Making my neck

[Yonkle]

As you know I finished Mandolin #3 a few months back. I like everything about it,except the neck is too wide and thick. How would I go about making it thinner? It's an F5 with Binding on the neck.
Do I need to take the fretboard all the way off?
Or can I just remove the binding/frets and file/sand down the width of the fingerboard re-fret and bind, then sand down the neck to match the new width?
If I need NOT to take off the fretboard, what tool would I use to take about 1/32 or more off each side of the fingerboard?
Is it difficult to re-bind a finger board after it is already on the neck??
Any advise from you builders will be greatly appreciated.
Thanks Yonkle

[sunburst]

My first thought is to make the neck smaller on #4 and leave #3 the way it is.

However, that wasn't the question.

I think it would be easier to take the fingerboard off and do the work.
If you want to do it with the board still on the instrument, I think it would be easiest to make a router template the size you want the fingerboard, securely fasten it in place, and rout the fingerboard smaller with a flush-cut bit with a guide bearing in a laminate trimmer or possibly in a Dremel.

I have some ideas how to do that, so if you decide to try it I'll give you any tips I can think of.

[jim simpson]

I would think you'd want to remove the fretboard then narrow it complete with frets on by using a large belt sander. You could then thin the neck to the desired shape, glue on your binding and rescrape.
I had a new fingerboard that was already fretted given to me. I ended up putting it on a mando that I wanted to refret. It worked out great but I did have to sand it's width down to the right size.

[Jim Rowland]

Hi Yonkle:

It sounds like we're only talking about one sixteenth extra width here. A lot of the mass of the neck can be taken off without doing much to the fingerboard width. If you are planning to keep this mando as a personal,you may find it more to your liking if you remove wood from the sides of the neck making a more pronounced curve at the bottom. You could then roll the bindings and some fret at the top edge. If that fails to give you the feel you want,you could resort to the more painful operation you have discussed. On the other hand,if this one is for sale,you will find a number of big handed players who appreciate the extra width.

Jim

[Michael Lewis]

Yonkle, you have been given some good advice, and it's up to you what you do with it. I have done this operation recently on a guitar, and you CAN leave the fingerbaord attached, remove the frets, reshape the neck, then rout for the binding, install it and scrape it down, and finally re fret. It's a bit of a job but can be done without too much difficulty. After you have it where you want it just french polish it with shellac for a quick finish. You can do all this in a day and be playing that evening.