DIY Network

Handmade Mandolin, Part 5: Assembling the Body From "Handmade Music" episode DHMM-106

The Gibson F5 mandolin, on which this handmade replica is based, featured a top made of red-spruce. Modern luthier's like Lynn Dudenbostel strive to replicate the look and, more importantly, the sound of the great mandolins from the past.

This episode of DIY's Handmade Music continues our three-part series on the building of a great custom mandolin. Luthier Lynn Dudenbostel glues the top and the back to the sides and then adds binding to complete the body. Finally, veiwers learn the first steps of making a neck.

In this segment, the mandolin's body gets assembled.

Materials:

Instrument maker's glue
Clamps
Table router
Sandpaper
Wooden dowel
Finger planes
Gouges
Sharp chisel
Carpenter's pencil
Safety glasses or goggles

Safety Alert: Always wear safety goggles or safety glasses when
working with wood, power-tools, saws, drills, routers, etc.

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Gluing the Top and Back to the Sides

In the previous episode, Lynn Dudenbostel completed the construction of the red spruce top, crafting it with a combination of old and new technology. A computer-aided router cut the shape close to vintage specs, and Lynn, like luthiers of old, carved the final graduations using finger planes. The back was carved the same way, but Lynn used a block of curly maple. Finally he employed more "old world technology" to bend strips of maple around a heated pipe. These strips (or sides) formed the shape of the mandolin's perimeter. Now, to finish the body, Lynn will glue the top and the back to the rim.

• The kerfed lining Lynn installed earlier provides plenty of surface area to spread a generous amount of instrument-maker's glue (figure A)

• Once the glue is applied, Lynn places the curly maple back in place (figure B).

  Figure A

  Figure B

  
  
• Plenty of clamps are used to secure the back to the rim as the glue dries(figure C).

• After drying overnight, Lynn autographs his work. It's his last opportunity to work inside the instrument, because after the next step, attaching the top, the interior of the instrument will no longer be accessible.

• Lynn attaches the top just as he did the back the back (figure D). He uses the same glue and spreads it along the kerfed lining.

  Figure C

  Figure D

  
  
• After at least four hours of drying, the body is removed from its form (figure E) and the mandolin has begun to take shape (figure F), but there's still plenty of work left to be done. The overlap from the top and back needs to be cleaned up. Also, decorative binding must be installed before this body can be declared complete.

  Figure E

  Figure F

  
  
• A quarter-inch flush-trim router bit is used remove most of the overhang from the top and back (figure G).

• Then 100-grit sandpaper is used smooth out the bumps and clean up the surfaces. Lynn wraps the paper around a wooden dowel to work the bends and curves of the instrument (figure H). In time, Lynn finishes with a perfectly unified surface that melds the back, sides and top.

  Figure G

  Figure H

  
  
• The biggest challenge of this phase of the mandolin construction is still ahead. The most distinctive characteristic of an F-5 mandolin is the swirling scroll at the top of the body (figure I). That feature simply cannot be created using a router bit. Lynn makes use of a variety of hand-ools to form the scroll.

• First he carves away excess wood using a razor-edged knife. Then he glues sandpaper to a sliver of plastic and uses that to sand away surplus wood inside the scroll (figure J). Finally he uses gouges, chisels and finger-planes to sculpt the look of a classic mandolin scroll. It's this type of work that sets luthiers like Lynn Dudenbostel apart. There are no templates to guide him in this part of the process. His resources are experience and creativity.

  Figure I

  Figure J

  
  

  Figure K

RESOURCES :

Stewart MacDonald's Luthier Supply Shop
Website: www.stewmac.com

Luthier's Mercantile International, Inc.
Website: www.lmii.com

Pioneer Valley Luthier Supply Company
Website: www.pioneervalleyluthier.com

GUESTS :

Lynn Dudenbostel, Luthier
Dudenbostel Stringed Instruments
Knoxville, TN