R the F
Luthier / Guitar Maker
Posts: 1,135 
My main instrument is: bandsaw
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Post by R the F on Sept 7, 2017 14:02:10 GMT
You mean...
Yeah. That looks really elegant.
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ocarolan
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Post by ocarolan on Sept 7, 2017 14:15:29 GMT
Hm. Might need to widen the neck a bit so the top and bottom strings can actually be fretted safely ....  |
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Post by littlemart on Sept 7, 2017 15:39:54 GMT
That looks perfect. Who needs elegance when you have that much practicality. Mind you, it doesn't need the Nick Benjaminesque scoop anymore, does it? So, now that's sorted, when are you going to start the little beauty?
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Post by lars on Sept 7, 2017 19:05:41 GMT
Never really seen the point. I mean, there's not much point in having any more than just the first 3 frets, let alone frets over the body, is there? All the others are just ornamentation and a constant, crushing reminder of my inadequacies... The first two mandolins I built (which is 100% of the mandolins I've built so far) were only fretted to the 12th fret and I seriously concidered to have only seven frets as I always played in first position! |
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R the F
Luthier / Guitar Maker
Posts: 1,135
My main instrument is: bandsaw
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Post by R the F on Sept 11, 2017 17:52:48 GMT
I was distracted from frets by the sight of a lump of laburnum which, unsurprisingly since it was from the same piece of tree, reminded me of the fretboard but was the right size for a bridge. In fact, I could hear a bridge trying to get out when I put it against my ear. I decided to give it a helping hand...
First I chopped a piece off the end thus:
I then hacked at this and sanded it so that the underneath came to match the contour of the corrugation down the middle of the soundboard:
- eventually! Then I flattened off the top so that I would have something regular to work on:
and, as you can see, I did indeed work on it; to wit I drilled some holes in approximately the right places to receive saddles and string-ends. Next it needed only a little trim to make it look quite bridge-like - in my terms, anyway:
And, with a bit of carving, out popped the bridge that had been waiting inside all the time:
Now I could turn to the frets. I sanded the fingerboard to a 16-inch radius and, having almost lost the fret grooves, re-sawed them with an extremely specialised saw. (Actually, it's a junior hacksaw but don't tell anyone):
By this time I also seem to have chopped up the fret-wire into handy pieces and stored them in a specialist holey thing. Anyway, they soon found themselves hammered relentlessly into the fingerboard with, for some reason I'm not quite sure of, a smidgen of superglue under each one. I don't usually do this so I'm not sure why I've started now. I also remembered for the first time ever to run a tiny v-shaped file along the top of each groove to flare the tops slightly and thus protect the edges if the frets ever need removing. I then trimmed the ends flush with the sides of the fingerboard. Here's the result of all my hard work:
You're probably beginning to realise about now that I haven't said anything about a sound-port in this build. Maybe, you think, he's saving time and effort by missing out this little luxury. But you'd be wrong; here it is and it's even been (badly) lined with maple veneer :
So now I've reached list-time so I must be getting near the end. Remaining on my list are the following:
- Finish trimming inside the sound-hole with maple
- Make a hole in the head to access the end of the truss-rod
- Make and fit the flying transverse brace which will support the sound-hole area
- Make and brace the back
- Polish/seal everything inside and out
- Attach the bridge
- Make and fit a nut
You may be thinking I've left something off the list but there's nothing else that occurs to me at the moment so I'll leave it there.
Rob
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Post by lars on Sept 11, 2017 20:14:25 GMT
I have a short question about the bridge. Note that I've never built an instrument with a pin bridge. But isn't the grain normally in the other direction so that it's cross grain to the top and 90'degrees to the strings? That should have a rather big impact to the durability when strings are attached.
Btw, I love your build threads, Rob.
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Riverman
Artist / Performer
Posts: 7,381
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Post by Riverman on Sept 11, 2017 20:42:32 GMT
I have a short question about the bridge. Note that I've never built an instrument with a pin bridge. But isn't the grain normally in the other direction so that it's cross grain to the top and 90'degrees to the strings? That should have a rather big impact to the durability when strings are attached. Btw, I love your build threads, Rob. Can anyone else who follows these hugely entertaining threads hear the sound of Rob's brain working overtime at the moment?  |
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R the F
Luthier / Guitar Maker
Posts: 1,135
My main instrument is: bandsaw
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Post by R the F on Sept 11, 2017 20:46:28 GMT
I've never built an instrument with a pin bridge either, Lars! In fact, my very first build thread on this forum started with a description/explanation of my bridge. It's here, though I don't know whether the photos will appear for you since they are on Photoblockit as far as I remember. Anyway, the explanation is that there are a lot of braces under the bridge area so there's no room for a bridge plate. With this in mind, I decided not to use pins but to attach the ball-ends of the strings to the bridge itself, above the level of the soundboard. I was a bit worried that this would put a lot of strain on the bridge and could pull the back of it up and potentially split it especially if the grain was running side to side. I therefore chose to orientate the grain north-south so that there was no danger of a split. I hope that makes sense. Here's a rather diagrammatic side-view:
and here's a picture of the last build with the saddles inserted - sorry it's not a bit closer in:
Glad you like the thread, too.
Rob
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R the F
Luthier / Guitar Maker
Posts: 1,135
My main instrument is: bandsaw
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Post by R the F on Sept 11, 2017 20:55:30 GMT
I have a short question about the bridge. Note that I've never built an instrument with a pin bridge. But isn't the grain normally in the other direction so that it's cross grain to the top and 90'degrees to the strings? That should have a rather big impact to the durability when strings are attached. Btw, I love your build threads, Rob. Can anyone else who follows these hugely entertaining threads hear the sound of Rob's brain working overtime at the moment? |
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Riverman
Artist / Performer
Posts: 7,381
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Post by Riverman on Sept 11, 2017 21:05:06 GMT
Can anyone else who follows these hugely entertaining threads hear the sound of Rob's brain working overtime at the moment? I owe you an apology Rob. Your calm and measured response to Lars's question reassured me that, as always, you'd foreseen all potential problems and had everything firmly under control...   |
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R the F
Luthier / Guitar Maker
Posts: 1,135
My main instrument is: bandsaw
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Post by R the F on Sept 11, 2017 21:06:36 GMT
As always, Richard. As always... (Now I must clean those brains off the walls).
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ocarolan
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Post by ocarolan on Sept 11, 2017 22:58:31 GMT
.......................... So now I've reached list-time so I must be getting near the end. Remaining on my list are the following:- Finish trimming inside the sound-hole with maple
- Make a hole in the head to access the end of the truss-rod
- Make and fit the flying transverse brace which will support the sound-hole area
- Make and brace the back
- Polish/seal everything inside and out
- Attach the bridge
- Make and fit a nut
You may be thinking I've left something off the list but there's nothing else that occurs to me at the moment so I'll leave it there.
Rob
...Put strings on. ....Tune up. ...Take to Halifax. ...Sell it. Keith |
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Post by lars on Sept 12, 2017 6:11:25 GMT
Thanks, hat was surely a comprehensive answer! And a good design! Sorry, didn't mean to make your brain explode :-)
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R the F
Luthier / Guitar Maker
Posts: 1,135
My main instrument is: bandsaw
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Post by R the F on Sept 12, 2017 6:34:20 GMT
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Jo whoever he is.
