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Bryan B's "everybody cares" mandolin
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Author:  Bryan Bear [ Sun Jul 29, 2012 12:44 pm ]
Post subject:  Bryan B's "everybody cares" mandolin
Well there is little chance I come close to finishing but. . . A few years ago, I dreamed up a mandolin inspired OOO/OM double cutaway (back when I was designing my violin inspired banjo). I made some rough sketches but over time I started to think it would look goofy. Recently, I have had the urge to do a flattop mando, so why not a guitar shaped mando -- more specifically, a mandolin inspired guitar shaped mandolin. So this little project will allow me to see how the design looks in the real world.

Most of the wood I am planning to use was basically free and I'll use economy tuners so I'll come in way under budget; the challenge will be the deadline.
Author:  Bryan Bear [ Mon Jul 30, 2012 10:24 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Bryan B's entry
Every now and then, when walking through the local BORG, I notice some curly maple in the front of the stack. I'll have to see what dimensions I have lying around and check out the website to see what the linear foot price is. For the neck center lamination, fretboard, bridge and binding will come from some free jatoba flooring I was given when picking up a craigslist bandsaw. Bracing will also be free. A friend was renovating his kitchen and jokingly asked if I wanted his old back door before he threw it out. I cut it open to see tight grained quartered spruce that has been seasoning on the back of his house for the last 35 years. I plan to make the blocks and linings from more of the leftover construction scraps I rescued from his trip to the dumpster. Speaking of free spruce, Clay S. sent me some veneers a while ago. For protection, he sandwiched them between cut out sections of an engleman spruce soundboard. This just happens to barely fit the body shape and leave out the bad part.
I don’t know much about mandolins so I am hoping people will follow this thread and bail me out of the trouble I don’t know I am getting into.
Author:  WudWerkr [ Wed Aug 01, 2012 1:37 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Bryan B's entry
Bryan Bear wrote:
Every now and then, when walking through the local BORG, I notice some curly maple in the front of the stack. I'll have to see what dimensions I have lying around and check out the website to see what the linear foot price is. For the neck center lamination, fretboard, bridge and binding will come from some free jatoba flooring I was given when picking up a craigslist bandsaw. Bracing will also be free. A friend was renovating his kitchen and jokingly asked if I wanted his old back door before he threw it out. I cut it open to see tight grained quartered spruce that has been seasoning on the back of his house for the last 35 years. I plan to make the blocks and linings from more of the leftover construction scraps I rescued from his trip to the dumpster. Speaking of free spruce, Clay S. sent me some veneers a while ago. For protection, he sandwiched them between cut out sections of an engleman spruce soundboard. This just happens to barely fit the body shape and leave out the bad part.
I don’t know much about mandolins so I am hoping people will follow this thread and bail me out of the trouble I don’t know I am getting into.



Dont worry Bryan , If you have any issues Ill be around . I mean you KNOW I would NEVER steer you wrong ! :twisted: :twisted: laughing6-hehe
Author:  Bryan Bear [ Wed Aug 01, 2012 2:21 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Bryan B's entry
Note to self -- before I forget.
Just placed my stew mac order. Economy mandolin tuners $19.29 and truss rod nut $6.95 (for 6 so $1.16).

Grand total so far $20.45.

I need help from you guys to talk me out of cutting corners. I know I don't have nearly enough time to do this and I find myself tempted to skip making templates, the mold and bending form. I have built without them before, but it is such a pain in the rump.
Author:  Bryan Bear [ Wed Aug 01, 2012 4:18 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Bryan B's entry
Filippo, I asked for help to not cut corners not encouragement. . .
Author:  Bryan Bear [ Thu Aug 02, 2012 1:44 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Bryan B's entry
I dug throug my wood last night and found some of the aformentioned Home Depot curly maple (not as curly and even colored as I would like but. . .), it looks like I can get a laminated neck and sides from 3 1/2 feet of 1x3 ($1.49 per foot) call it $5.22. I have some 1x6 ($3.24 per foot)that I get the back from, I need 14 inches we'll just call it 1 1/2 feet/$4.86. If I resaw carefully I can probably get 2 side sets and 2 backs for a uke or similar later.

So far that brings my total up to $30.53
Author:  WudWerkr [ Thu Aug 02, 2012 5:30 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Bryan B's entry
lookin for pics , lookin for pics , lookin for pics , lookin for pics , lookin for pics , lookin for pics , lookin for pics , laughing6-hehe laughing6-hehe laughing6-hehe
Author:  Bryan Bear [ Thu Aug 02, 2012 7:31 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Bryan B's entry
It'll be a while before I get any pics. I haven't even made it into the shop yet. had this wood not been in the old workshoppe space, I wouldn't even know what I was going to use.
Author:  Bryan Bear [ Sun Aug 05, 2012 9:48 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Bryan B's entry
I got a little work done this weekend (about half of what I had hoped for).

Here are most of the woods I intend to use. I'll still have to scrounge some bits and pieces, but most of it is here.
Attachment:
woods.JPG


I got most of the resawing done but needed to change the blade before I did the back. I took what I had and thicknessed the sides and linings (cut from the shipping palate my daughter's "big girl" furniture came on). I also laminated the neck blank and an over sized heel block blank (spruce offcuts from building my workbench).
Attachment:
lining.JPG


After I was done with the scarf joint on the neck, I found a new bandsaw blade I didn't know I had so I resawed the back set.
Attachment:
maple.JPG


I don't have a lot of space so I tend to not jig up very much. I keep wanting to make a nice shooting board but I never do. I always end up grabbing some scrap MDF or whatever (in this case an old bookshelf) and going at it. With these little pieces, it was easy to hold them down using my whole forearm and shoot the joints without any slipping. Please don't laugh at my hand plane either; it is a piece of junk, but it is MY piece of junk. As long as I keep it sharp I'm okay (it is frustrating at times though).
Attachment:
shooting.JPG


Top and back glued. I love the tape method. As I said, I don't use a lot of jigs and I can just prop these up out of the way for the HHG to dry.
Attachment:
jointed.JPG


Once all the ladies of the house are asleep, I'll try to get the mold and bending form done. If I have time, I will try to figure out how my double cutaway will work out (I'm in uncharted waters here).
Author:  Bryan Bear [ Sun Aug 05, 2012 11:47 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Bryan B's entry
Okay, time for you mando guys to offer up some advice. I made my mold today. I plan on building an ukulele (or more) someday and wanted to design a shape that would work for both projects. I came up with a shape that is 9 inches in the lower bout and made 1 inch inserts to expand the mold to the 10 inch lower bout I wanted for this mando. I thought I was designing it so that the mando would be theoretically be a 12th fret body joint with the double cutaway making it more like a 14 fret. I must have had a brain fart while drawing because I ended up with a theoretical 11th fret to body joint (for my mando scale). I see my options as:

1- Move the bridge north. I don't want to move the bridge any further forward than it is now (I was pushing it as it was).
2- Start over draw a new shape and make the mold again.
3- Go with an 11th fret (13th with the cutaway) join and chalk it up to rushing to make the deadline.

I'm thinking option 3 is the best. I can actually make the double cutaways a bit deeper. Do mando players actually play that far up the neck? I know I won't. . .
Author:  Bryan Bear [ Wed Aug 08, 2012 10:24 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Bryan B's entry
Last night I bent the sides. I still need to do some touch ups. I started bending then realized I had forgotten to make spreaders that fit in the little mold. I started clamping the sides in the mold to cool. About five minutes after I left the shop, I heard a snap and a thump. One of the clamps had broken and split the edge of the side. I think HHG will take care of most of the split. I’ll probably be making it a little shallower than planned and or taller bindings.
Author:  Tony_in_NYC [ Wed Aug 08, 2012 10:34 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Bryan B's "everybody cares" mandolin
I suddenly find myself caring about this build. Hope you can save the side!
Author:  Bryan Bear [ Wed Aug 08, 2012 10:35 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Bryan B's "everybody cares" mandolin
I didn't expect it to work so quickly! I guess when you put out the vibe, it sucks people in.
Author:  WudWerkr [ Wed Aug 08, 2012 11:29 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Bryan B's "everybody cares" mandolin
I would go with option 3 and let it ride .
Author:  Bryan Bear [ Wed Aug 08, 2012 10:32 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Bryan B's "everybody cares" mandolin
No shop time tonight, but here is a pic of the rough bending I did last night. I knew when I hastily clamped the sides in the form last night that I was stretching the limit of the little clamps. When one snapped I had confirmation. Tonight I went down and saw pieces of about 8 clamps strewn about the place. Fortunately no new splits. The split I knew about is not as bad as I thought either. . .

Attachment:
bent.JPG


This will give an idea of the shape. You can see the bass side cutaway here. The extra will get trimmed off and fit into the heel block like a Spanish heel (but with an extreme angle). The heel will but up against the side at the end of the curve. The treble cutaway will be a Florentine. I will cut the upper bout off and flip it to make the cut away curve.
Author:  Rodger Knox [ Fri Aug 10, 2012 2:44 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Bryan B's "everybody cares" mandolin
I got a bunch of those clamps for Christmas a couple of years ago, in several different sizes. They are almost worthless! I've had about half of them self-destruct, and I never use them...
Author:  Bryan Bear [ Fri Aug 10, 2012 3:31 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Bryan B's "everybody cares" mandolin
I pick up a bag of them every now and then when they are on sale. They have thier uses, but if you open them too far, one jaw will break off under tension. Then I take them apart and make one clamp out of two until they are gone.
Author:  Bryan Bear [ Fri Aug 10, 2012 3:34 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Bryan B's "everybody cares" mandolin
Preemptive strike:

Attachment:
goat2a.JPG
Author:  Tony_in_NYC [ Fri Aug 10, 2012 3:48 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Bryan B's "everybody cares" mandolin
Son of a biscuit!!
A goat pic, eh? Listen, I dont know who you are or what you want, but I can tell you this: If you're looking for G rated goat pics, I don't have any. What I do have are a very perverted set of skills. Skills honed over a lifetime of perversion. Skills that make me a nightmare for family friendly forums....and probably you or someone you know or possibly met once. If you remove your goat pic now, that will be the end of this. If you do not, I will hunt your goat pic down, I will find it, and I will stare at it lovingly until I am compelled to buy my own cute pet goat and fill my hard drive with cute goat pictures. None of which will involve Pan. That dude is SICK!!
Author:  Bryan Bear [ Fri Aug 10, 2012 3:59 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Bryan B's "everybody cares" mandolin
That is a pretty darned cute goat, isn't it? I loved it the minute I saw it, not in a pan sort of way. Not that you care. . .
Author:  Tony_in_NYC [ Fri Aug 10, 2012 4:03 pm ]
Post subject:  Bryan B's "everybody cares" mandolin
Everybody cares Bryan. Everybody cares.
Author:  Rodger Knox [ Fri Aug 10, 2012 4:56 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Bryan B's "everybody cares" mandolin
I don't care about the goat, unless it's going to be cabrito! beehive
Author:  Bryan Bear [ Fri Aug 10, 2012 5:07 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Bryan B's "everybody cares" mandolin
That kid is too cute for cabrito, check back later when it is mutton (but before Tony spoils it).
Author:  Clay S. [ Sat Aug 11, 2012 6:18 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Bryan B's "everybody cares" mandolin
It's not a goat. It's just the raw ingredients for a bodhran! laughing6-hehe
Author:  Bryan Bear [ Sat Aug 11, 2012 9:04 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Bryan B's "everybody cares" mandolin
Clay S. wrote:
It's not a goat. It's just the raw ingredients for a bodhran! laughing6-hehe


Now THAT is good comedy!

I suspect most of you are like me, in that you can't look at a piece of wood (or even a tree) without seeing instrument parts. Clay is an inspiration!
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