DLP Mandolin - 13 - Spraying a Sunburst

After chiseling the pickup I filled some of the edges where the laminate had chipped.  I could have used binding around the edges but I consider this a prototype so I decided not to bind the edges.  I had a large piece split between the pickup cavity and the neck but I was able to glue it back in place.

After a couple of rounds of filling I sanded the whole body with 180 grit and then 400 grit sandpaper.  I had put a couple of coats of sanding sealer on the whole body a few weeks ago.

My plan is to paint the pine on the sides and the neck black and then apply a sunburst on the front, back and headstock veneer. I want to leave the layers of the laminate showing on the side of the body so I carefully masked them off.

To make the sunburst effect I cut a piece of card and trimmed it slightly smaller than the body.  I then raised it above the body with several small nails pushed through the top of the card making it stand high enough to allow some overspray underneath to give a nice smooth transition.  I masked the neck and the face of the head.

After the front had dried I repeated the same thing on the back of the body.  The grain still shows through on the sides under the black spray.

After leaving the body to dry overnight I removed all the masking tape before the paint set too hard, hopefully avoiding the paint chipping on the edges.

I made a similar card mask for the head a gave that the same sunburst effect as the body.  I will leave this to dry thoroughly for a week or so before I mask the fretboard and apply lacquer.

DLP Mandolin - 12 - Attaching the Neck

With the holes for the machine heads drilled and access to the truss rod adjustment nut created it was time to glue the neck to the body.  Now the joint is not one that can be taken apart at a later date, the top will be glued over the the joint so essentially the neck becomes one with the body.

After 24 hours I removed the clamps and the neck is set solid into the body.  I spent some time then cutting out the slot for the neck in the top and refining the fit.  It's almost time to glue the top to the body but first I drilled two holes for the volume and tone pots.  I spent a lot of time changing the position of the two controls but settled with them parallel to the centre line.  There is not going to be much space so I couldn't be too choosy.

I have the pickup I intend to use.  It is a humbucker hotrail pickup.  There is an option to coil tap the pick up but I wont use that, just to keep things simple with a single volume and tone control.  Hopefully there will be enough room to get my fingers inside to connect all the electronics once I have glued the top to the body and finished the instrument.

Finally last night I made a template ready to route the pickup cavity.  I am waiting for a pickup surround to arrive so I cant cut the cavity quite yet until I know the size of the surround.  I can then lay out for the pickup cavity and cut the slot.

DLP Mandolin - 11 - Drilling Holes for the Machine Heads

Last night't task was to drill the 8 holes for the machine heads.  after some careful laying out I marked up the 4 holes each side taking into account the length of the all in one plate on the back of the head.

Now this is where my new drill press really comes into it's own.  I put a sacrificial piece of scrap underneath the head so the bit didn't rip through the back of the head.  I used a 'lip and spur' drill bit to minimise tearing on the face of the head although there is a ferrule to tap in which would hide minimal tearing.

I still have to drill a step into the top of each hole to accommodate the ferrules but that can wait until tomorrow.

DLP Mandolin - 10 - Shaping the Back of the Neck

This evening I carved the back of the Mandolin neck.  I started by filing the nut end to the depth I required. I'm conscious that this tiny neck has to support eight strings without warping and yet not be too thick as to be uncomfortable to play.

Once I had the required thickness at the nut end I started to shave the edges of the neck.  I used a small block plane and a spoke shave and tried to take even amounts from each side of the neck.

I originally had glued a block to the neck and has intended to carve this flush with the back of the body but decided to remove it tonight.  It was getting in the way of the carve and when I offer the neck to the body it looks better without.

Gradually the carve starts to take shape, I used a cabinet scraper blade and 60 grid sand paper to continue to refine the profile.

The neck fits perfectly and removing the small block I had glued on gives easier access to the higher frets much like a bolt on neck does on an electric guitar like a Stratocaster.

I can now think about laying out and drilling the machine head holes and also creating a slot to allow access to the truss rod.

DLP Mandolin - 9 - Installing The Frets

I glued a piece of laminate to the head of the neck, it matches the body and should pull the look together nicely.  There is still a little more fine sanding to do and the slot for the nut needs a little more refinement but before that I want to install the frets. 

I cut 21 pieces of fret wires and tapped each one in one by one.  I used a little glue in each slot wiping away the excess with a slightly damp cloth as I went along.  I found it very fiddly as the fret wire I used is much finer than the wire I use on the guitars I build.

I also found that the wire tended to want to bend away from the slot once one end was in.  I normally tap the middle of the fret in first and then the two ends but that  method didn't work very well so I found that if I secured one end and then the other before the middle they seemed to fit nice and secure.

Once all the frets were installed I trimmed the end of the frets and then filed them flush been careful not to file into the edge of the fingerboard.

With both sides leveled I took my flat file which is mounted in a wooden block which runs flush against the side of the neck and holds the file at an angle which bevels the edges of the frets.

The next job will be to carve the profile on the back of the neck, drill the holes for the machine heads and glue the neck in place.