2009 homemade mandolin
I started building another mandolin in January of 2009. I decided to make this one a little prettier than the hippie mandolin I made in 2008. I began with more of the cedar kindling, split with a knife and a big hammer:
I didn't have enough to make a two piece top so I decided to make a four piece top. Here is my high tech method of joining and gluing:
The sides and back are black ash. Why black ash? It was available and cheap. Here are the two side strips of ash, the headblock and tailblock made from scrap mahogany, and a sketch of the body:
I made a mold and used it to retain the shape of the sides while I glued in the reinforcement strips. Note I didn't call them kerfing strips, as technically they aren't.
Gluing the rims onto the head and tail blocks was a bit of a challenge. Once that was done I clamped a piece of scrap wood in place to maintain the desired shape and keep everything centered and aligned.
Here is the ash for the back:
The back and sides gluing up with my homemade spool clamps:
A pic of the sides/back and bare top with a sketch of the soundhole design.
