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Thread: Thickness question for you all!

  1. #1
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    Hello again,

    I have some concerns about getting to the contour I need to acheive on my back before I run out of wood thickness.I purchased my maple through Stew Mac but the way it came was should I say,pie cut.This normally would be totally ok but the way I glued it up and planed it seems that it might have been better to do it opposite of what I did or upside down.My main question is crown thickness in the Siminoff book it says .250 for the crown of the back would it be a problem if it was thinner and what would be the effects of my sound???? Thank you all for responding

  2. #2
    Registered User sunburst's Avatar
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    Crown thickness?
    I guess I don't know what that is...

  3. #3
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    The Maple back should be thinner. .220 or a bit less is recommended for the crown portion. It should improve the quality of your sound. Total height from the line where the back joins the sides to the top of the crown should be around 5/8ths of an inch give or take a tad.
    Jim

  4. #4
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    Thickness of the center of the back can be around .160" (4mm)without a problem.

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    Thank you Michael & grow,

    What a fun project this is!.When I carved the top I did not have the proper tools and it took forever just to get to thickness.Now I have a few finger planes,scrapers,sander
    and alot of tools that will help with this rough maple.I am almost finished gluing up the tone bars for the top.One thing I would like to do in the future is have someone weld a chunk of sheet steel on my scroll saw so I have a large table as I had a really hard time cutting the F holes out when the wood was that thin.Thanks again all

  6. #6

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    Michael,

    Just curious what thickness you carve your tops? .250? Have you gone thinner and what where the results?
    I have 2 tops I carved that I feel might be too thin. My thought was to beef up the tone bars, but I haven't tried it. The tops still sit on the shelf. I'm almost afriad to use them.
    Is there a range for top thickness?
    Thanks in advance.
    Dave

  7. #7

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    Top center thicknesses range from .150" - .220". #Recurve thicknesses range from .075" - .130"+ #Different builders, different woods, etc. The average is probably .180" in the center and .100" in the recurve. A bit thinner in the back.
    You will find "good" mandolins in a variety of thicknesses.




  8. #8
    Registered User Mark Franzke's Avatar
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    I've got a top that is pretty much carved and I didn't notice until it was too late that the height from rim to crown is about 3/4". Is this going to be a problem and would I be better off scrapping this one? Other than aesthetics, is there another issue involved?
    mark
    Mark Franzke
    Franzke String Instruments
    www.mfstrings.com

  9. #9
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    rim to crown is about 3/4"

    That's a pretty steep arch. It will make your top stiffer and stronger, yet less responsive. So, you'll want to thin it a bit more to get the response back; how much is a judgment call. Apart from that, you'll also need to adjust your neck angle accordingly for everything to come out okay, but that shouldn't be too hard to calculate.

  10. #10
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    The violin arching program can be downloaded at http://mysite.verizon.net/vze3zndd/
    I do not know if it works for mandolins but its worth a try.
    music enthusiast

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