A single step...

My wife gave me a mandolin kit from Stewart MacDonald (link to right) for Christmas last year. For various personal reasons, like the fact that I've only barely gotten my workshop going and then had to build some toddler furniture for my son, I haven't gotten around to starting it yet. I finally got around to getting around to it today.

I play the guitar but have never built a real instrument before. In addition to that fact, I am an inexperienced woodworker in general (but I do have a shop full of tools courtesy of a good bonus of a few years ago and a fortuitous Pennysaver find by a friend ). I'm not sure how this will work out but I am excited. To be honest I can't imagine ever going out and buying a mandolin under other circumstances, despite the fact that many of my favorite bands rely heavily on them (Jethro Tull, The Band, etc.) and the fact that I like the mandolin's sound. I get home from work about an hour earlier than my wife on the average and I am planning to do this work in this little bonus daily time for the most part.

Tonight I cleaned up my worktable and, covering my tablesaw with a half sheet of plywood to make a second table, laid out the kit. You can see the parts laid out in the box it arrived in here in the photo. I spent the rest of my time preparing to start working by sharpening some chisels. (I also had to spend some time tinkering with my kerosene heater to get the shop warmed up a bit, since there's no heat in there again this year despite the fact that it has a Reznor-style natural gas furnace. But that's another story.) I have to get some supplies, notably some of the recommended wood glue (Titebond - I usually use Elmer's yellow wood glue in the shop but Titebond is what they have recommended) and a few big C-clamps (I just don't have that many of these and with an instrument this small a look at the instructions suggests that they will be helpful because my one-handed bar clamps lose grip over time much more quickly than I would like). I hope to start work in earnest tomorrow, but I have to get an allergy shot first.

I plan to keep track of my costs over there to the right - since the kit was a gift it is not included in this list. My first thoughts are that the kit is very nicely appointed - the woods are nice, especially the rosewood fingerboard - and that the instructions are very clear and simple. I believe that it should be possible (but not necessarily likely) to make a very nice instrument with this kit even if you are a rank beginner.

Like me.