side thickness

[Martian]

in thousands, how far do you guys take your sides?, and do you thin them more in tight curves? I have Hogos prints, and tried to use calipers to measure thickness, but it looks thinner around the neck block, maybe just these old eyes

[sunburst]

I usually start with somewhere between .070" and .080" and when necessary (some wood bends better than other wood) I further thin the areas where the tight bends are. I've gone as thin as just over .040" for the point and scroll areas of F-style mandolins. Those areas are glued to internal blocks so they don't really need to be any more than veneers.

[buckhorn]

What John said.... I keep mine around .080 , but if having trouble bending , I'll go thinner.. With the hard stuff, I'll mist and clamp in the forms and let dry.. That little thing works wonders... Lacewood kicked my rump tho… Nothing I did would even get close to the curve without breaking...

[Martian]

thanks fellows, I have made 1 A model, and 2 F's , but the last one was almost 10 years ago, so I am having a hard time remembering everything. I am using Siminoffs book for reference on this one, but ordered Hogos prints

[John Bertotti]

I just got those prints they are excellent!

[pelone]

I concur with .08---of course, wood that is flat sawn, IMHO, tends to bend more easily than heavily quilted, birdseye or fiddle figured maple. I have found that patience is very important and it pays to have a mist bottle handy. Have found that it thinning the material down to .07 and even .06 at the tightest curves seems to help---strength can be built back into the sides with an additional veneer later.