Archtop #4; real work begins!

So, carrying on from the previous post. With the neck laminated, the head angle is cut ready for the spliced head joint.

You can see here how the neck and head will be joined. 

The problem is; because the join line isn’t at a right angle to the direction of the clamping pressure, there is a tendency for the two pieces to slide apart, once the wet (and initially slippery) glue and pressure is applied.

By clamping the head in the vice and a block to the bench, that ability to slide is eliminated.

And here’s the clamping arrangement; you can see why it’s easier to bandsaw the whole thing from a single piece of wood! But, I never doing anything because it’s easier, only because it’s better.

I’m using Macassar ebony for the head overlay (and for other parts of the instrument) and mother of pear for the logo inlay. The inlay takes an inordinate amount of time for something that has no real bearing on how the mandolin plays! There’s a fair bit about this process in the video, so I won’t go in to that here.

So here’s the neck blank and the head overlay ready to be glued; the wooden pegs ensure that the logo ends up where it’s meant to be!

 

You can see that the rim is now complete too. 

However, before it comes out of the external mould, a centre line has to be marked so that the neck mortice and end graft are correctly located. With no flat surface or straight lines that’s easier said than done!

 

And here’s the back ready to be carved.