Making a 3D mandolin

[Brandon MacDougall]

I am starting a new build and I thought i post a few pictures as I go.. The software I am using is Lightwave but any solid modeler will work.

I start off making my mandolin model as a flat shape, notice the quads wrap around the model horns.






next I use a simple option called extrude to make it 3D.









keeping a idea of the finished size I need when carved, the shape can be a little bigger than needed allowing for the carving bit.





Solid surfaces and subdivide. This gets the model ready to export.
you will notice the model looks dense this is due to the fact that STL will not shade so the polys need to be high and organically tessellated.





I like to go from LW to Designer as Designer's voxels show more imperfections in the cad cam surface.




once I get the model into Designer it time for a test carve..

[Gerry Grzadzinski]

Nice. Keep those LW tutorials coming.

[james mcgrew]

that was impressive, if i did not have a new "stinger coming i would go get my carvewright out !!

keep it up

jim

[Mick A Martin]

Nice job, what wood do you plan on using, what is your expected machining time .... great tutorial,

[Bob Savage]

Very cool!!! Thanks for posting that.

[Matt Clara]

Very nice. I want to be just like you. Only with ukuleles. And Rhino.

[Brandon MacDougall]

Thanks all!

Very nice. I want to be just like you. Only with ukuleles. And Rhino.

I love to make a ukulele soon I think i be able to use the mandolin neck and scale it up for the job.

Picked up some hardware yesterday for the mandolin, looks like i will need to add a block under the fingerboard to raise the strings for the bridge typically for archtop guitars...

speaking of neck here are a few photos..

I am checking the overall size in my LW 3D model..




Now into Designer's STL program and scaled up 40% for 1:1 size translation.

[Brandon MacDougall]

After fixing the neck by adding some thickness under the 9th fret " like in a jazz guitars" I finally decided to assemble, glue up and string the mandolin i been working on.

i will need to do a lot of sanding but it sounds fantastic..

Here is the new neck shape inported into Designer:

I will include some photos of the jigs i make for the head stock triming, frets and tunners later if folks are interested but its geared to the CW..


Here is the back side of the mandolin looks just like the 3D model

[Brandon MacDougall]

Here is a small animation of the mandolin top plate in 3D via a stl viewer " thanks Jim" it has a thickness of about .20" front to back..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gz0WGfg3MWk

[Brandon MacDougall]

Here is a picture of my "e mandolin" for you guys, I used violin varnish/shellac and some lacquer mixed with a water base mahogany stain.

I'll upload some sounds bytes hopefully in a few days.. Have a good weekend and say a small prayer for the gulf coast to stop the oil and cap the well

[Brandon MacDougall]

Nice job, what wood do you plan on using, what is your expected machining time .... great tutorial,

Hi Mick,
The top and back plates takes about 3.30 hrs each for a 2 sided carve milled to about 3/16" finished. The center part take 17 mins. The neck takes about 1.50 hrs, headstock program and fingerboard about 7 Min's. so in little under a day I have the parts i need using 3 hobby cnc's

For the mandolin I using Canadian ceder and reclaimed flamed maple from the Oregon coast, reclaimed rosewood fingerboard from the 50's.

[Brandon MacDougall]

Tune I reordered " with the new e mandolin" for the Gulf fishermen.

It's based on a early American Folk Song called "up she rises".

Enjoy!

BP's Oil spill of 2010

[Brandon MacDougall]

Here is my second 3D Mandolin # 2 of 3 " not varnished yet " playing in "somewhere over the rainbow" by Harold Arlen.

one thing nice I noticed about making the parts in 3D first is controlling the sound quality, so each one seems to play and sound consistently nice..

Somewhere over the rainbow

[Brandon MacDougall]

I got most of the bugs out of the design so just add water and bake at 320 degrees.


more photos..






http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4p0CmZBoxJM

[Bruce Page]

Very nice work Brandon. Beautiful wood selection & color. I like how you opened up the aperture on this one.