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I've never been interested in making A style, but read all the discussions just to learn something new and I remember Gail Hester once mentioned (and posted comparison pics) that there were likely...

I'd just swap the bridge saddle and nut. Some folks care too much about internal asymmetry of tonebars but several eperiments have shown that it doesn't make much difference. I've seen converted...

Knowledge, methods and opinions of makers evolve over years so some repetition often brings out new interesting things...

I don't understand reasoning of the luthier. The dowels are not really there to maintain integrity of the joint. They lock the joint just in direction of leverage caused by string tension. Think of...

Yes, I understood that. But they had already made a piles of oval hole models and could transfer much of the experience to the new model where they only had to figure out the tops - the backs and...

If you are going to reinforce teh area I would suggest against flat patch which is hard to fit properly for beginner and requires plaster cast and way to press it in place evenly. If your top is...

Many things could have happened before or during transit.... from just heavy vibration to dropped box or rapid changes in humidity/temperature, but the neck joint could have been slightly loose...

I forgot to mention that when I used laminated blocks I glued them with same grain direction (if the neck joint splits when mandolin falls it is easier to glue back together) and used strong epoxy so...

What issue? It is pretty large block of clear seasoned wood. I haven't seen any good quality block with staibility problems. There's no real reason to laminate the blocks. I used two-layer blocks on...

Hve you seen Frank Ford's frets.com? I believe he has some nice articles about backstraps.

I would check sharpness of the drill bit. STandard twist drill bit requires some pressure to cut. I also use smaller bit (4.5mm) for pre-drilling and sharpen it to more accute angle for wood (both...

Basswood (at least european) can be too soft nad easy to split, but willow or aspen could be OK. I've used european walnut for most my mandolins (mahogany doesn't grow here) and on one I used maple....

They made thousands and thousands of mandolins they had SOME experience It's the F-5 model of which they built less... But they built mandolas and guitars style 5 as well...
One more thought about...

I don't know much about others but Loars have lower (and shorter) bass side bar. Width of bars is basically same approx. 1/4". It almost looks like they trimmed the bars flush with plate underside...

0.009" is almost paper thin, I guess you meant 0.09"... That's around 2.3mm and IMO close to dangerous zone. I wouldn't go under 2.5 mm unless the piece of spruce is extremely stiff. But if you left...

Nice one. I've seen similar by E.Kristufek (Czech maker) but he used bent stave and for simplicity just two woodscrews into mandolin. I know that mandolin was experimental one so he just included the...

From the little I know, the threads should be designed so the nut held by certain number of threads (I guess the common size of nut is dictated by this) will be as strong as the rod which they are...

There is definitely some movement in traditional building techniques of violin making especially in cello and bass areas where necks are very suspectible and reinforcement of some kind has already...

I've been using simple adjustable rods from my first build and don't think I'm going to change that. I still have my first mandolin and never needed to touch the truss rod. But if the time comes I...

Like most of the best players the sound is in his hands and whatever mandolin he plays (and even mandola or m-cello), his didstinctive attack and tone wins over the instrument.
His Loar has been...

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...

You can find lots of useful info on maestronet forum (the builders section is called pegbox). Very informative and some very top luthiers contributing but for new guy it may seem a bit uncivilised at...

Agree with Greg.
You may want to steam the dent before filling. Have a look at frets.com on repairing dings. Frank mostly fills with thickened nitro but on many catalyzed finishes thin CA is the way...

The posts are standard hardware store item. Search for allen socket set screw 5-40 thread. You will probably have problem fingd them in small emough quantity from online vendors. Perhaps some better...

I will try to find out what's going on with the files. I'm not at my computer now and I can only access the server via simple FTP and and I don't remember the port settings etc. The server had some...