Nice Forum, Glad I found you guys

[Bob Wolfe]

Nice to meet you all, I just joined yesterday and have already gain valuable knowledge from the group.

I have always been a DIY guy and figured out a long time ago I don't have the chops to be a musician.

Years ago I had a Mandolin that the body had colapsed. My first thought was a beer tap handle from the neck but opted instead to build the Mando V. Here is a few of my recent projects.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/bobs_jamz/ ... 936812576/

I am now working on the jigs and templates I need to begin making some solid bodies.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/bobs_jamz/ ... 778727663/

Looking forward to learning here.

[John Mueller]

Welcome aboard Bob.

[Warren May]

Hi, Bob. MIMF is a really good online community and very well managed. The Library is a great resource, for example, and easy enough to search.

I'm curious about a couple of your jigs, the 2 neck shaping jigs. Is the "half-hockey-puck" neck shaping jig meant to ride over a router table or under the router guide system you built? The neck radiusing jig looks pretty simple...can you talk more about it?

[Bob Wolfe]

The neck jig was not my idea and there is a nice video on You tube, including some drawings. I modified it to be adjuststable for different length necks and accomodate a larger headstock as it rotates through the base. It rides on top of a router table and is really just to rough in a shape. I have done some necks by hand using rasps and sanding drums which takes me hours. With the sled I kocked out the same amount of work in about 20 minutes.

The fretboard jig is just a progression of the neck jig and I plan to give it a test run this weekend. I cut the discs on the band saw at a 12" radius and plan to make a couple more sets of discs for different fret boards. This also is meant to float above the router table.