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Howdy folks, I'm a 2026 graduate of the two year guitar program at Red Wing (Minnesota State College Southeast). Between my two years at Red Wing I worked at Collings Guitars in Austin, TX for two years in the acoustic neck department, shaping and finish sanding ~2000 necks, radiusing and gluing ~750 fingerboards, and pressing ~100 sets of frets. I also spent a couple months in the finishing department level sanding and pore filling ~300…

I am building an archtop mandocello (A style) and I'm trying to find out how to make the neck block. It would be more or less like an A style mandolin neck block, but obviously quite a lot bigger. More or less like the image attached. The blank should be aprox 10 x 8 x 12 cm. I'm trying to find a piece of hardwood big enough for this, would it be acceptable if I made some kind of laminated piece? And how should the grain direction be idea…

Question about splines: At what point are they necessary? My question is primarily regarding the crack to the left between the bridge and the sound hole as well as the crack at the upper bout that runs along the fingerboard extension. I have already glued them both and used the TJ cleats that run the full length of the cracks. I have already splined the lower bout crack that runs from the bridge to the binding as it was super gappy and d…

So it seems that a drum sander would be very handy for many parts of a "build from scratch". There are a few out there that cost under $3000.00 that can handle wood up to 4" thick and are wide enough to sand a back or top after the halves have been joined. Jet JWD-22-44 open stand, 22"width Jet JWDS-2550 open stand, 25" width SuperMax 19-38 opend stand, 19" width SuperMas 25-50 closed stand, 25" width Questions: Any recomendations on the sa…

(for background context, I'm probably in the dozens of fret jobs so far, and no I don't let frets leave my house like this) When I got started getting interested in building guitars, I got the StewMac bundle of fret files/book, which comes with the concave toothed file. Over time, I ended up getting both the Narrow/Medium and Wide/Jumbo files. I don't do it often, but occasionally I do something like shown in the picture, where I'm clearl…

Just posted a full build video for the last mandolin batch over on YouTube. Give it a watch folks, its 25 mins long. And there should be a few woodworking tips there for some of you, and some lovely tunes all played on my work.

I'm using hide glue on this 1st build. So far I've glued up the kerfing, back braces, and the top "X" brace. I'm using the 190 grade glue. Working time is short at best. I heated the top "X" brace surfaces (brace & top) with a blow dryer and that seemed to help, a little. How can I get enough working time to glue the top, and then later the back, without having to rush and creating a real mess in the process? Suggestions and reco…

Rask Guitars — Utah (relocation required) Rask Guitars is a Utah-based custom shop dedicated to building exceptional instruments — primarily high-end acoustics, alongside electric guitars and prototypes. We operate with a small, focused team where craftsmanship isn't just a standard, it's the entire point. We're growing, and we're looking for a skilled, experienced luthier who's ready to plug into a real production environment, contribute…

An old friend of mine, Les Stansell, who has been building some pretty high-end guitars and ukuleles for over three decades has had to close his shop for health reasons and is looking to sell all his tools and equipment. I’m spreading the word to help him find a suitable buyer – hopefully a new luthier ready to set out on their own. If someone is interested they can contact me here and/or contact Les directly at [email withheld]…

So the first real "full build" I'm doing is a Stewmac 000 kit. I was wondering about the back brace shape. I'll was planning to taper the ends at the side joint to about 1.5mm. Should I do some scalloping of the braces? Suggestions and comments are welcomed and appreciated. Regards, Gerry Images

Good evening folks, lately I'm experiencing some sanding methods/mechanism frustration. Can't explain better than look like I'm regressing at doing it. The only thing changed in my building routine is that I'm currently using a CNC (I haven't used one for some years) for both bodies and necks. I have no problems with necks, but sanding bodies has become incredibly frustrating, specially around the edges. While I keep improving my c…