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Base theme by DesignModo & ported to Powered by Vanilla by Chris Ireland, modified by the "theFB" team.
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Are you thinking of making wooden knobs for it?
If I make knobs then yes, they'll be wood - possibly some of the beech or grenadilla left over from the fretboard blank (although there might not be much of that left by the time I've made the bridge). Making a nice round shape may be a challenge though... I haven't got a hole saw or lathe, so it'll have to be roughly cut and filed to shape then possibly finished off on a drill. Last time I made knobs for a project I cheated and cut some sections off a piece of dowel (actually I think it may have been broom handle), then used beer bottle lids for the tops. I haven't got anything suitable size for the knobs on this mando though, so I'd have to start from scratch this time.
Managed to get a few hours to work on it yesterday and made a bridge and nut out of the left-over grenadilla (it's the hardest wood I've got so should work well), and a couple of knobs out of a sandwich of grenadilla and beech. The height adjustment bolts on the bridge have been left long until I check exactly how high it needs to be, then I'll chop them off to a suitable length.
Didn't get any done today, so I've booked Tuesday off work to get the last bits finished. I just need to file string slots in the bridge and nut, sort out the magnetic control cavity cover and string it up. Should be able to do that easily in a day - although I do need to do some work on my car during the day as well... So hopefully I'll have a finished entry for the challenge just in time.
And it plays really nicely with excellent intonation - much nicer to play than my 100-year-old banjolin, so it'll get some use. I'll probably fit some strap buttons sometime, but I haven't got any suitable ones now so I'm declaring it done.
A few "finished" pics:
I've made a couple of similar things before with the same sort of construction and unconventional methods (a 5-string guitar and a violin) but this was the first time I'd tried to put a fancy top and back on, and the first time I've used any "raw" local wood that needed drying out before use. I'm really pleased with how it's worked out.
https://soundcloud.com/user-89654242/mandolin-test?utm_source=clipboard&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=social_sharing