
"Music is what feelings sound like"

Looks good Bryan.

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http://www.CostaGuitars.com
PMoMC

+1 to being intimidated by the table saw. I'm not so afraid of getting cut by the blade as I am of not dodging flying lumber!
That's looking good, Bryan. There's something to be said for putting off operations that you're not comfortable doing, but there's also a down side. On several occasions, I've put off doing something until I finally decided to get it done or screw it up trying, usually involving a router. I've screwed it up trying several times, usually because I forgot to tighten something and the router slipped.
Now that I think about it, every piece of wood that I've ruined was done with a router.

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A man hears what he wants to hear, and disreguards the rest. Paul Simon

Finally dragged out the camera cable for some updates. I have been working on the neck blank and binding. Here is where the neck stands today:

I wanted to do Jatoba face and back veneers on the peghead. I was annoyed to notice that the floor boards were just barely too narrow to cover the peghead. Also they were too thin to comfortably get four slices out of one piece with my lackluster resaw setup (okay abilities. . .), so I ended up having to use more of my scraps than I wanted and will have to cut into another board for the bridge. Oh well at least it is free. I went ahead and book-matched them but I'm sure it won't be noticeable.


Unfortunately I unearthed a fairly large flaw in the maple right at the heel. I'll call it charachter.


With a volute requiring a curved back veneer, I like to use a caul that is close and some high density foam to conform to the back of the peghead. Then I clamp the dog snot out of it. I got it all clamped and noticed that I misaligned the back veneer and it wasn't totally covering the back of the volute. I hastily unclamped everything and got it back to gether as quickly as possible. now the veneers were covering the entire peghead, but the boockmatched center lines were all screwed up (refer to my earlier comment about nobody noticing the bookmatch [that was wishful thinking]).


In my quest for power and glory, I forgot one small detail (bonus points for any aging Gen Xers who get the movie reference).

I forgot the wax paper. . . the glue bled through and the foam became one with the mandolin. Luckily it was easy to scrape away.

_________________
Bryan Bear PMoMC

Take care of your feet, and your feet will take care of you.

Not to betray my self confidence, but you'll notice that I made twice as many bindings strips than are required. Since I did this, I didn't break any!


The cutting of the binding channels went well, even though I always dread it. Shellac in the channel to keep the CA from getting in the endgrain. . . Top

and back


I got the binding in on the top with no real issue, it still needs to be scraped (top and sides).


I got all the mitres done on the back and was starting to get tired so I'm calling it a night. I use HHG at the mitres to try to keep from darkening at the endgrain and I don't feel like waiting for the last one to harden enough to glue in the rest. Of course as I am typing these updates it is now ready.

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Bryan Bear PMoMC

Take care of your feet, and your feet will take care of you.

I like it - nice work.

_________________
Steve Smith
"Music is what feelings sound like"

I agree with Steve... this is going to be one killer mandolin. I'm beginning to want one....

It's just aight for me dog.


Posted from my Mustache using Tapatalk

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http://www.CostaGuitars.com
PMoMC

Lemme’ guess, you would like it better if I had botched the binding channel and glued in some abalone then painted it black?

NTEC

_________________
Bryan Bear PMoMC

Take care of your feet, and your feet will take care of you.

Its looking good Your Daughter does some great work , maybe she can learn you a thing or two ! Like whos the first president !!

_________________
The Shallower the depth of the stream , The Louder the Babble !
The Taking Of Offense Is the Life Course Of The Stupid One !
Wanna Leave a Better Planet for our Kids? How about Working on BETTER KIDS for our Planet !
Forgiveness is the ability to accept an apology that you will probably NEVER GET
The truth will set you free , But FIRST, it will probably Piss you Off !
Creativity is allowing yourself to make Mistakes, Art is knowing which ones to Keep !
The Saddest thing anyone can do , is push a Loyal Person to the point that they Dont Care Anymore
Never met a STRONG person who had an EASY past !
http://wiksnwudwerks.blogspot.com/
http://www.facebook.com/groups/GatewayA ... rAssembly/

Ok. I was trying to be funny. I messed up. I don't even have a witty retort now. I have to go sniff some nitro. That usually perks me up!

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http://www.CostaGuitars.com
PMoMC

Wait, if you're sniffing nitro, that must mean you are putting a finish on the Uke. If I cared, I would insist on pictures of the burst ASAP.

BTW, I'm sorry I hurt your feelings. I forgot how sensitive you get as Halloween approaches.

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Bryan Bear PMoMC

Take care of your feet, and your feet will take care of you.

Bryan, you have a beautiful build there. Can't wait to see and hear it done. Love that curlicue thingy, and the beautiful neck. Daughter's pretty adorable as well!

I'm better now after an intense nitro sniffing session. I posted pics too.

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http://www.CostaGuitars.com
PMoMC