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Been away from mandolin building for over 4 years (arthritis, 2 operations), but finally feel good enough to build a mandolin or two again.
Here are some photos of my new (in the white) F5C (July 9, '23) sidebound Loar copy...















Still needs a bridge to be fit and MOP nut, frets dressed and sanded.
Thanks for looking...

Nice to see you haven't lost the touch.

Welcome back.



blessings

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Audiences and dispensations on Thursdays ~ by appointment only.


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Drop dead gorgeous!!

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Formerly known as Adaboy.......

It's fabulous, Haas. I doubt I would ever have the patience to attempt an F5 pattern mandolin. I've got a mando in the works. Not an F5. After this,I might be somewhat embarrassed to post it! Excellent work!
Patrick

Very nice and welcome back!

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Jim Watts
http://jameswattsguitars.com

a work of art and precision craftsmanship, bravo!

Wow !! Sweet Work !

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Thanks folks.
nyazzip, don't know about the precision part, Nothing done here, but with a bandsaw and a few other rudimentary, std instrument making tools. Same way Loars were built. Been building them a long time though. Thanks.
Duh Pad, it's Thursday! Good to see you still around.

Very nice. Good to see you back Hans.

Thanks Peter, good to hear from you!

Wow...very pretty. Looks like the docs fixed you up pretty well
It's an F5C? What does the C mean?

Wow Hans, you are the man, seriously gorgeous.

You still got it! Welcome back!

Thanks guys!
Kevin, the Dr. did a good job on my thumb and elbow, but that and the neck and shoulder therapy took a couple of years to get better. I have to be really careful about doing things now.
The C stands for "Classic".

Oh....it looks like a classic already

Haans- I played one of your F5 mandolins at Elderly Inst. here in MI. It was one of the best sounding, most beautiful mandos that I have ever played. It is good to know that you are back at it. Pals, Vic.

Kevin, thanks. Would be a little presumptuous to call it "The Loar"...so I decided on Classic. Gibson used to try to crack down on F5 builders till the Pac-Rim's invaded this country like bedbugs.
Vic, very nice of you to say..."Too kind" as Dave Ray would have said.
Believe I will distress this one a bit. My last personal one was distressed and it felt like an old friend immediately. Never hesitated to let anyone try it and never worried about someone putting a scratch in it.

Hi, nice to see you back Haans. What a beautiful mandolin, can't wait to see it finished, especially when I see the 'inspiration' pictures under it, o-la-la! I anyone can nail that look, you're the man

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Rian Gitar og Mandolin

Hi Arnt, thanks! Good to hear from you...hope you are doing well.
Don't know how "back" I am, but am happy to be able to build one or two more mandolins. Can't make a good copy without good photos and #73992 has some of the best documentation. Not sure, but think it might be Darryl's (F5 Journal).
Going to be a while before I get to finishing as the spray booth is closed down for a couple of months due to cabin fever (winter). I just can't afford a heat exchanger, so my replacement air is just a 10" duct to outside. 10 below this morning. I'm sure you understand that...

Good to see you back here Hanns! Always good to see what you're up to and it's looking great. Looking forward to seeing that one finished.

One day I wouldn't mind asking you a few questions about dye application if possible.

Cheers,
Danny

Any time Danny, fire away. Maybe when the time comes, I'll document it.

Thanks Haans! I might as well just air it out here in case someone else has some interest.

I really like using trans tints in alcohol on Maple. I've been doing guitars mostly. I've never seen anything that can pop grain like it. I've been using an airbrush but I'm finding my results vary due to 2 factors. The size of the spray pattern on such a large area and the fact that it's a little hard to tell what the end result will be until you start clear coating. Regarding the first point. I find it difficult to feather out a colour, from heavy to light. And also to get the pattern consistent around the whole perimeter. Mostly, I think because the pattern is so small. I'm thinking of trying a couple things. One would be to dial down my spray gun since it has a bigger spray pattern. I have had good results with tinted nitro and this method. I'm not sure how it will work with such a thin product. I only have 1 tip and I think it's a 1.2 MM. The other is possibly hand rubbing with trans tints in alcohol. I think you've talked about using an airbrush. Would you care you share some of your knowledge of your technique? Also, have you done any hand rubbed dye work? If so, any pros and cons. I see them being done on electrics with good results, particularly fading from one colour to another. In my latest effort I was going from amber in the centre to burnt sienna to black. I'll try to get a photo up here so you can see my less than perfect results on this one. I probably should have taken some pre nitro photos to try to figure out how I could have improved on this one. Like I said, I find it a little difficult to tell what the dye job will look like under finish.

Thanks for any help Haans and if anyone else has anything to add, feel free. Good to see you back in the saddle. I've heard you have to be tough to get old.

All The Best,
Danny

Danny, I use transtint, but use water as solvent. Smells a lot less. Wouldn't use anything else than TT. I use an Iwata AB with the finest tip. I thin out the color quite a bit, and back off about 3 ft when I start, and push quite a bit of mix through at about 20-30 pounds. As it builds up, I start moving in closer, work my way around not trying to do it in a "one pass round". As I start to get what I am looking for, I start to add TT to darken and dial back the mix push and go round some more, starting to move outward. I keep adding TT and finally add some (not a lot) black to darken the edges to the darkness I like. I never add so much black that it looks black. I only dial back the AB if I have some "funny" spots that need careful touch up and that is close work with very little material flow. After every few coats, I will hang it up and step back for a good long look at what needs to still be done. Usually will take me about 10-15 "coats" to do a whole burst.
"Seeing" what you have is a problem. Really can't tell till you have 4-5 coats of clear on. It's mostly a sense you develop, to me it is mostly a light/dark kind of thing. Is it too light? Too dark?
I used to hand rub the dye before I bought the airbrushes, but it's not much of an option compared to the AB. Gets too splotchy.
Yea, getting old sucks, there are days I can only work a few hours, days I don't work, and nights I wake up with my hands hurting pretty badly. Still, best to keep moving...the alternative is not viable. Too depressing and leads to stepping out of the canoe. Actually, never have left the saddle except for mandolins. Been building guitars steadily...
Hope this helps.

That's very helpful Haans. It would be apparent that my usual "get it done as fast as possible" approach has once again bitten me in the butt. I've been trying to one time it. One bad shot and you're sanding back to bare wood (how I spent my Saturday morning). I was just on your website and the last mando, your very sexy V8 is a great example of the technique you have just described. http://www.brentrup.com/page8/page8.html (for those of you that aren't familiar with Haan's work. Hope you don't mind Haans.) The fade on that one is perfect. Beautiful work as usual.

TT's sure can bring bring out the best in a piece of wood. I can't imagine why anyone would want to cover up that lovely figure. I really appreciate the help.

Enjoy Your Day!

It takes some time to do a good burst, Danny. Actually, once you get into it, it can be a real learning experience, and the whole process will teach you a lot fast. If you do a slow buildup, you can fix things as you move along. One thing to remember is to REALLY clean out the AB before you start. Dis-assemble it and make sure it is very clean. Mix new dye as it can settle into little clumps. Last thing you want is even one airbrush "spit".