archtop mando #70

back brace carved and back glued to sides:





top braces carved & fitted, then toip glued to body (sorry forgot pic of braces!)



and trimmed ready for binding

I had a rummage in my woodpile and found a big chunk of western red cedar that I'd nearly forgotten about......

I've been thinking about the idea of a carved top mandolin for ages now, and rather than the hassle of the A style neck join with all those intersecting curves, I've decided to go more celtic, with the same type of neck join as tha last couple of bouzoukis..

for some reason the decade builds (50, 60, 70 etc seem to be something a little out of the ordinary, so here we go with #70!!)

so, lets start with a body shape.....



the top joined...



rough cut with the mango back...



to get the curve on the top, mark it out, set the depth gauge on the pillar drill and drill a million holes.....



after some carving, some sanding and cutting the f holes....



after much MORE sanding......





sides bent



neck & tail blocks in and linings glued in place



back brace glued in place

zouk all done!!

neck attached to body, heel cap in walnut glued in place, and lots of sanding!!







tuner holes drilled....



and first coats of varnish on

Fret marker dots (mother of pearl) fitted and the fretboard sanded to a 14" radius



frets in...



and then FORCED in my handy dandy fret forcing jig.





just a plank of iroko with a v shaped slot in it. clamping the newly fretted neck in it makes sure all the fret ends are nicely pressed home.

A little neck work today, shaping the headstock and getting the neck/body join sorted....

Walnut binding on the cherry zouk....

I LOVE working with fruitwoods. the smell is GORGEOUS!!





mitred joints this time as my head of dept gave me a hard time over the simple butt joints on the last one!!



amd a little neck work....

truss rod slot cur, fretboard and cherry headplate fitted.

hopefully I'll remember to detail this build!!

so, a cherry/spruce bouzouki, with rosewood fretboard and f-holes.

sides bent



neck & tail blocks in, linings started....



braces on back....



and back fitted to sides.... there is a walnut strip up the centre of the back, which will match the walnut binding round the edges of the body



top with f-holes cut and bracing bars in place...



and body closed





fret slots cut



fretboard extention glued and neck tenon cut



and ears glued on to make headstock

I've been spending more time building than blogging.....

heres a family shot of two mandolins and a bouzouki.....





one of the mandos is likely to be heading to the US, the other will be going on eBay, and the zouk will be heading to Buckinghamshire.....