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I put a little leather pad on mine.
Also, I do the gauge hole drilling with the outside of the top sanded to 80 grit. After re-sanding with 80, sanding with 120, wetting to raise the grain, and...

I'm no expert, as I've just finished my 3rd carved top mandolin, but I had this problem on my first build, so I used a larger dowel around 20mm and made a very gentle dome on the top. A little extra...

No need to build up with glue or epoxy. It would only add mass without adding stiffness of structure.
I agree with Adrian, it's "on the edge" at that thickness, but if the 3" area is far enough from...

I've been to the Oberlin Acoustics summer workshops and have seen what it looks like when you use all of the modern technology at hand to analyze how much oscillation happens in a mandolin neck when...

That's one of the only pieces I still bend on a hot pipe, because it's really fast. Like Adrian, I glue that piece to the block first, putting the longer adjacent treble-side piece in dry to keep the...

The paper between the joints is usually done in order to test the tone, easily remove the back, make adjustments and reassemble. Once the desired tone is reached, the back and paper are removed for...

Yes, about 8 years ago I asked ten of the best mandolin builders in the world some serious truss rod questions. I got about 17 different answers, so....

I made up ten identical necks, with ten...

Yep, but with truss rods it can also be the fault of the manufacturer of the truss rod. Of the truss rods I have used, one had to be replaced because a faulty weld snapped (lucky I did not install...

As John says, we have been over and over this again and again. Everyone always comes up with some example where a carbon fiber rod has failed, but seldom any examples where a truss rodded neck has...

I do like John and usually bend the very end of the longest rib a bit more curved so the offcut will fit the point block.
But I glue the rib piece to the block before assembly. Then I trim the rib...

I bend the rim pieces a little long so I have bent cut-offs. I just make sure at least one of those is the correct radius for the bottom point. I fit the piece and glue the whole rim at once in an...

Hi Gary--I've certainly seen issues with shellac under various modern finishes, and I wouldn't recommend it as a sealer under anything else unless recommended by the manufacturer or tested...

That's correct. It was discussed earlier in this thread but I decided to post the picture because I had just touched up the edge on my Arkansas stone, carried the iron back to the bench and saw the...

The main bevel is off the Tormek. That surface has been undisturbed long enough for a little tarnish to form. I can hone the micro-bevel quite a few times before having to grind the main bevel again....

I was touching up the edge of one of my Ibex planes and decided to snap this shot. Hopefully it shows the slight hollow grind and the micro-bevel.
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You’re ok. I don’t have one of these, but the angle looks to be above 45 or so. Shallow planes are down at 20 or lower. If you make a sketch of the iron angle and the typical bevel angle, you’ll...

Yes, you can take off more material and it would probably help chip clearance.



No worries. You'd have to have some superhuman hand strength to be in any danger of tightening that little thumb...

I don't have a grinder so I don't hollow grind, but over the years I learned that you can sharpen to shallower angle than desired final angle and then just do the final bevel at desired angle. The...

I give my Ibex planes a hollow grind with a wheel on a Dremel tool, slow enough not to heat up too much. The hollow grind doesn't' have to be perfect-- it's just there to make honing easier, and to...

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To reshape the curve I simply filed, sanded and buffed.
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Here's how I ground the 10mm cap iron smooth.
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I started on a coarse diamond sharpening "stone" and progressed to hard Arkansas stone.

OK, here we go...
I have an older 12mm plane that has always worked well with little jamming and loading up with un-cleared shavings. My 10mm plane (and other newer ones) tended to clog very often....

Yeah, I took down my elaborate website from years ago. It was getting 'buggy' and I lost interest in maintaining it. I think I still have the pictures and text from all of the stories and tutorials...

I used it on a few batches of instruments, but had severe problems with checking after a few years and had to refinish them all. So, I’m done being a finish tester;).