Wiks - N - Wud Werks

Padauk Mando Finished

2012-01-17T14:48:00.000-08:00

I still have to mount a pick guard on the mando , but for all intents and purposes she is done . It sounds very good , quite a bright sound . If I can get time I will post a you tube of he being played . I have moved the F holes on this unit down toward the lower bout 1" to experiment with the sound . Please have a look at the following pics and thank you for stopping by.

Thanks for stopping by and enjoying my woodworking passion .

Build Challenge

2011-12-30T12:08:00.000-08:00

Over at the Official Luthiers Forum http://www.luthiersforum.com/ We have started a Build Challenge for Builders who are Members from around the globe .

If you are not Familiar with the site I recommend that you stop by there . You will find allot of great looking Guitars and find some very friendly people .

This Challenge goes as Follows :

( 1 ) Any stringed instrument you wish to build .
( 2 ) $150.00 Maximum cost , or comparable cost to the land in which you reside " see Spirit of Challenge comment ". To include Wood , Hardware , and Finish IE : Laq , tru-oil , etc:
DO NOT count tools , Molds , glue , tape , sandpaper , cases etc: Materials on hand should be given an
honest value . See Spirit of challenge comment .
( 3 ) Woods must be Indigenous to your region " within reason " See spirit of challenge comment .
( 4 ) No CITIES Materials
( 5 ) Must be Participating OLF member and throw your hat in the ring prior to end of Jan 2012
( 6 ) Finished for judging by end Of may 2012 , allows for 1 month of judging to take place in June .
( 7 ) Pics and utube sound clip for judging .
( 8 ) Judging will be done by OLF public vote and the one with most votes at the end of June wins
( 9 ) This is about FUN and CREATIVITY , so lets not get bogged down in petty stuff . Police yourselves and
Keep in mind the SPIRIT of the Challenge .

START BUILDING AS OF JAN 1ST 2012 , AS OF THE LAND IN WHICH YOU RESIDE

It should be an interesting time , there are a good number of builders involved . Stop by often and check up on the Build Challenge progress !

Electric Build

2011-12-05T14:53:00.000-08:00

While I was waiting on some parts to come in for a couple of the guitars I am working on ( hardware stuff) I decided to do some basic work on the electric I have been thinking about .

The body is Mahogany and the neck is Maple . I have added a "heel" at the body joint to give it a different look . The design is for a Strato-caster

The front is partially milled at this point , It will have Humbucker pickups and a black pick guard . A Inset Plug and electronics pockets yet to be routered in.

I have A friend in the luthier world who does custom inlays for people and he made this head plate for me along with several others . His name is Stephen Ziegenfuss and can be reached at www.ziegenfussguitars.com

Thanks for stopping by my little shop and having a look

More Of " Tool Cane " Series

2011-11-24T12:49:00.001-08:00

Hello again . I got to thinking about this and decided , Whats the good of a Hammer if a man doesn't have a Nail to use it on ? Sooooooooooo Instead of making a plain dowel I turned a piece that is " Supposed " to resemble a nail .

Turned it out of Maple as well , a cut off from the orig. piece .

Fitting the tip and getting a close dimension of the drilled hole .

I decided to just use Lemon oil wipe on finish , easier for the user to refinish if needed .

Look anything like a nail at the end of the Hammer ?

Thanks for stopping by and enjoying my little Passion .

Walking Cane Series

2011-11-23T11:26:00.001-08:00

The Third Build in my Walking Cane Series . I have a friend that has recently been using a cane allot , so I decided to take a break from luthery to make him a cane . He was a Carpenter most of his Life So I thought a 24oz Framing hammer was appropriate . The head was formed to allow for proper hand size and the proportions based on that .

I then started the handle , I had intentioned at first to make it full length but the proportions did not look right . I cut the handle down to the proper size and it will have a 1" maple dowel coming out of the bottom of the handle with a rubber cane tip applied .

The Square at the base of the handle will be remover after its drilled for the Dowel.

Tried to make the transition into the head look as close to the old style Maple / Hickory handles

Thanks for stopping by . Have a great day .

Cocobolo Build Started

2011-10-18T09:55:00.000-07:00

While I wait on Items to come in from LMI and StewMac , I started a Cocobolo Build . Working on back and sides now . Kerfing in place and Bracing for the back

Thanks For stopping by .

New Purple Heart Pics

2011-10-05T06:30:00.000-07:00

Working on getting the Purple heart to the point I can string it up and listen to the tone before I finish it with Laq.

I have used a Jig here from StewMac to locate the bridge and used dowels to pin it through the string pin holes for gluing . The Jig locates the bridge in relation to the nut / 12Th fret so you have the proper distance bridge to nut .

With the headstock I was trying to capture the " Arrow Head " Idea. The head stock being angled and the " Indian Arrow Head " Purple heart center .

Thanks For stopping by . Hope you enjoyed your Tour through my Hobby !

More Purple Heart Guitar Pics

2011-09-14T10:30:00.000-07:00

I have mounted the 1 Piece Mahogany Neck that I cut out to the body this week . Its bolted inside to hold it in place while the glue dries .

Another shot showing the fit from the side . I will install the truss rod and fretboard later this week.

Thanks for stopping by and enjoying my Little passion .

Tru Oil Padauk Finish

2011-08-12T11:43:00.001-07:00

At this point we are about 5 coats of " TRU OIL" into the finish of the back and sides . As you can see it shines quite nicely . It does take longer to finish this way and the Wood prep is way more important . The Tru Oil finish does not hide scratches or blemishes in the wood .

I do think I will use this technique again , I like the way it goes on and looks finished .

Thanks for stopping by.

Finish on Pudauk Build

2011-08-11T10:52:00.001-07:00

I have decided to try the TRU OIL finish on the Padauk Build . I have applied 3 coats of sealer /filler sanded and am starting the Coats of True Oil now . this is a much slower process than Laq. I am hoping I like it , looking good so far .

You can see th diffrence of raw wood and Tru Oil in the pic at the neck

2011-08-01T14:00:00.000-07:00

Spent a portion of last night putting in markers on a fret board . I wanted to for something a little different . Since the Guitar is Purple heart I decided to make Square Purple heart inlays . First time Ive ever tried this and hopefully I will get better with time . LOL

Thanks for stopping by , Hope you enjoyed your visit . Stall cool out there.

2011-07-29T08:07:00.000-07:00

Little more work on the Purple Heart Guitar Build . I have been fitting the neck Tenon joint to the guitar body . I am very close at this point . Some minor adjustment and we will have a good fit.

The Picture above shows the finish pencil line marks for the fretboard , the tension rod slot and carbon fibre filler stiffeners.

A Little better picture showing the shape of the headstock . Taken from an Arrow Idea.

Couple of pics showing the fit at the body . This is very time consuming .

Thanks for stopping by , Have a wonderful week and stay cool out there !

2011-07-20T09:05:00.000-07:00

I have been shaping the neck for the Purple Heart Guitar . It is made from one piece Mahogany and is stiffened with Carbon Fibre rods . This is a 12th fret fit to the body and will have a 1-3/4" nut width . I have fashioned the heel to the shape I have used on all my mando's and if you notice the Headstock has a "Arrow" shape . Not sure how its gonna work , I think OK , at least it looks different .

You can tell better from the picture below that the head stock actual has an angle where the tuners are and is bowled out in back.

The Picture below really shows the " Arrow" angle that I was shooting for .

I hope you enjoyed your short look through my wood shop . Thanks for stopping by.

Have a great day.

Oscar Schmidtt , Not oscar the grouch !

2011-07-07T07:40:00.000-07:00

Found this old Oscar Schmidtt AutoHarp at an antique store recently . It was in bad shape . Paid $35.00 for it and thought it was to much then . The back was falling off , the end pin bar was about pulled out ( where the strings attach on those lil pins ) and the bracing was all lose and warped. I didn't take pics of start , wish I had when I realize how well it turned out .

Picture from tuner end , they all appear orig.

Picture of end bar reglued in place and all the strings back on pins . Talk about a little pain in the butt to string .

4 hrs later , a bit of Hyde glue ( that's what was used originally ) and some preservation polish to clean it and still keep the patina , and there you have it . I didn't try and tune it those strings are old . I just tightened them slightly taut and let it go . Cant be played that way , but will look real nice as House decoration .

Thanks for stopping by .

Binding and Accent On Purple Heart Guitar

2011-07-01T08:08:00.001-07:00

I have spent a bit of time working on the Purple Heart Guitar and have now completed the Binding and Accent strips as you will See in the accompanying pictures .

Double strip down the back with approx 1/4" of purple heart showing down the center .

I have used a Black plastic for the Binding and accent strips . I thought it would stand out nicely against the purple heart wood.

Side shot . For anyone who doesn't know , Binding is a PAIN ! LOL

I doubled the strips on the heel section to give a nice heel contrast at 3/4" wide .

It shows nicely in this top pic as well .

Thanks for stopping by and looking at my simple hobby . Have a wonderful day !

Purple Heart Box Glued Up

2011-06-21T13:27:00.000-07:00

A few more Pictures of the Purple Heart Build I have been working on . I have the box glued up now and am starting working on the routing for the binding and gluing the binding in place .

Top Glued On

Picture from the back

Front and sound hole with rosette

Gluing the Black Binding in place

Thanks for stopping by !

More on the " Purple Heart Build "

2011-06-20T10:29:00.001-07:00

I have spent a bit more time working on the Purple Heart Guitar and wanted to update my progress here a little bit. I had never done a inlay Rosette on a top yet so I decided to try that. I routed the top approx .065 deep and set the rosette inlay in with titebond original mixed with black die to help it blend in . I got a little carried away with the glue and you can see it oooozed out a bit.

Ready to scrape , I used a razor Knife Blade to scrape with and it seemed to work well.

Finished scraping and a quick 220G sand and you have it.

Set my router back up and routed out the sound hole and have edged it with the same black binding material I am using on the guitar. Scraped And Sanded ready to go.

Did a basic layout for the top bracing and pre-cut the x-brace and finger braces and tone braces to set the lengths and scallop the ends and fit.

Picture below is the inside of the sides and back after gluing together . Bracing in place and Neck Block set . You notice the Neck Block is a C shape . I have never tried this yet so I am hoping that it will brace it well for the neck.

Second shot of internal back bracing

The following is a series of Pics showing the Top Bracing after the scallops have been ground for tone and support. Everything is Glued in place now.

And Finally the Top being glued into place with my Jig and spring loaded Clamp bars .

Thanks For Stoping By , Hope You Enjoyed Your Time !

St Louis Show Pictures

2011-06-02T12:42:00.001-07:00

Hello All . I recently went to a guitar / luthier gathering in St.Louis Mo. There were a approx 20 people who showed up and brought allot of beautiful work to be looked at and played. One piece I found rather interesting was built by a young man who is a native of St.Louis named Bryan Bear.

Brian wanted to learn how to play the banjo and at the same time wanted to keep his wife and baby happy. So his solution was to build a solid wood topped banjo . Keeping the Banjo sound , but a tad quieter . He is able to practice his pickin and grinning now without the wife being upset .

I was very impressed at his skills as a woodworker and wanted to share them with you in this post.

Please enjoy the pics of the skilled Luthier Bryan Bear .

More Padauk Build Pictures

2011-05-03T09:41:00.000-07:00

I have been working on the Padauk Mandola a bit more . With all of the rain , I cant spray laq. so I am working more on the wood building part . When "if" it ever decides to stop raining I will get some finishing done and post pics then.

Thanks Again for stopping by and having a look see . If you would Like to see More pics of some excellent builders ( many posted on side bar ) go to http://www.luthiersforum.com/ and have a look around . You wont be disappointed .

More Of Padauk Build

2011-04-05T06:52:00.001-07:00

I have spent a bit more time on the Padauk Build. I had to find Quarter sawn Material to bend the sides before I could finish . This is beautiful wood , however its a Pain to bend . VERY hard.

Bending side and fitting to the shape jig

I had Berton Legeyt make me some tuner knobs from Padauk Material to match . If you need tuner knobs he can be contacted here legeytguitars@gmail.com

He does great work and is very reasonable on pricing

Mandola Body Glued and kerfing in place with end blocks .

Glued and clamped the face on , all the tone bars are in place and the " F " holes cut.

Gluing binding around outer edge of top . Binding is Cocobolo material like the trim on the neck.

And the neck is mounted and checked for centering and angle .

Thanks for stopping by .

Purple Heart Build

2011-03-30T07:26:00.000-07:00

I have started anothe build in my spare time , so I have 4 builds going right now ! Nuts huh ! LOL This is Purple Heart wood . Yes that IS its natural color . I hope you enjoy my little wood working passion . Thanks

Thanks for stopping By . Have A Great day !

Ole Hik'ry

2011-03-08T06:42:00.000-08:00

I have a friends that had a baby boy about a year ago and ive kinda adopted him as a grandbaby . He is the cutest lil fella and all the girls swoon and make over him .

Anyway , The candlelady and I discussed the need for all lil boys to have a wild stallion to break and ride when they are searcing the world for the bad guys , and trying to outrun mommy and her nasty tasting medicine !

I had a stash of Hickory lumber I had bought to make a couple mandolins, and decided it would make a real good stallion .

Soooooooooooooooooooooo

Ian has a new buckin bronco , and gandpa needs a new stash of hickory.

Walnut handles on the head and saddle area .

That tail is actually grey , but looks bluish in pic.

Walnut "sturrips"

He is finished with Lemon Oil and as he gets older he will age naturally .

Thanks for visiting "Ole Hik'ry"

Pear Blossom Update

2011-01-16T15:32:00.001-08:00

I have been working on the pear blossom build a little more lately . If you look down a few post you will find it in the state as shown in the first picture .

Its fairly easy to determine why I chose pear blossom as a name .

Any way , I have been working on the finish and the pick guard . The pick guard is in the following picture and should " I hope " continue the theme . It took several hours and several beers to finally decide on the configuration . LOL

The colors in the following pics are not as nice in the pic as they are in real life , because quite frankly , I'm NOT a photographer . The top I tried to capture the greens and spots of a pear . I actually bought one and tried to copy the color .

The back and sides are made of Cherry , so I used cherry stain and then I distressed it and used the same green from the front and leaf pick guard and blended it in . Again the pics don't do it justice .

Thanks for the time and stopping by my little project , Please feel free to leave a comment or ask a question . Have a great day everyone .

New Mando In progress

2010-12-11T08:59:00.000-08:00

I have started a New Mando recently and am enjoying working with this wood . The color you see is natural color. The down side is that the dust gets EVERYWHERE and its orange so it shows on everything.

The Orange wood is called Paduck , and the darker wood is Cocobolo . The Top is Spruce and the bracing is Spruce as well.

Hope you enjoy the Pics .

The Basic Wood Cut and the Neck Blank Glued Up.

Yes this is the Natural Wood Color

I have started the neck and as you can see the CocoBolo wood is being used as stiffener and as binding.

Cut the Tenon and angle of the neck heel on table saw.

Cut the basic neck shape for the heel and neck angle , ready for carving / sanding

Braced the Back

Lay out and brace the top and cut F holes

the wood pattern you will see in the Back when finished

The wood grain in the top . Notice how straight the grain is.

Angle of the Back Bracing after carving and sanding . This idea was a new one on the bracing shape. No guts no Glory ! LOL I hope !

The Top Bracing is made with a 1/4" end to end curve that is approx 20'-0" radius. And the back brace is 3/16" side to side to help hold the shape. I have carved them down and will tune them after gluing the top on.

I hope You have enjoyed seeing my little project. Stop by again and feel free to leave a comment .

Have a great day

Of Tools And Walking Canes

2010-11-08T09:04:00.000-08:00

As most of you know by now , my mind is a lil warped "lol" The following series of pictures shows what I did this weekend . My older brother is /was an electrician . He is currently disabled due to a fall from a crane on the job.

I decided he needed a new walking cane , so in my twisted lil mind I decided to make another TOOL CANE . I have fashioned this one to be a Pipe Bender .

The pic above shows the Foot pad for the " Bender " used when bending pipe

I Tried to at least make it look somewhat like the bender in that it has a slot part way up for the pipe . However i was afraid that if I took it all the way around it would be uncomfortable .

This pic shows the pipe catch to hold the pipe and start the bend

Most benders have a series of angles printed into the side , I decided that 90 deg was enough for the cane . Don't wanna take away from the canes comfort by having to many carvings in the side

And Finally the full cane with the red "Pipe Bender " Handle complete with a good quality rubber tip !

Short Video Of My Mando Being Played

2010-10-17T16:14:00.001-07:00

This is my second Mando done and I was able to take it to a gathering this weekend . One of the people present is able to play about anything he picks up , and you will see him making my creation sound good .

You can see this build when it was in progress if you go down a few post below .
Thank you for taking the time to look and listen .

Pear Blossom

2010-08-01T16:35:00.000-07:00

My latest effort is the pear blossom . I have made the sides , back and neck from local cherry wood and the top is engleman spruce . The internal braces are all solid cherry .

Hope you like the pics .

New Site To Visit

2010-07-25T07:51:00.000-07:00

I have a friend who is making custom guitars and has a site I would Highly recommend that you visit when you can . There a many tutorials available and Hesh is the kind of person who is willing to help the new guy or gal in there quest to enjoy luthiere .

I have found him to be encouraging even when my uffffdaaaaahhs were obvious .

I have included a couple pics of some of his work and I believe you will enjoy his site and getting to know and see his ability's !

Enjoy !

www.lenaweelutherie.info/

Busted ankles and Wudwerks

2010-06-12T13:24:00.000-07:00

I was helping a friend move this past weekend , and as You all know . NO good deed goes unpunished . In my efforts Sunday morning I slipped off the trailer and landed on my ankle . Its reaaaaalllly Pretty , Blacks , and Blues . All Swoll up like a punkin !

( thank god for pain killers and brandy )

Anyway . In true Wudwerkr Fashion , I don't buy it if 'n I can build it So I made what I needed to get me Through the weeks till its all better .

Yep , its a walking cane . Wifee says my brain power should be put ta better use LOLOL

Don't worry I gonna be OK , just hobblin around for a bit .

Couple New Mandola's

2010-04-05T14:12:00.001-07:00

Here are some Pics of a couple Mandola's I have been playing around with while the Laq. dries and cures on the last two .

One is shaped Like a Guitar , It is Oak back and sides and has a spruce top, or will have.

The other one is oak sides and Mahogany back , I haven't decided the top yet.

Both have Walnut Necks with Carbon Fibre Stiffening Rods.

One neck is Carved the other will be tonight . I have just fitted them and have them screwed in place . After carving the neck it will be glued in place and the screw hole will have a wood dowel glued in as support .

Hope You enjoy seeing as Much as I enjoy Building

Quick Update on My Mandolins

2010-03-14T07:06:00.000-07:00

I have just finished staining the two mando's I'm building now and have lacquered them . One is Cherry and black the other is Off Yellow with a redwood top .

I will post pictures of the Finished mando's in a month or so

Mandolin Build # 2

2009-12-25T18:58:00.001-08:00

I have started a new Mandolin build . The following pics will show the basic progression of the instrument. The following is the Hard Maple back that has been shaped to the design.

The next Pic shows the back glued to the sides , kerfing in place and reinforcing set in an X pattern for bracing . I have used solid wood cuts for the harder parts of the design as you can see .

The neck is glued up and ready for the band saw .

Gluing and clamping the tone bars in place after the basic shape of the top has been cut

The finished glued top . Note the "oval sound hole" I messed up the project as you will see soon.

The Neck glued in place with the fret board Fretted and fitted and glued in, The tuner holes have been drilled as well.

The layout of the Pearl inlays at the head angle.

The top glued in place and the unit ready for final sanding for the finish . Note the "diamond sound hole " hey I'm good lol . The color stain under the finger board was done prior to gluing

I will have pictures of my project comming up as I continue into the finishing stage . Thanx for stopping by and looking over my little project.

My Latest Repair Job

2009-12-24T09:06:00.001-08:00

This is a Mid 1890's Tenor Banjo . The customer wanted it cleaned and restored to playable .

I spent Maybe 10 hrs on this and charged $100.00 " Man I gotta Raise My Prices "

It turned out quite nice and is very playable . I am willing to bet however that it ends up being a wall hanging .

Customer wanted modern keys on it , the friction style were quite unusable. I "believe" that is the original Calfskin head . I left the face stained , and basically cleaned the dirt . TO MUCH cleaning can detract from value . However so does modern keys ? Go Figure ?

My First Paying Job As A Luthier ! " RedNeck Resonater "

2009-12-11T06:51:00.000-08:00

Hello all . I have a customer in my regular business who found out I do Luthrie as a hobby . He had this Mid 1930s Resonator guitar and wanted it redone . I agreed , with the proviso that I make NO GUARANTEES and NO PROMISES . He readily agreed . When I took the Resonator plate off , I found what you see below . SOMEONE had taken a guitar and tried to make a "Faux Reso " and painted a silver circle on the guitar top .

When I stopped Laughing , I called the customer and told him what I found . He said he still wanted it Done . So the Following Pics are a story of What I did .

Pained circle above , Top cracked in a dozen places and not repairable . Has to be replaced.

The Resonator Cover , I used Steel Wool and turtle wax to clean as well as possible.

The Pic above shows the "reinforcing I glued in to help stabilize the cracks in the guitar back.

The neck was warped and in bad shape , I sanded it down and used a hand plane to try and straighten the fret board side , it was "partially" successful.

The back and sides after I sanded and filled cracks and re glued any loose areas.

The above is the new top , I made it out of 2nd grade Walnut lumber I had in stock . It is re-sawn and book matched . And Yes that IS a $3.00 Metal Pie Plate to be used as a resonator cone to make the reverberation sound out .

The bracing has been glued in and the "F" holes redone to match the original guitar.

View from the front that shows the Pie Plate in place . It is held in by a screw and glue with a maple "dowel" and the bridge sits right over that screw to help with the sound vibrations.

The neck has been reset and painted black , I am using Black and Cherry stains so the neck will be part of the overall black and red theme

Gluing the top back in place .

After staining , during the Lacquer Stage , Note my Lacquer booth needs work "LOL"

The back of the finished product , Black stain in the wood grain and Cherry stain over that. You can see how the black Painted neck ties in nicely now.

The front of the finished Guitar . The Top is black stained walnut and the fingerboard is Cherry stained . So the whole effect turned out well.

The Customer paid $200.00 dollars and was Quite Happy with the results achieved . The Guitar is tuned and very playable . The sound is Actually very good for a Redneck Resonator .

I was actually impressed that it turned out to sound as good as it did , I did have my doubts .

So goes my first paying job as a luthier . The amount was not really enough to cover my time , however I did learn allot and the challenge was quite fun .

I hope you enjoyed my short trip through Redneck Luthrie

New Mandolin Build

2009-11-04T13:57:00.000-08:00

I have decided on a Design and will be " actually " already have started . I will be posting Pics throughout The build as I did before .

This one will be built allot like the previous one, however the body style will be different , and I hope to Fix some of the Mistakes I made in the last one.

If you enjoy watching the creation take place , keep checking back . I will have up dates as often as I possibly can .

Have a great day all!

Mandolin Post # 7 ITS DONE !!

2009-08-24T05:47:00.000-07:00

Well the time has come my good friends , to talk of other things. Of many hours making parts for Mandolins with Strings !

The next few pics are all of the Mando finished and tuned.

I made a pearl pick guard from a sheet I purchased from Stewart MacDonald and since I didn't want it actually touching the top surface I purchase the smallest rubber O rings I could find and put 1 under each screw so the pick guard is approx 1/16" off the top surface.

You can see parts of the Label in the pic through the sound hole . It says " WudWerks Inc. Serial # 0001 Manuf Date 7-9-09"

The tail Piece and tuners are all Polished Brass With Pearl Knobs on the tuners . The Pick Guard is pearl. The Fret Dots are Pearl. The Bridge and Fret Board are Ebony . The sides neck and back are Hard Maple and the Top is Mahogany

Remember the tension rod in the neck. I covered it with a Mahogany wood block and set it with polished brass screws the same as the pick guard. I purchased a leather strap and it is complete.

I really hope you have enjoyed my small project as much as I have in making it.

Next post will be a Vid ( if I can figure it out ) with it being played so you can hear it.

Have great day everyone

Mandolin Post # 6 Some Assembly and Lacquer

2009-08-18T15:58:00.000-07:00

I start this weeks post by stepping back a couple pictures to the top assembly. As you can see from the following Pic , the top is being glued down. However what I wanted to point out here is the head and tuner peg holes. I have laminated a face piece on the head approx 1/16" thick of Hard Maple wood .

The following picture shows the head being laminated around the sides with the Mahogany to match the stripes in the neck and the top. Notice the fine precision clamping mechanisms that are keeping everything aligned while the glue dries ? I tell ya nothing but the best for this WudWerker.

After that was glued and trimmed I finally was able to do some assembly I have screwed in the tail piece and the Tuning pegs in the head . I set the bridge in place and put strings on it. I wanted to see how well the sound was at this point before I started the Lacquer. If sanding was needed now is the time to do it. As you can see through the sound hole , one of my braces is visible ! ( mistake # ...... lost count )

The unit is tuned and checked for sound. I have spent a little extra and purchased the better quality tuning pegs and tail piece in a polished brass . The tuning keys have pearl knobs. Notice the location of the ebony bridge in relation to the sound hole . Remember I said earlier in a post the distance from the fret with the (2 ) pearl inlay dots to the nut ( bone piece at head ) is approx same distance from same fret to bridge .

The sound is actually quite good considering its my first attempt at a mandolin. I am rather happy at this point and quite relieved. Time for disassemble and Lacquer . The first pic is the back of the mandolin . The wood grain is quite beautiful and I am glad I found that particular piece.

I have taped off the fret board with 3m paper tape and have started spraying at this point . There are ( 9 ) coats of Lacquer on this mandolin , each sprayed , allowed dry time of 3 hrs , sanded lightly, and sprayed again, etc.... etc... 9 times

The top during spraying and below the neck . You can see the mahogany strips are showing quite nicely .

I hope you have found my project enjoyable . Next post I will show you the final assembled mandolin . Thank you for stopping by.

Mandolin Post #5 Fret Board and Bridge Fitting

2009-08-12T05:25:00.001-07:00

I begin this week with the " Fret Board" this is a strip of Ebony Wood . It is rectangular in shape and has to be cut to fit the Mandolin neck that was made. Better Luthiers will cut the fret slots personally. However since this is my First attempt. I chose to purchase a "pre-Cut" fret board. The Board Came to me Rectangular with the narrow slices for the wire frets already cut in place. The distances are extremely crucial to a good sound and I wasn't ready to tackle that aspect yet.

As you see in the pic below I have cut the fret board to length and shape . I put it on a solid piece of Oak wood and Hammered the Fret wires into place , This needs to be done with ( 1 ) blow of a Hard Plastic Mallet , excessive blows will bend the wire and then allot of sanding is required to fix them.
Each Fret wire is cut over sized and hammered into the pre-cut slots. Then they are trimmed to length. The fret wire has a tang that has teeth that will grab i the slots and hold. this is not and easy job. it took me a couple hours and several messed up frets to get it right.

In the Pic below I have drilled and glued in the pearl inlay dots I chose for my fret board. These are set in the center of the # 3 / 5 / 7 / 10 / 12 / 15 frets . You will notice the 12th fret has 2 dots . This is the octave fret. As you can see they are smaller than a pencil eraser and I drilled the holes with a 5/32" mill bit to get a flat bottom hole .

In the pic below I have fitted the fret board to the neck of my Mandolin and have it glued in place . To the left end you can see the access hole to open and tighten or loosen the tension rod nut if the neck needs adjusting. Yo will also notice that I have chosen to make this a flat top Mandolin , moving away from the basic shape of most Mandolins made today.

The below pic shows the Bridge that set at the back of the Mandolin and holds the string spacing properly. The distance from the " Nut" of the Mandolin ( the white bone glued in the neck at tension rod end, see last pic) to the 12th fret ( two dots ) is the same dimension as the 12th fret to the bridge . When I measured it out you will see that the bridge ended up being approx 1 inch from the sound hole.

What I am checking here is the height of the Bridge in relation to the Fret Board. I had to sand the bottom of my Bridge down quite a bit and modify the top so that i could get the desired height of my strings . This is called the " Action" and I will get into that more later. The desired height I am working for is approx .100 above the frets.

The below pic shows the unit glued together and standing in my shop. Remember when I said I had let the outer shell of the Mandolin take its natural shape prior to gluing back on. If you will look at the below pic and imagine a straight line down the center of the fret board to the tail piece . You will notice the tail piece has mover and the detail is not on center . I thought it gave it a little more personality.

In the next pic I have made the tension rod cover from the Mahogany left over from the top and am using it to hold the "Nut" in place while it glues. The height of the nut is determined by the fret wire height, so the distance the fret stands above the board + .015 " for String action + approx .030 " for a string grove will give you nut height. This is crucial and required a set of thickness gauges to get set properly.

well that ends this post of the Mandolin Project . I hope you have enjoyed reading and following my little project . Have a great week and stop by again.

Feel free to leave comments , I would love to hear your thoughts.

Mandolin Post # 4 Tone Bars

2009-08-07T15:14:00.000-07:00

As we get into post # 4 we are applying the back to the Mandolin outside shell . Remember I said I let the Tension off the unit a bit and allowed it to find its natural shape . You will see that come to the fore later in another post. Below I have cut the back slightly larger than the outer shape and am gluing it in .

If you look closely you can see the notched "Kerfing " that helps to have glue area needed to keep the Mandolin together . The thickness of the back should be no greater than .125" thick . Actually a bit thinner , around .105 is desired at finish for better sound.

Also you can see in the above pic that I have cut the headstock to receive the "Tang" from the neck to create a solid joint. The back is solid an the tang sits down and is glued to the back as well as the insides to make a solid joint.

The Picture below shows the placing of the supports across the back of the Mandolin. I used Spruce , its light and strong and recommended for this area. as you can see the supports are feathered out towards the end. This helps reduce mass and weight , and since you have " Kerfing at the edges it isn't required that the be full thickness.

I place 3 across , and learned that two would have been enough probably . Oh well next time.

The Pic Below shows the placement of the " Tone Bars " this is not a complete pic . After the pic was taken I added another cross bar , the short one approx 3/4" from the sound hole and I scalloped the long ones between those shorter cross pieces so that it reduced mass and added strength and tone. The more material taken out will change the sound of the face as its done.

Again the shape is cut slightly larger than the outer ring and this allows for the best gluing and the remainder can be sanded flush at a later time

Below You can see I have glued the neck into place . Why I didn't get pics of that I Cant remember . I really thought I did. Anyway The tang was glued in and then I drilled 2 holes on either side about 1" deep so that half the hole was in the tang and half in the headstock . I then glued a dowel into that hole , this helps lock the neck into place . Works like a square key on a motor shaft. sorry I really thought I had pics of that.

You can see the top being glued in and the neck set . If you look closely you will see the Hard Maple strip in the neck I glued in to cover the Tension Rod.

The Next Post will show the Fret Board as well as the basic Glued Mandolin.

Thank You for stopping by and looking at my little project.

Mandolin Post 3 and Wood Bending 101

2009-08-02T14:30:00.000-07:00

Well its time for post 3 on my Mandolin Project . I ended the last post with a contraption I had assembled and asked for guesses as to what it was for. Sadly I got no response . The unit was made to bend Hard Maple wood. If you look closely at the picture there is a Torch pointed into the pipe . The pipe bent on an angle in the vise and the vise mounted solidly to a table.

This was the part that scared me the most and turned out to be the most fun. I cut my Hard Maple sides to the approx size I wanted ( slightly over Size) Then I put them in a PVC Tube I have glued an end on and filled it with water , closed the top so that the wood was completely submerged for a day .

The wood has to be quite soaked. I then took the individual pieces out and fired up the torch , as the pipe got hot , I rolled the wood pieces back and forth over the pipe applying SLIGHT PRESSURE.

This is the hardest part, as the wood begins to steam , I lifted it up and continued spraying the back of the wood with water to keep it wet . It started getting ply able and the first reaction is to press harder BAD MOVE . IT WILL BREAK ! I went through 5 pieces to get 3 Bent as I needed.

After an experiment , and a broke piece , my first part was ready for the mold. As you can see I have made a Plywood Mold from my pattern I showed in post 1. Clamp the part in place and let it set for 24 hours . As the wood drys out it will retain what ever shape you have it molded into .

I strongly recommend the plastic footed claps as you see below , the Quick Grip Type . The others will leave marks that are very hard to sand out , as I discovered the hard way .

After the bending and shaping was done I moved to an Internal Mold as shown below to fit the parts together . I have said they will hold their shape, that's true to about 98% there is slight movement or was on my unit. As you can see I have also put the Tail Piece and Head Piece in to fit the sides to here

These parts are being Glued into place in this Jig at this point , so that when its done you have the outer ring made up of the 1/8" side parts as well as the Tail Piece and Head Stock.

After the Sides and Ends have been glued together I started Gluing the " Kerfing " into place . This material is slotted to bend to the shape your making nicely and is glued in a approximately 1/64" below the surface of the edges . I did this on purpose so that after I had the unit Glued up , I could run it through my Sander and make sure it was Level and flat prior to working on the back.

I suspect most will have the unit in the Jigs until the back is glued in place . I however chose to allow the sides to expand and move to the exact figure that the bends took them to and then applied it to the back. This was a choice I made to let any stress that had been created from the above gluing to be relieved . Good / Bad I don't know , however it did seem to work

If you are going to allow the stress to relieve as I did DO NOT notch the head piece prior to this because then the alignment may be slightly off. It does make the notching a bit harder , however I felt the possibility of relieving as much stress as possible was good on my first attempt.

The Next post will involve shaping and gluing the back and internal supports

Thank You for stopping by and following my little project

Mandolin Project Post 2

2009-07-30T05:38:00.000-07:00

The following set of pics will show a bit more in the neck and head forming . In the last post , I had the " Ears gluing up on the headstock , as you can see below the finished blank looks more like a mandolin neck . I used my layout pattern and did my cutting in my band saw.

You can see in the following 2 pictures the basic shape prior to cutting the tang to fit it into the body and shaping the back of the neck .

In the next picture I have cut the body tang and have shaped the unit a bit . During the time I was working on the unit at I received the tuners I had ordered fro Stewart MacDonald and came to the realization that my head stock was to short ( mistake 1 in a long list)So after shaping the neck you can see I added a " Crown " at the top of the headstock made from Hard Maple and glued in .

The next procedure is to make the slot for the Tension Rod in the neck . The point of this is to help keep the neck from warping when the strings are tuned , it has an arrow shape with a nut at the headstock end that can be tightened or loosened to adjust the neck as needed.

I f you look on my work bench just above the neck you will see the Tension rod laying there . I fitted it by hand and the grove isn't really that well done ( mistake 2 ) Next time I will design my neck blocks so that the grove is already accounted for when gluing up the neck blank .

After the tension rod is set , the top part of the neck is then refilled with a Hard Maple strip and re glued into place . This creates a hollow square hole that allows for slight bending to set the tension. The center of the tension rod is wrapped with electricians tape to keep it from ever rattling during playing of the instrument. Sort of a sound deaden'er.

That gives you a basic and short idea of the work involved in making a mandolin neck .

I have another picture I will share now . I will make it a contest to see who can tell me what the following contraption is put together to accomplish . Please Leave your Guesses in comments.

Mandolin Project Post 1

2009-07-26T16:14:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone , I have taken on a new project and have actually finished it at this point. I decided to finish the Mandolin prior to Blogging about it in case I made a mess of the unit. I am happy to say its done and looks and sounds beautiful . ( I will have a short post at the end so you can hear it . ) BTW it wont be ME playing it , I'm a woodworker NOT a MUSICIAN !! LOL

I started out with a Mahogany board and split it and glued the spit pieces back together to make a " Book Match " Face for the unit , so You end up with a Mirror image ( or close) for the face.
You can see that board in the following pic !

The back of the mandolin is from one solid piece of Hard Maple planed down and cut to a blank . I found the nicest pattern that i could find in the board and went with that as you can see in the following pic

I made a pattern for the back and face based on a combination of a couple different Mandolins found on the Internet and came up with the following design , I pasted the drawings on Masonite and used that for my design as you can see in this pic

The next picture is the design for the neck and I used the same method to get the neck size and shape as I wanted prior to cutting the shape on my band saw .

I started out with the body block that is in the inside at the neck joint and used the pattern to get my design started and cut out again on the band saw. This part is also made from Hard Maple that was cut from the same board I used on the back . You can see the "tang"in the above picture that will fit into the body block pictured below to make a solid joint at the body.

The tail Block I cut from solid maple as well and it is approx 3/8" thick so that there is adequate strength when the strings are mounted and the pressure is applied . The LAST thing I wanted was for the unit to pull apart because i had made something to thin. I had several people tell me that to much solid wood would hurt the sound , so it was a labor of FAITH in what I did here . And i am Happy it paid off !

The next sets of pictures show the neck. I Have already glued the Hard Maple Boards from the same blank together , and as you can see I have included red Mahogany strips in between to accent the Top . These strips are from the same board I am making the Top From. I turned the grain in opposite directions on the Hard Maple so that the " Natural " tendency of the board to warp would be working against itself to help maintain a straight neck.

I have glued the " Ears" in Place after making the rough cut on my band saw so that i have the basic shape , albeit quite over sized at this point . A LOT of sanding and measuring to be done as you will see in future post.

Thus begins my first and hopefully not last into the world of Luthier. I will say that In doing this I did talk to A LOT of people and READ A LOT prior to starting this project . I hope that you find my little project as fascinating as I have . I will continue with the following post in a few days .

Finished Project ( minor stuff still needed )

2009-06-30T06:21:00.000-07:00

The Finished Mandolin looks much better and has a decent sound . There is a Buzzing in one area that I believe is due to a high Fret in the area that came apart and required re gluing. When time is available I will address that problem.

Cleaned and Strung:

The Jigsaw Fret Board Looks Good Considering it was in 8 Pieces :

The Neck glued back to the bowl and reinforced with a Hard Maple Dowel :

Tuners cleaned and headstock as well . I did find some carving in the headstock at the top when It was cleaned . I will need a Magnifying Glass to see if its legible. It is extremely faint but is somewhat visable , after cleaning.

In this pic you can see the corner of the fret board that i made reference to that will need a little attention. When I have a little more time it will get fixed .

I hope you have enjoyed my little project. Since it was my 1st I am sure there are Many mistakes . Hopefully it will get better with time .

I do WELCOME ANY suggestions from Restorers that will help me be better at this . Please Leave A Comment.

Luthier Restoration My 1st Attempt

2009-06-29T14:15:00.000-07:00

The Following are a set of Pics recently taken of a project I just finished . I found a Bowl Back Mandolin on Ebay for $ 16.00 and decided what the heck . Never Having tried Luthier Work this is my first attempt. I tried very hard to keep it Original.

What I found was as follows :

You can see its Quite Filthy And Old , Figure as best as I can Tell its 1920's -30's era .

If you look close you can see the Neck Is Broke off the bowl at the heel of the neck . Looks like a small crack and around the sound hole by the finger board its caved in almost 1/2" look closely and you can see the strings are quite high over the Fingerboard / Frets.

This Pic Shows the break in the neck better , The crack is Quite visable in this one.

I had to remove the neck from the unit and do so without breaking the Fingerboard , sadly wasn't so successful . The Board Broke into about 8 pieces so I had to re glue it together like a jigsaw puzzle and was successful at that.

The neck was attached to the body with a dowel originally, and it had bent and broke . I set up my lathe and made a new Hard Maple Dowel and re glued it in the neck and cleaned out the area in the bowl area to receive the dowel as well.

As you can see I have clamped a block of Hard Maple into the face side of the bowl as a cleat to flatten it out and bring that 1/2" of " Caved in " Area Back out so the strings will be at right height for playing.

After everything was finished gluing I still had approx 1/6" inch of drop in the body at the sound hole. So to solve the problem I cut a small spacer and glued it to the body and sanded it to the proper height and that allowed me to glue the neck and finger board back in place and get it at the correct height . I KNOW A PROFFESSIONAL RESTORER is gonna read that a freak , but as I said I'm new at this and did best I could.

I purchased a Product that's called restorers polish that has no silicone in it and used that along with a couple hours elbow grease and rags to get it cleaned up and still retain the "old" look as it should have. As you will see its quite good at what its designed for.

So You Have Seen My Project From The Start , My Next Post will be the Finished Pics of The project . Thanks For stopping By.

Darts Anyone

2009-06-18T13:48:00.000-07:00

At One Time Back In My Sordid Past I Had Time To Play In The Chicago Dart Leagues . While I Never Got Extremely Proficient , I Did Win A Couple Trophies . However This Post Is About What I Enjoy , WudWerks . I Decided My Daughter Needed To Learn A Little About The Games , 301 , 501 , and Cricket . So With That In Mind I Built The Following Dart Board For Our Basement .

The Doors Are Made From Walnut 2" Wide Strips with a 1/2" Mortise to allow the Oak Panels room to Inlay . The Panels are Solid Oak Flooring . yes Like You Would Find On Your Floor !
And I Used Brass Hinges And A Brass Lock . The Unit Is Lacquered and Sealed.

Opening The Doors You See The Dart Board Mounted To Cork That Has Been Glued To The Plywood Backing . The Sides Of The Cabinet Are Oak And It Is Approx 3" Deep . Because Of The Ceiling Height In The Basement I Was Forced To Mount The Dartboard Higher In The Cabinet To Make The regulation Height And Still Get It Wall Mounted.

As You Can See The Unit Is Lagged Into The Basement Wall With Large Bolts Since We Have Concrete Walls That Was Necessary . The Top Of The Cabinet Is 1-1/2" Below Ceiling Level , Which I Was Afraid Would Cause Problems in Shooting . However It Seems To Be Fine.

I Used Walnut Blocks And Dry Erase Boards To Make Points Scoring Boards . And If You Look At The Darts That Is A Walnut Block With 6 Holes Drilled For The Darts To Stand In. Looking Back Up A Couple Pics You can See I've Mounted 2 Score Boards .

All In All The Cost Of The Project Was Around $100.00 . You Can Purchase Pre-Built Units for More , However where Is The Fun In That ? LOL !!

For Those Who Are Not Familiar With The Games 301 And Cricket I Will Give A Quick Run Down

*********In 301 or 501 The Outer Ring is a Double Score , A person Is Required To Double In And Double Out . The Deduct Your Score From 301 Till U Hit Zero Exactly With A Double Out.

Example , You Have 31 Points Left that means you have to hit a 1 then a double 15 or some combination to make 31 points.

********Cricket Is Simpler , You Have To Hit 3 , 15 through 20 's and 3 bulls eyes. If I have hit all my 15's and you haven't , every time I get another 15 , i get 15 points against you, until You Hit Them All. The Only Thing You cannot Do Is Count A Bulls eye untill ALL Your Numbers Are Closed First !

I Hope My Little Project Is Enjoyable to You , It Certainly was For Me !

3 Wick Candle Holder Turning

2009-05-27T10:09:00.000-07:00

I Started this little project by glueing up several oak boards and letting them set for a few days . After they had allowed time for the glue to dry properly , I cut the basic design needed to allow for turning on the legacy router lathe .

For those of you that do not know what this is , it is a geared lathe system that allows the woood to turn as a router is moved acroos the material , using router bits to make shapes as needed.

Many of you have seen "rope twist" on edges of furniture , this is machine they make that with.

Mounting the wood in the lathe and setting the proper gear ratio , start the router with the proper bits , and soon we had the following candle holder .

As you can see its been used a while, candle wax has dripped on sides .

The actual time involved was probably a couple hrs maximum , however it turned out a very nice candle holder.

I will be posting more of this type and various other items in the future . The Candle is a 3 Wick and they are available from the CandleLady in various scents . The Cost on 3 Wicks will vary but the average cost ( Without Wood Holder ) is around $ 40.00

If you would like to talk to CandleLady about them please leave a comment !

Enjoy !!

Welcome Everyone

2009-05-27T06:33:00.000-07:00

Many of you know me as Coffeeman , here I am The WudWerker , and my lovely wife of 22 yrs is the CandleLady . What we will be doing here is posting pics and stories about my WudWerk'n and Pics and PRICES of her candles and specialty holders . This is a Simple Passion that we both enjoy . Please Feel free to enjoy what we do and comment on what you see, " No Purchase Necessary " BUTTTTTTTT Appreciated "snort"

I have been doing the WudWerk'n most of my life and have many things to display , some very simple and others quite complex.

If there are any other WudWerkers who would like to highlite a item on my blog feel free to let me know and we will get it on here .

I hope this is a site people enjoy dropping by , even just to look. Have a Wonderfull Day all.