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Thread: IV kit progress

  1. #1
    Registered User buddyellis's Avatar
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    I put up a blog entry on my IV kit progress. Most of the work was done in the last 2 weeks, and I didn't document every step, but you can get an idea how it is coming along.

    You can get to the whole gallery Here.

    Along the way I ran into a few issues, but nothing too bad. The hardest parts were probably 1) finish, and 2) binding. Both will take some practice, and while it didn't turn out perfect, I think it was a good attempt at a first instrument, and as a first major woodworking project for me.

    I've never done much more than refinish furniture before, and I had carved a violin top out of some 50 year old white pine about 6 months ago, just to 'see if I could do it', so I had alot to learn.

    I'll be updating the entry to fill in the blanks, but I wanted to get something up to let everyone that made suggestions etc how things were going. I ended up using water based stains, so far, and they worked ALOT better than the oil based stuff I was working with previously.

    The back looks fabulous. The top I am still working on. Spruce is much harder to work with stain wise, and this top has some odd grain streaks which makes it especially difficult.

    All in all, I think I gained alot of great knowledge and practical experience, as well as gathered and made quite a few tools. This will be the first of many, I hope.

    -b

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    two t's and one hyphen fatt-dad's Avatar
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    buddyellis,

    thanks for the photos, I'm away's off (seeking some quality bench time), but working towards the same goal. I'm about ready to glue on the tone bars and begin "tuning". Can you report on fitting the neck? Mine won't slide all the way into the precut dovetail and Ken says it's a matter of trimming wood from the sides of the neck (i.e., the female wood). Was this your experience and did you use sandpaper, a scraper or chisel?

    f-d
    ˇpapá gordo ain’t no madre flaca!

    '20 A3, '30 L-1, '97 914, 2012 Cohen A5, 2012 Muth A5, '14 OM28A

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    Registered User buddyellis's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by (fatt-dad @ April 19 2006, 08:31)
    buddyellis,

    thanks for the photos, I'm away's off (seeking some quality bench time), but working towards the same goal. I'm about ready to glue on the tone bars and begin "tuning". Can you report on fitting the neck? Mine won't slide all the way into the precut dovetail and Ken says it's a matter of trimming wood from the sides of the neck (i.e., the female wood). Was this your experience and did you use sandpaper, a scraper or chisel?

    f-d
    It didn't take alot of trimming, really, not as much as I first thought it would. Make sure you are flushing the neck to the back of the pocket, and lining up the dowel holes when checking for fit.

    Also, I found that while I still had a rather tight fit, when the glue went on there, it slid right together, and really kinda 'snapped' into place and wouldn't move anymore (I used hot hide glue).

    I used a single edged razor blade as a scraper to shave wood off the neck (not the body block, but the neck itself) evenly from both sides, and also a bit of 600 grit sandpaper on a small block. It was slow going, but I figured I wouldn't remove too much material too quickly.

  4. #4
    two t's and one hyphen fatt-dad's Avatar
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    Well, I just had my males and females mixed up. I meant did you remove the wood from the male part of the neck joint. From your description, I think that's what you did (i.e., you didn't do any trimming from the block of wood that is in the body of the sound box).

    f-d
    ˇpapá gordo ain’t no madre flaca!

    '20 A3, '30 L-1, '97 914, 2012 Cohen A5, 2012 Muth A5, '14 OM28A

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    Registered User buddyellis's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by (fatt-dad @ April 19 2006, 10:53)
    Well, I just had my males and females mixed up. I meant did you remove the wood from the male part of the neck joint. From your description, I think that's what you did (i.e., you didn't do any trimming from the block of wood that is in the body of the sound box).

    f-d
    Correct, I removed a small amount of wood from the neck itself. I just figured it was easier to modify accurately.


    -b

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    Registered User bennyb's Avatar
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    ot response to Fatt-dad's question:
    If you press the neck in(not too tight) then pull it out, you can see a faint impression on the neck where it's tight. On my 2 IVs all the tightness was right at the "head" end where the sides come over the block. You might have to hold it up to the light to see it. I took some off of both parts(just a little too much on the second one).

    best, bennyb

  7. #7
    Registered User buddyellis's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by (bennyb @ April 19 2006, 14:07)
    ot response to Fatt-dad's question:
    If you press the neck in(not too tight) then pull it out, you can see a faint impression on the neck where it's tight. On my 2 IVs all the tightness was right at the "head" end where the sides come over the block. You might have to hold it up to the light to see it. I took some off of both parts(just a little too much on the second one).

    best, bennyb
    Good point, I forgot to mention that. Just remove wood from the spots where it gets 'shiny compressed' when you insert the neck into the slot.

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    I used carbon paper to fit both the tone bars and neck. Makes it much easier to see where it's rubbing.

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    Hi Buddyellis, Looks like you are doing a nice job on the IV I kit. In your blog I noticed the shape of your tone bars; they are quite different from the diagram in my old (1977) Siminoff book. I shaped mine according to that aged book so they are not narrowed at the center. I have not glued the back on yet and can recarve them if that is the thing to do. Any advice on the shaping and tuning of the tone bars will be greatly appreciated.

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    Kelley Mandolins Skip Kelley's Avatar
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    Great job on the mandolin! Nice flame in the back too!

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    The tone bars may work, but you need to realize the weakest part of those bars is directly under where the very highest down pressure is.

    I, myself, would be concerned about a couple of years down the road. They won't offer you much support shaped that way. They might prove to produce some very nice sound however, if the top can handle the strain.

    Ron



    My wife says I don't pay enough attention to what she says....
    (Or something like that...)

  12. #12
    Registered User buddyellis's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by (Antlurz @ April 19 2006, 20:49)
    The tone bars may work, but you need to realize the weakest part of those bars is directly under where the very highest down pressure is.

    I, myself, would be concerned about a couple of years down the road. They won't offer you much support shaped that way. They might prove to produce some very nice sound however, if the top can handle the strain.

    Ron
    According to siminoff, the bars arent for support, but tone. The shaping seemed to liven the top up a bit, but at any rate, they aren't really that thin, the photo is a bit misleading. Frankly I have no clue what I'm doing, so abiding by the tried and true is probably better.

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    I'd be tempted to use a paper gasket backboard assembly to string it up the first time with to see what it sounds like. Then if it works, split the paper gasket and put the back on permanently.

    Ron



    My wife says I don't pay enough attention to what she says....
    (Or something like that...)

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