First Question before diving in....

[Mark Seale]

Okay, so I've had a Siminoff kit sitting on my workbench for longer than I want to admit to. Mostly, I've been reading and researching and trying to get up the gumption to dive in. Well, that time is now. I've got my little work area organized (and re-organized), and I'm getting started. The first thing that struck me, however, with the rough carved top, is that Siminoff says it is carved to within .01 inches of final gradation. So, do I carve it down to final thickness, or just start sanding expecting to smooth it down to final thickness? Do I go ahead and finish sand the top now, or wait until it's been glued up? At least, while I (and you) ponder this, I can finish shaping the neck.....

Mark
And so it begins......

[ShaneJ]

If it's within .01 of being there, I sure wouldn't use a gouge. MAYBE a finger plane set to take a THIN bite if you needed to thin a little more than .01 here or there. Maybe a scraper or 100 - 220 sandpaper. I'm on my 2nd top right now, so I'm very cautious too. There may be a better way to do it that someone more knowledgable can share.

[sunburst]

At the risk of sounding like a smart@$$, the final thickness is the thickness when you're done. If you sand afterwards, you can't carve to final thickness.
You can't really tell how much you're going to sand off, but you'll have to carve to close to final thickness and expect sanding to do the rest, whatever that might be.

I wouldn't finish sand until the thing is glued up. You'll probably be surprised how many little dings, spots of glue and dirt, etc. will need to be sanded off before the finish goes on, so might as well wait.

[Stanley Cox]

I would double and triple check the thickness all over the top and bottom and if it is as close as .010 I would lightly
sand inside and outside to get the machine marks off.
Stanley

[Yonkle]

I did a Siminoff mandolin too. I called Roger on this issue about being 00.1 accurate. He said to just do the final sanding on the inside of the top and back and then later do the final sanding on the outside of the top and back. Personally I found mine to be a bit thick, later when I re-finished my #3 Siminoff I took even more wood off the outside of the top and back plate. They are close so I just used 80-150 grit to take the wood down a bit then finished it up with 220-400 before staining.
It sounded a little tinny at first, but after I re-finished it and took more wood off I removed the lacquer and sanded it down and then re-did it with a french polish. It sounds a lot more wooden now, not sure if it is because of thining the top and back plate or because of removing the heavy lacquer I had on it. Probably a combination of the two! Good luck

[Mark Seale]

I got the same response from Mr. Siminoff, however, I just finished my thickness gauge, so I'm going to measure it out and try to match the dimensions from the plans if it is presently too thick.

Mark

[Rob Grant]

I've never built a mandolin using a kit, but I'd reckon get the top and back down to specs (by sanding or whatever) before you glue the sucker. Sunburst is right, you will end up with all sorts of dings, scratches and glue spots that the final sanding (before finishing) should eliminate. I'm guessing here, but probably these kits go for slightly thicker graduations (as insurance against top failure) then you might find in a mando built by a professional luthier.

[daveb]

If the outside of the top is to your liking, then do your final graduations from the inside.
Any dings or dents,(there shouldn't be many) on the outside can be taken care of before finishing.
The main thing is, don't give up and quit sanding too soon. Follow Siminoff's graduation instructions !! That is what will make a fine sounding instrument.

Good Luck,
Dave