Beginning and Ending part 2

Whilst the varnish on the Cedar classical is fully drying, I’ve been making its bridge. I’ve decided to double drill this one. That means there are two sets of holes per string.

This is meant to make tying the string easier and more importantly allows a better break angle as the knot isn’t pulling the string up. It seems a good idea and many luthiers are now using this method, I don’t know who did it first. You can see in one of the photos below how the bridge in carefully fitted to soundboard, a bit tricky as my soundboards are built with a slight arch.

I’ve bent the sides of the new shape mandolin, this quilted “big leaf” maple bends really easy, which is fortunate as the curves around the point are quite tight! In order to protect the points from accidental damage, I’ve tipped them in ebony. I plan on binding the whole body in ebony too.

Back to the workshop………………..