Finished at last

Well, the mandolin banjo is now complete. I fitted the new set of strings and lowered the action a bit. I really like the sound - it suits blues well, but it can be a bit loud. I'm particularly pleased with the inlay around the rim - I think that I will try something like this on the octave mandola that's coming next.

The 'Pot' is finished

I've inlayed some mother of pearl and ebony into the rim of the pot - I'm pretty happy with the results. I have attached the neck with one bolt and one screw - the bolt looks a bit ugly so I may replace it with another screw. Also, the pine at the bottom of the pot looks out of place so I am thinking of gluing a maple veneer over it to hide it.

Well precisely...

Here is the oval peghead hole (the shame). Luckily the bushing will cover it up! In my defense, the original holes were all out of alignment and the drill bit followed the path of least resistance.

Creeping forwards

I managed to squeeze in a couple more sessions in the garage. I have glued on the back and fitted the banding to cover the join. I have also fitted a new set of frets (which went well) and drilled out the holes for the tuners. This latter job was a bit sloppy, and one of the holes has ended up oval - I can cover it up but it was a bit slack. Less than Zen.

Mandolin banjo - progress report

I want to get this one finished as soon as possible, so I can start my next proper project (an octave mandola, in walnut). I have made a new rim (constructional maple veneers bent round a mould), and I am going to glue the base on next. This (also in the photo) is a nice bookmatched maple veneer, glued to a thin plywood base. The join will be hidden by a binding round the base.

I have cleaned up the old neck and fitted a new peghead veneer - I have still to put the new frets in, fit the nut and fit a set of tuning machines.