Official Luthiers Forum!

hello everyone,
My name is Geoff Burghardt, I'm new to the group here. I wanted to share my latest mandolin with you all. It is my 10th, and was done for Red Rocks Community College in Lakewood Colorado where I will be teaching mandolin building starting in the fall. I am looking forward to learning and sharing a lot here. Thanks for having me

Welcome to the forum! I don't know much about mandolins but know one thing....it sure looks REAL nice

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Peter M.
Cornerstone Guitars
http://www.cornerstoneukes.com

Hi Geoff
Welcome to the forum. I'm sure you will enjoy it here. Very nice mando.

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The Zootman
1109 Military Rd.
Kenmore, NY 14217
(716) 874-1498

Welcome Geoff, Nice to have you here. VERY nice mandolin! I like the dark finish and your headstock inlay.

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Anderson Guitars
Clearwater,Fl. 33755

Welcome, and beautiful work.

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Eagles may soar, but weasels don't get sucked into jet engines.

Hi Geoff -

I just posted in another thread asking if anyone has any tips for carving
my first top and back for an A-style mandolin. How do you go about it?

Nice mando!

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Rian Gitar og Mandolin

Hi Geoff,

Your mandolin is a beauty, nice work. Good luck on your teaching position, and welcome aboard.

Craig
CT Holden Luthiery and Supplies, Inc.

Geoff did a great job on this thing and really makes it sound good too! He is also a great teacher!

[QUOTE=ecklesweb] Hi Geoff -

I just posted in another thread asking if anyone has any tips for carving
my first top and back for an A-style mandolin. How do you go about it?[/QUOTE]

Hey Jay,
First I highly recommend Roger Siminoff's book, bluegrass mandolin construction (or something like that) if you don't already have it. He could answer any question you have during the process.
I think good planning is the best way to do anything. I do it like this:
Draw concentric circles from the outside edge of the top or back (I usually call them plates at this stage, not sure how correct that is) about 1" apart until you get to the center. These circles, or ovals depending on your body shape, will be lines of equal depth while you carve. Now select the profile of the arch you want on your top and back (usually about the same, except for near the heel)(I use a drawing from the back of Siminoff's book) and figure out how far down each of these equal depth lines is based on the profile of the arch, from the top of the wood. Now rout along the lines a consistent depth, getting deeper near the edges, and deepest about 3/4 - 1" in from the edge of the rim on the outside, and deepest in the middle getting shallower toward the edges on the inside. Let me read that to make sure it makes sense. Maybe a picture will be better



If you have more questions I'd be happy to help. Good luck!

I forgot to add that once you have it all routed, the carving is just connecting the lines. I have a #5 sweep 1" gouge and a mallet that does most of the dirty work, then I smooth that back with a wider sweep gouge. then once you've connected the lines, come in with a light touch on the chisel or a small convex plane and get your graduations. Then scrape like a banshee. That's the way I do it, I know there are many variations and some of those may be easier or harder. One thing I can say, this is a lot easier than doing it completely by hand (which I do recommend trying at least once).

Welcome to the OLF! nice work

Mike
White Oak, Texas

Great to see you here Geoff! I'm one of the lucky ones who got to play this Mando last week. I'll also be taking his Mando building course in the fall. I'm really excited about it. Maybe we should post pics of our build next semester. Could be fun for the rest of the OLF to follow along. See you soon Geoff. Also, I fixed my intonation problems on the Bouzouki, I just lowered the bridge and saddle and that took care of it. Plays beautifully now. Thanks for the suggestion.
Tracy

Welcome to the OLF Geoff, very nice mando. It is great to see yet another here willing to share the knowledge.

Well done

Cheers

Kim

Welcome to the OLF Geoff, Exquisite mandolin you have there!

I'm a bit of a mando player myself and building them is also on my project list so thanks for the info you have shared and i will stay tuned for more input on mandolin making from you!

Serge

Geoff,

I hope we can look forward to more posts from you. I have the itch to build a mandolin myself. Thanks for the carving tips.

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http://driftwoodguitars.blogspot.com/

Welcome Geoff
   Very nice work on the Mandolin. I particularly like your burst!
   Interesting and clever way to start roughing out the arch on the back.

John

Geoff,

Great job on the Mandolin. Now, I'm torn...between making another guitar or taking your Mandolin class. Thanks for the inspiration.

Cheers,   

Geoff, nice work, I really like to play my mandolin and I admire you guys that can build them.

Mike
White Oak, Texas

That looks totally boss Geoff. Wish I could have gotten to hear it! I suppose I'll get to see next semester though hopefully.

Mike

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Mike

"The Dude abides. I don't know about you but I take comfort in that. It's good knowin' he's out there. The Dude. Takin' 'er easy for all us sinners. Shoosh." The Stranger

Wow! Thanks everyone. I wasn't expecting such generosity! Let it be known that when you all post up your little angels, I'll be right there cheerin you on!