Mandolin Build

On this page I shall be showing you the build of an F5 or Bluegrass Mandolin. As this is a live page it will grow as the mandolin grows, please come back regularly and I promise to keep it updated. The F5 Mandolin uses similar build techniques to those of an Archtop Jazz Guitar but on a much smaller scale. The carved top and back employ a graduated thinning of the wood towards the outer edges to provide maximum volume by ensuring that the whole top (soundboard) vibrates in sympathy with the strings. The mandolin will be built with traditional woods, maple for the neck, sides and back and spruce for the soundboard. The fretboard and headstock veneer will be ebony and there will be some mahogany used as well for internal blocks. Click here to hear the instrument

(click on the picture to enlarge)

	The mandolin starts with a piece of wood! This is a plank of Maple and is to be used to make the neck and headstock (peghead). I can probably obtain 2 or 3 necks from a piece this size.
	The neck is now cut out and the headstock 'ears' glued. If you look closely you can see that I have already marked out the shape of the headstock.
	The headstock outline has now been roughly cut and awaits the fitting of the ebony veneer. You can see that I have also routed the truss rod slot, but have yet to cut the cavity for the truss rod adjusting nut.
	The headstock veneer (ebony) has been fixed and the first stages of routing for the edge binding has commenced. The binding will be cream ivoroid and will match the binding that will be applied to the edges of the body and fretboard. You can also see that the truss rod has now been fitted and the slot filler glued.
	The peghead has now been bound with cream coloured ivoroid binding. The edges of the peghead are still to be prepared for finishing
	These are the mahogany blocks that will fit inside the main body of the mandolin to provide shape, support and provision for fitting the body end of the neck. You can already see the initial shape of the scroll at the neck end of the body. The other blocks are the tailblock and the two blocks to provide the shape of the lower points
	Now it is time to start building the body. The first stage is to make a mould into which the side ribs will be fitted once they have been bent to shape. You can already see that I have fitted the body blocks into their approximate position. The mould will be completed by the addition of some adjustable rods to keep the whole thing together and to allow the inner mould pieces to be pressed outwards against the ribs of the body.
	The most important and delicate part of the whole build is the preparation of the soundboard. The starting point is the spruce which is cut from two 'bookmatched wedges' which are then jointed and glued along the centreline. This ensures that the woods grain is vertical through the thickness of the soundboard. I have marked out the shape of the soundboard ready for rough trimming to shape
	After the spruce has been cut to the correct front profile, the carving starts. Many templates have been prepared , both inner and outer shapes at various points on the soundboard. The pencil lines you can see are the positions where the templates will be laid during the carving. During carving the lines will be redrawn many times as the top takes the correct shape. It will also be checked for thickness by the use of a thickness gauge. The 'f' holes have been marked and initial holes drilled to assist in finding the correct position on both the inner and outer sides during carving.
	The soundboard has now been rough carved to shape both inside and out. The scroll is almost finished smooth. The soundboard must now be brought down to the correct thickness which graduates from thickest in the centre to about 2.5 mm thick around the edges. It must also be tuned by tap tone to the note 'C'. More about 'tap toning later!
	The soundboard is now fully carved and sanded smooth. The 'f' holes have been cut and their edges strengthened to prevent any aberrant tones developing when playing. Tone bars (similar to guitar bracing) have been glued to the inside of the soundboard and will be carved until the correct 'tap tone' is achieved. The scroll carving will be finalised after the soundboard has been attached to the rim.
	The rim has been steamed, bent and glued onto the body blocks within the mould. After the glue has dried the kerfed lining ( 'kerfed' simply means it has been sawn at small intervals to allow the wood to bend easily) has been fitted around the top edge to provide a wider glue joint for the soundboard
	The soundboard has now been glued to the rim and the neck has been fitted. The back angle of the neck has to be set to ensure that the strings will meet the bridge to give the correct 'action'
	This is the reverse view of the mandolin showing the tone bars and the gluing of the kerfed lining. In this picture you can see the strengthening of the 'f' holes and the dowelling of the neck joint to ensure a solid connection
	Work now begins on the back. The wood is maple which is much harder that the spruce soundboard. It begins with the bookmatched pieces being jointed and glued as seen here. Once the glue has dried then the piece will be thicknessed down to approx 15mm (5/8 inch) prior to carving to shape in a similar manner to the soundboard.
	The maple back has now been rough carved and needs bringing to correct thickness. If you look closely you can see where I have marked the thicknesses at various points by use of a dial gauge in a wooden frame. This has been much tougher than carving the front due to the relative hardness of the wood.
	The back is now fitted and trimmed to shape. The main woodwork is now complete except for the fretboard and fretboard extension. Next stage is to cut the step around the top and back edges to accept the binding. At the same time the 'points' will be flattened to take bone protectors. The step is routed except where the scrolls mean that it will have to be cut carefully by hand
	The step has been cut and the binding has been fitted. Look closely and you will see that the 'points' have been flattened for the bone protectors. The holes have also been drilled for the tuning heads on the headstock and the main faces of the instrument have been sanded to a fine finish. The edge surfaces will now be sanded once the bone protectors have been fitted.
	The bone protectors have been fitted and shaped. The whole instrument has been sanded and the staining process has begun. I have chosen to to colour the mandolin in a red sunburst on yellow. The binding has been scraped. So before starting the finishing processes I must make and fit the fretboard.
	Here is the fretboard made from 4mm class AA ebony. I have slotted it and cut it to shape. It has also been drilled and cut for inlays.
	The fretboard has been bound to match the body. The mother of pearl inlays have been fitted and the fretwires inserted. The fretboard has then been attached to the neck and all the joints cleaned up. Some final adjustments made to the colouring and the first coats of nitro-cellulose finish have been applied.
	Nearly there! Only the endpin and the truss rod adjuster cover to go on. The bridge and the tailpiece are test fitted and the instrument has been strung to set up the nut and bridge. I shall now remove the strings, fit the trussrod cover, fit the endpin and give it all a final polish. I will supply some more detailed pictures when that is all done.  Watch this space
MandolinGallery	The instrument has now been delivered to the customer and he is having fun playing it and here are some details photos of the completed mandolin