Doing Things Wrong

Other Guitars

Instruments with non-standard tunings.

Other Guitars


This body is maple plywood over a hollow pine core, double-bound. It came out very lightweight, too light to balance even a guitar neck. This was originally going to be the 12-string, but I realized that it would never balance. So I shuffled parts and bodies between some other projects - a planned six-string got canceled and became the twelver. That left this body free. I thought about it a while and decided it would make a good mandolin.


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The Edge Binding Jig is inspired by StewMac's attachment for the Dremel, except that mine uses a real router, and is designed to fit into tight spaces like the inside of Fender horns, which StewMac's does not do well. The edge follower is a nylon cap nut on a 1/4-20 bolt threaded tightly through a block of maple. The jig is also useful with the follower removed for routing neck pockets, round-overs, etc. The length of the base plate, with the maple stiffeners, allows a large area of contact with the workpiece for stability, something that can be a real problem with a standard router base. The small DeWalt 611 router is easily controlled with one hand, while the other hand keeps the jig aligned on the workpiece. I sometimes even clamp the whole thing upside-down and use it as a quickie little router table.