Swap use of Siminoff H5 body assembly fixture for an A5?

[Steve Roberts]

Last year I bought an H5 mandola body assembly fixture from Roger Siminoff and used it to make one of his mandolas. The instrument came out great, but for my second instrument I think I will do something without a scroll...

During the first half of 2011 I hope to build one of Roger's A5s. Rather than spend money on tooling (how about that for a true definition of an amateur?) I would rather put the cost of a body assembly fixture into the actual instrument. Is there a Mando Cafe denizen who would like to borrow my lightly used H5 fixture in exchange for the use of one of Siminoff's A5 fixtures?

I know that I could build one of these myself and have it forever, but I am trying to get to a finished mandolin as quickly as possible.

Thanks!

Steve Roberts
Cleveland, Ohio

[Darren Kern]

Just a thought, Roger makes a fine kit, and he will let you customize the level of completion. Speaking from experience, building from scratch for the first time is not an easy undertaking especially if you don't have a lot of woodworking experience. I am working on my first scratch builds now, and I am thankful for my kit building experience.

[DoubleG]

First Clevelander I've seen in the Forum - know of any good Jams in town where a guy could learn a few things? I have a violin maker friend in PA building me an F-Style using the Siminoff plans. Can't wait to hear how it sounds.

[bernabe]

If you wanna build an a-style from a form, the fixture is one of the easiest and inexpensive elements of the build. Even for a one-time use, the cost will be less than shipping the mandola form for the swap and faster than waiting for a reply on here from someone wanting to do the swap. I think if you executed the task you'd realize it was easier and faster than you thought. Good luck.