Here I am gluing tone bars in a batch of mandolins. There are 4 “F” style mandolins being built together.
I split tone bars from Red Spruce stock in both directions. First, at 90 degrees to the grain, then exactly parallel with the grain. By splitting I am creating a small beams that are as strong […]
Here I’m the next batch of Red Diamond mandolins. I fret the fingerboard off the neck with the fingerboard radiused and bound. The frets are pressed in. Remember, these are compound radiused fretboards. That is, the radius is gradually changing as you go from the nut toward the bridge. The pressing caul is gradually changed […]
Here I am cutting Mother of Pearl and abalone for peghead inlays. The abalone is painted white so that the outline of the pearl pattern can be better seen on it.
A fine jeweler’s saw is used to cut on the line of the pattern. The cut piece is filed and further shaped to fit in […]
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