Australian/New Zealand Luthiers Forum

Ripper Martin, grabbed one today! Thx

Update time, The bowl is off the mould and has been lined with decorative paper. A tailblock has been added as have linings. Both spruce. The label is in and the bowl has been trimmed, slots for the braces cut and the top glued on. I expect the photos will say it all but I can elaborate. Apologies f...

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Thanks Allen. Progress. All of the ribs are on the mould! The last two were sized by creating a paper template for each side. They were then cut out, shaped, fitted, glued and finally clamped. The lot will now sit till Monday when the cap strip and linings are added. There will also be a bit of scra...

Progress photos. Firstly the mould keeps getting ribs on it. Ive included a photo of the current status, a ribbed mandolin back and another bowl style. The bowl style we are building is considered to be the pinnacle of Calace design. You will notice how sharp the curves are compared to the more roun...

Update time There are now 20 ribs on the mould. We have turned the corner to coin a phrase. The centre back of the bowl is relatively flat and the bowl then rises steeply. this transition occurs over four ribs each side. These ribs need to be twisted as they are fitted so the procedure is a bit diff...

End of Day 3. There are now six ribs fitted to the mould.. The basic process is to bend the ribs to shape, then mark out the widths. The rib widths are determined by dividing a sector of the mould into equal sections and dividing by the number of ribs. This is done at three points along the mould. T...

So are you being instructed in Italian? Post away. Really looking forward to following along. Yes, and broken English. This is fair enough as my Italian is pretty limited. Fortunately everyone speaks a bit of each. There is some stunning work going on in the workshop. I will post other photos when ...

Earlier this year I came across an ad by Carlo Mazzaccara for a Neapolitan Mandolin making course. This has been a bit of a obsession of mine for a while now. I grabbed the opportunity, crossed the world and we had our first day in the workshop yesterday. My intention in this post is to create a rec...

Ive bought good Gidgee from a bloke called Justin Everett in Wagga. I found him on the Australian Wood Selling Group on FB.

I got given a secret family recipe when I was in Canada a few years ago. Add 10% ea of Mastic and Gum Sandarac to your flakes when dissolving them. What all is liquid bring the mix to the boil for a few minutes, three times. Then let it cool, dilute and proceed as usual. This recipe also appears on ...

Slick! One of the features of oil finishes is that they do yellow over time. This can be a feature or a distraction depending on your personal taste. Looking good!

Nice job indeed. You can be proud of your achievement! Ive just finished french polishing a bowlback mandolin. I also use Wurth spray Laquer but it was too cold and it went foggy so I reverted to tried and true methods. For the soundboard Ive been told that glair is traditional. Glair is egg whites ...

Getting a case for a German style mandolin here is pretty well impossible. Importing one is just usurious. So I made one. 6mm birch ply, faux leather from one of my sons abandoned upholstery project, a $12 exercise mat and an bean bag cover. Hardware from the big B. It comes in about 3.5kg and when ...

Do you have part details Allen? That is a great idea.

Congratulations!

That looks amazing. The skill in getting those ribs shaped is very impressive. It’s a bit of a learning curve but the fundamentals are just geometry. Think segments of a mandarin or orange and you understand it. Making it requires a fair amount of detailed piece by piece fitting. Getting it really ...

A new German style mandolin. Local and exotic timbers, Sitka Spruce, Fijian Mahogany, Silky Oak, Arizona Ironwood. Strung with Aquila Red Mandolin strings. Just strung up this morning so it will take a week or so for things to settle and I can find out what kind of voice it has. Built from the plans...

I havent, Ive only tried to fix up my own stuff ups. I ended up using a hand drill.

There are a lot of “Silky Oak” varieties. Certainly the bits I have tap like cardboard. The only exception is a set of got from Tim Spittle a few decades ago. It is no rosewood but it boings.

I wouldn’t use it for a soundboard, Western Red Cedar or event Pinus Radiata at a pinch.

Nice way to handle a prick of a job.

Pretty, very pretty. Beautiful piece of work!!

This came across my feed on another application. Does anyone have experience with it as a belt cleaner?

[youtube]https://m.youtube.com/watch?fbclid=IwAR ... e=youtu.be[/youtube]

Looks good. Im assuming it’s clapped to the bench? Where did you hide the clamp?

Yes, he didn’t suffer fools or those he considered fools. But he was always very generous with his knowledge. I always read his posts on numerous forums. VALE! A true innovator.