Bracing the 'cello

With the rosette completed, fitting the internal bracing is the next step for Jonathan’s mandocello. I’m using X-bracing as it’s simply the strongest and on a 10 string mandocello you have to be robust!

So, here is a number of days’ work compressed into a few photos.  Firstly, some accurate marking out is needed;  as the underside of the soundboard is hollow, it made sense to lay-out the angles on the same jig that I used for routing the sound hole and then transfer them to the edge of the top.

After making a number of templates, directly from the inside of the top, the braces are roughly cut on the bandsaw.

They’re then cleaned up with a flat file to a close-ish fit and then the fun starts……

Fitting the braces to the top, demands the utmost accuracy. I clamped a strip of angle aluminium to the top; this ensures that the brace is vertical and after checking, goes back into exactly the same position each time. A strip of abrasive paper then goes between the brace and the top, you then put a CD on and settle down to a couple of hours of painstaking sanding until the brace fits.

Once both braces have been shaped, the joint for the X has to be carefully marked-out and executed. I decided to glue the two braces to each other, before gluing to the top itself, this way they are self-supporting when you actually do glue them to the top.

I clamped them to the top whilst the glue set in order to ensure that they are in the correct alignment to each other.

As a belt and braces measure I’ve glued small fillets of spruce into the X, this should ensure that the joint never fails.

So, with X brace made and reinforced, another CD goes on to the player and some final fettling to the fit.

Last test; with clamps in place and a feeler gauge to check for gaps.

Then I made up a simple wood and foam clamping caul to support the weight of  the clamps and to help spread the pressure of them evenly along each brace.

The X is then glued into place………….

Strings attached!

And here we have Alex's twin-point strung-up.............

Alex’s Twin-Point

Just completed shaping the neck of Alex’s twin-point, getting ready for setting it up “in the white.”
A few photos for you………..

A bit of a challenge!

I’ve just completed work on the rosette for Jonathan’s carved top mandocello. It’s a task that only those who are practically minded would appreciate the complexity of. Unlike most rosettes, you have, thanks to the carved shape, a third dimension to work in. I probably spent as much time thinking about how to achieve it as I did making it!

Firstly, a jig had to be made-up to allow me to cut a clean and accurate oval shaped soundhole with a router.

And a lot of careful work to get to this stage………………..

…..I got so involved that I forgot to take any photos of the "in between" stages, doh!
As the rosette is oval and it follows the curve of the top, each piece of abalone had to be cut and individually fitted.

And he we have it.