Two new mandolins I will will be bringing across the Pacific for the GAL convention next month in Tacoma, WA. The oval hole is made from Blackhearts sassafras from Tasmania with an Engelmann soundboard with an ebony fingerboard and bridge. The f-hole mandolin is Tasmanian blackwood and Californian redwood for the soundboard. The back is the hardest piece of blackwood with the wildest grain I have ever come across. Entirely shaped with a sanding disk in the drill-press after basic shaping with an Arbortech wheel in an angle grinder. Gouges or my little Ibex planes were a total waste of time. Finish on both is drying Scandinavian oil and wax. Sound clips to come. The f-hole mandolin is especially nice.
Cheers
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