More mandolin work

The French polishing on Sean’s mandolin is well under way. I often get asked how long does French polishing take or how many coats etc. Simple answer-  there is no answer! It’s one of things that you work on and on, and then one day it suddenly looks done; it tells you when you're done.

The Standard plus has now been set-up and I’m really pleased with the initial sound- loud to say the least! It will stay strung up for about week before the final tweaking and then be polished.

It has one of my own tailpieces. One really successful aspect of these tailpieces is the ability to be able change the shape of the wooden element to complement the head shape and also to vary the wood itself; so as you can see this one is Indian rosewood to match the back and sides.

Work has started on John’s mandolin- we’ve gone for a three piece back on this one. Putting a back together like this one is a bit tricky. Because the grain in cocobolo is quite wild, it runs in opposing directions along the joint. Ideally you should always use the longest plane that you have; however, here I have had to use my low angle block plane to stop the grain from tearing out.

Then you the three pieces to align plus a black veneer in the joint; note how notches have been cut into the back to ensure that the pressure is applied evenly by the clamps.

And here we have it!

Fiddly bits!

This week has been a week of fiddly bits! I’ve just completed the tailpiece for Alan’s mandolin and visually I’m very pleased with combination of ebony, cocobolo and brass. What I can do with these tailpieces is shape them to complement the head shape. The main thing is, however, it gives a really firm anchor for the strings which I’m convinced helps sustain.

I’ve also put together these two rosettes; this one is for Sean’s twin-point.

 And this one? Well, I want to introduce a new mandolin, an “A” style, which slots in between my Standard mandolin and the twin-point, giving me a broader model range.

More on this later........

Standard Mandolin II

Standard Mandolin II is now completed and very nice it is too!

Sitka spruce soundboard, koa back and sides bound with rosewood, maple neck with a koa head overlay, rosewood fingerboard, rosewood bridge and of course that tailpiece.

I love this back!!

One thing that I’ve changed on this mandolin is the finish. Most of you who follow my blog, know that I’m a great advocate of Tru-oil, however on this (and subsequent mandolins) I’ve used an open pour satin shellac finish. It still has the wonderful smooth feel and natural appearance of the oil, but being shellac based I think that it looks even better.

So what is this “open pour satin shellac finish” then? Well, I’ve started French polishing with a modified shellac polish- that’s a polish that contains Ethyl Cellulose. It’s still applied in the traditional way, but is a generally more resilient polish. Whilst I was French polishing with it, it became clear to me that if I could apply this material in a similar way to the Tru-oil I should get a similar finish.

What are the advantages? Well, I’ve always believed that shellac diffracts the light in a certain way which greatly enhances the appearance of the wood.

The Ethyl Cellulose gives a resilient finish.

I generally prefer spirit based rather than oil finishes as they are not absorbed into the wood.

Also I have found that Tru-oil can take a very long time to dry on resinous woods such as rosewood.

Once the finish has hardened the satin appearance is created with micro-mesh abrasive and 0000 steel wool and then a couple of coats of museum quality, microcrystalline wax polish are applied. Hey presto a very pretty mandolin!

It will soon be on its way to Kevin. I’ve never been one for customer endorsements, you know, “Mrs B of Cleethorpes loves our double glazing.” But Kevin’s Dad has one of my twin-point mandolins, so that’s endorsement enough for me!

Mandolin Tailpiece

For quite awhile, I’ve wanted to design and make my own mandolin tailpieces. I won’t dwell on the merits of current designs; let’s cut to the chase!

I wanted a design that’s predominantly wood so that:

One, I can match it to the tonewoods used.

Two, I can vary the shape to complement the head design.

I feel that the tailpiece needs to be anchored to the mandolin firmly rather than use the violin style “gut” fastener that is sometimes used with wooden tailpieces.

So, I’ve gone for a design that has a brass base/fixing which is “housed” in hardwood.

Here's the base plate before bending-

Hopefully, the aesthetics speak for themselves; so here's the function part!

The brass pegs are made from machine screws, which means that they are threaded along their length. I decided to use these rather than plain brass rod, so that the thread grips the loop end of the strings and stops them from riding up the pins.

The strings pass through holes in the wooden body- this has the effect of dampening them, so that they don’t vibrate and buzz like they can on some metal designs.

The idea of the raised sides is simply to protect the player from the pegs, although I’ve left the end of the tailpiece open, this means that you slide the strings easily through the hole as you don’t have to bend them.

One unintended advantage is that the strings seem to stay in place before they are tensioned because they are held in alignment by the hole and griped by the thread. Jolly successful if I say so myself!

This tailpiece is going on to Standard II hence being made from rosewood and koa and the sloping end to match the headstock, however, this won’t be a regular component on the Standard as it’s a good days work to make. It will be used on the more expensive twin-point.