Exactly as advertised, Roger gave us an informative and entertaining lecture on the "science" of acoustics, how the ear "hears" a stringed instrument, how a steel string guitar (which has a bridge glued to the top soundboard) differs acoustically from a mandolin or a violin where the bridge is movable (not glued) and how the "box" that is the body of the mandolin must be constructed and tuned to sound "the best".
We also got a detailed overview of wood species used in lutherie, why some woods are better than others, how the grain direction as a result of the sawing of the lumber (flat sawn, quartered vs quarter sawn, slab sawn..) all relate to the way sound is amplified and conducted and why we make the choices we do because of this as we select various pieces of wood for construction.
Roger demonstrated several methods of bending the side rims including the traditional bending iron method shown here ...
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| From Mandocamp2009 |
And the "steam" method they prefer here ...
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| From Mandocamp2009 |
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| From Mandocamp2009 |
Afterwards we returned to our work spaces to assemble our pre-bent ribs into the mold and get the headblock, heelblock, and point blocks all glued in to make the "skeleton" of our mandolins ...
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| From Mandocamp2009 |
Roger's daughter Kali demonstrated the installation of the supporting gauze that will re-enforce the F holes...
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| From Mandocamp2009 |
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| From Mandocamp2009 |
The day ended with an incredible slide (Powerpointish) presentation by Roger on the "Lore of Loar" ... very informative and an excellent insight into the life of Loar and the impact he had on acoustic musical instruments we are familiar with today.
Today was basically 8AM until about 7:30PM and we will start again tomorrow at 8AM.
If people wondered if we are getting our money's worth ... the answer is a resounding YES ... this isn't "just a seminar on how to build a mandolin from a kit ..." it is a full bore immersion into the craft, the science, the history and the execution of the workbench tasks ... Roger is an excellent instructor and has clearly forgotten more about his passion than most if any will ever know.
For my "woodworking" friends I have included several "shop pictures" in the Picasa Album pointed to HERE ... there are also several other pictures of our days progress and this is where I will continue to post pictures through the week
I am so glad that you are getting such a great experience :)
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