Sides are first cut to around 3mm on the bandsaw from larger
pieces of Myrtle.
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Then thicknessed to 2mm on the drum sander.
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The first edge is planed
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Making sure it is perfectly straight with a straight edge.
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Cut to width 1-2mm wider than final width on the bandsaw.
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Plane to final width, checking to make sure it is straight
with a straight edge.
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Heat up the bending pipe.
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The Myrtle side is dipped in water and bent over the hot
bending pipe. This process takes a little practice to
get right, it is important not to force the bend or the wood
will break. Myrtle can be wet thoroughly, other
timbers such as figured Maple should not be wet too much.
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Once bent the side is clamped in the mould and left to dry
overnight. Some other timber such as Blackwood will
need to stay clamped for longer because they have more
tendency to spring back. The next day the other side
is bent and clamped in the mould.
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Now we need to make the head and tailblocks. I use
Queensland Maple because it is a local timber so readily
available and is reasonably light and very stable. The
traditional timber is Mahogany, but is difficult to get in
Australia. Here is a plank of Queensland Maple.
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The headblock and tailblocks are marked onto the Maple.
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Maple is cut to length.
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And the head and tailblocks cut out on the bandsaw.
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Flattened
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and shaped on the linisher. An oscillating sander
would be better because it keeps the sides at 90deg, but I
don't have one (no room).
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Likewise so with the tailblock.
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The sides are cut to length and glued and clamped to the
headblock and tailblock in the mold.
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Now we need to make some linings. I use either Douglas
Fir or King Billy Pine. The traditional timber is
boxwood, but it is unobtainable where I live. The
timber used for linings is probably one of the least
critical timbers of all the woods used to construct a
mandolin. I usually make a batch at a time so I have
enough linings to last me at least a year.
Here I am using Douglas Fir. 12mm strips of wood are
cut (quarter sawn) from a plank of Fir and thicknessed to
10mm on the drum sander.
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Here is a batch that will be cut into enough linings to last
me a while.
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The edges are planed and squared off.
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The linings are cut on the bandsaw with the table tilted.
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Then the wood is planed square again ready for the next cut
and the process repeated.
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So now we have a number of strips.
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The bandsaw is set up with a stop so the cuts will not cut
right through the strip. Cuts are made at about 10mm
intervals with the bandsaw.
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The cut face is smoothed on the linisher.
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Here we have a small batch of completed linings.
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Linings are glued onto the sides and clamped with clothes
pegs. Here I have inserted an internal mold to ensure
the shape remains symmetrical. Once the glue is dry
the sides are now complete.
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