Stewmac Kit Project

[Jim Baker]

I received a Campfire Mandolin kit this year as a gift. (from Santa). I've been working on it since and only have finishing to do. I did take a few photos and did have a few hiccups along the way so I though I should share them in the event the anyone else can use my experience.

I followed the instructions pretty much to the letter. I regret not starting to photograph my progress earlier. I started at the point where I had ribs glued in.

[Jim Baker]

One comment about the supplied "sanding stick" which is used to create an arch on the ribs and for sanding a slight angle on the sides and lining. The sanding of the arch is a bit tricky because the arch on the sanding stick when clamped and blocked is tighter at the clamp end. Next time I will make a jig for this. (sorry no photo)

[Jim Baker]

The gluing in of the neck rod was no problem except I used too much epoxy glue and it went everywhere when I pushed in the rod. Next time I'll mask more of the neck to prevent the glue from running all down the bare wood.
Installing frets was easy. I used a small hammer and regular side cutters. No issues.
When gluing on the fretboard I used the rubber bands provided and that worked quite well. Again be careful to mask everything you don't want glue on.

I had a bit of trouble with the pearl markers. The instructions recommended using a 1/4" brad point drill for making the pockets, but the pearl markers are a bit undersized. Left a bit of a gap to fill around the markers. The side markers went well.

No problem carving the nut blank or gluing it in.

[Jim Baker]

I made up some spool clamps from some 3/4" plywood and some carriage bolts and a bit of shoe leather. Here is a picture of the top in clamps.

[Jim Baker]

Unfortunately I didn't get pictures of gluing up the sides and neck and tail blocks. I did have a bit of trouble keeping the end joints of the sides tight. Use plenty of tape on the joint before you starting gluing. Here is a picture of the top and sides assembled. Notice that I used a bit of the offcut of the sound hole reinforcement to reinforce the seam back of the large rib.

One thing I should mention is that I added a laminate of maple on top of the neck block and then sanded it down to follow the induced arch in the top. I think it worked out pretty well because the fretboard extension has little gap under it and the top was clamped down hard to the block.

[Jim Baker]

A picture of the back in clamps.

[Jim Baker]

I decided to bind the to edge so I got some white black white laminated abs binding from LMI. I made a little router jig to guide the rabbet cut.

[Jim Baker]

Cutting the binding rabbet went well up until the last couple inches when the cutter grabbed and took a chunk out of my nice spruce top. OUCH!

[Jim Baker]

I went ahead and glued on the binding and then cut in a little Dutchman. It's visible but not from a distance in the dark.

[Jim Baker]

Oh! I forgot to mention that I rigged up a simple jig for sanding the binding to width. The binding came rough cut and measured up to nearly 5/16". I took it down to around .200"

[Jim Baker]

I also bound the sound hole as you might see on some old bowlbacks. I wanted to do perfling but couldn't find suitable sized perfling and I don't have a circle cutter or router jig to to the recesses. Maybe next time.

[Jim Baker]

Bolting on the neck was fairly painless. It lined up pretty well with a little filing of the neck block hole. I took a straight edge down the middle as a guide and tightened it up. After that I finished assembly in a couple hours and had it strung up and tuned. Since I've been playing it and am so pleased that I'm putting off doing the finishing fearing that the sound will degrade.

[Jim Baker]

I'm still not certain what I will use for finish. I've been trying to find a suitable stain to darken the maple but have not found anything I like yet. I think I may use shellac for finish. I have some minwax urethane, but am not sure I want to use it. I don't have lacquer and don't know where to get it around where I live.

Hoping for inspiration..........

[Stephanie Reiser]

Jim, great job! I never knew those kits looked so nice. Any one of the possible finishes you mentioned would work, each having their own properties...tendencies...and such. But leave it in the white awhile and enjoy it for now, is what I'd do. I like how you repaired the spruce when you got into trouble. Now its time to sweep the floor and begin another!
Thanks for sharing, it was enjoyable to read.

[mandozilla]

Hi Jim - Looks Good! I'm thinking of trying my hand at a mando kit. I have decent woodworking skills and experience with tools but what I lack is patience...I tend to rush things a bit. Any advice in these gards?

[Randy Price]

Hi Jim -

I built a Campfire too and I'm at the same point you are - I don't know what finish I'll use. Any advice would be appreciated.

Thanks

[Jim Baker]

Thanks for sharing folks. Nice to see others enjoying similar endeavors. What strikes me most about this little kit is that it sounds nice and plays well. I was worried about the angle of the neck, the height of the bridge,the thickness of the spruce top and the neck bolt strength but those worried were unfounded.
Now I'm most concerned about what stain to use on the maple. I really wanted to enhance the maple with a nice stain to bring out the beauty of the wood. I tried a couple stains on wood scraps and neither looked good.

[8ch(pl)]

I always thought that I would do one of these in Nitrate-cellulose Lacquer with a thin layer of white shellac on the top. In ither words, no lacquer on the top. That way it could be wiped down with alcohol (which doesn't desolve the lacquer) and be re applied if it got grubby looking. I think this would be a boon acoustically and would open up quicker.

Just my thoughts, it would not be hard to apply the lacuer to the top if this didn't work out.

[wasatch1]

Thanx so much for sharing. When the garage warms up, maybe I'll try one. Have used violin lacquer on North American flutes - not a stain, but nice finish.

[Mandolusional]

Nice work! I have been mildly interested in putting a Stew Mac kit together for some time, but wondered about the process and hiccups along the way. Your explanation was helpful and looks like it was a fun journey, thanks for sharing.

[markishandsome]

Nice work! If you just want a solid color you might try adding some Trans-Tint or similar dye to regular blond shellac. That way you can adjust the color to your preference. Plus with shellac you could have the instrument strung back up and playing the next day. Applying the finish will probably alter the tone, but I wouldn't say it would degrade it. The tone will change over the next few weeks of playing in regardless.

BTW, the struts glued to the underside of the top are usually called braces. "Ribs" usually refers to the sides of the instrument.

mandozilla - lack of patience shouldn't be an obstacle unless you also happen to be a perfectionist. Carpe diem

[robertniles]

I just finished one as well. I used Tru-oil for the finish. I'm familiar with it and it does a great job. I'll post pictures when I get home. Tru-oil is nice but it is something to be patient with. I apply a thin coat several times with a rag doll (4" cloth folded and placed into another 4" cloth to make a little ghosty like thingie). I apply thin layers, waiting a day, sanding out any dust, then wait a day and add another layer. Repeat.

Perfect on the maple but next time on the soundboard, I'm going to try using the epoxy for filler before applying the Tru-oil ..although it did some out looking pretty spiffy even without the epoxy.

Hi Jim -

I built a Campfire too and I'm at the same point you are - I don't know what finish I'll use. Any advice would be appreciated.

Thanks

[Bill Snyder]

...Perfect on the maple but next time on the soundboard, I'm going to try using the epoxy for filler before applying the Tru-oil ..although it did some out looking pretty spiffy even without the epoxy.

Filler is not normally used on closed grain woods like spruce. What do you hope to accomplish by using the epoxy?

[Rick Turner]

Bill, think of the epoxy as a sealer rather than a filler, though it can do double duty.

[Bill Snyder]

Rick, filler is the word he used so I went with it.