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3/8" wide elastic also works well to glue on fingerboards

Here is a weissenborn I made out of Sassafras. I like it as a tonewood. I would not use it for a mandolin.104612104613

I round over everything with a scraper after staining and scraping the binding clean especially the points. The binding is easier to scrape when it still has square corners.
97077

I have used a dremel tool with abrasive disc

I recommend putting a scab (~1/8" thick) over the x brace intersection.

Here is a picture

14/32 more or less

For an opaque black you can seal with shellac (three thin coats) then wipe on black leather dye.

Shaun,

The owner does not jam anywhere regularly but we will both be at the LRB concert tonight.

Madison

Here is an alternate way to attach the strap to an A model. #I use 2 #4 screws at attach the pickguard. #I looped a leather strip and attached it with the same screws. A strap can then be tied to the...

In the weeds

Bill,

Here is a couple more pictures of the back. It could be Dismal Swamp walnut, but I havn't a clue.

I'm still building...just not completing anything, until now.

The walnut works well with the Red Spruce top and oval hole.

This is my first walnut mandolin. A friend found the board in a house he bought and gave it to me. #It was enough for the back and neck. #I made the sides from a piece of curly walnut crown molding...

Here is a picture of a 2 point (stingray) mandola.

Bernie,
I do record the tap tune but usually stick to a standard height. #The height is 10/32 under the bridge and 8/32 at the cross. #I also deflect the tops and try to get the deflection of the...

Here are three that the braces have not been trimmed yet.

Here is one way to do it. #Here I cut the base bar completely in two and placed a 1/8" thick slice overtop of the treble bar. Now I cut the treble bar.

I think you can call yourself a luthier when you buy stuff at the grocery store not only for what is in the jars but also what you can do with the jars after they are empty.

I used the ColorTone® Pigments from Stewmac to get an opaque white and then added some yellow and brown color-tone dye to get an aged look. #It is impossible to go back and do a touch up and not have...

Here is a jig I made from parts of a transitional plane. It also works for wood binding.

I used the 26.188" guitar template from LMII to slot a 16.47" mandola fingerboard.

Here is a link to an article about sassafras. #The author prefered sassafras over walnut for a tonewood.
http://www.taunton.com/finewoo....id=5061

How about a mandolin build-off and we can get the discovery channel to film it.