I’ve been playing music as long as I can remember. Part of what initially drew me to woodworking was the hope that I’d one day be able to build my own instruments. And, well, thanks to my good buddy Austin Papp, who happens to be a very talented Luthier, and a few friends dumb enough to get together to try to build some mandolins from scratch in 5 days, that moment finally arrived.

Music started for me on plastic buckets and graduated to trumpet, piano, guitar, and violin as childhood progressed. After getting berated for years by my high school orchestra teacher for constantly strumming my violin like a guitar, my parents bought me a cheap mandolin, and it was all over. Chris Thile of Nickel Creek was my first crush, and life-long love affair with the mandolin followed.

Austin, Jeremy and I converged at our mutual friend Caleb James (a planemaker you might have heard of)'s shop in North Carolina.

Even with three fairly experienced woodworkers and one very talented instrument maker on the job, it was a pretty hefty endeavor, but one we miraculously pulled off with flying colors. All of us finished the five days and returned (completely exhausted) to our perspective homes with a playable instrument in hand.

In the video below you'll see a very condensed version of the mandolin building process, from carving the arch top and bottom, tuning the top, fitting the truss rod, fitting and shaping the neck, sizing, pressing and filing the frets, and sooooo much more.

A HUGE thanks to Stewmac for providing many of the tools and materials required for this build to take place. We could not have done it without them.

PS- I’m getting ready to build my next mandolin, BUILD IT WITH ME! Here’s what you need from www.stewmac.com:

F5 Mandolin Plan Item # 0859

Waverly f5 tuners Item # 6050

F5 Mandolin Kit Item # 5148

Basic Setup Kit Item # 3910

GHS Phosphor Bronze Light Mandolin Strings Item #1430

If you want to build your own mandolin completely from scratch,

Here is the supplies list for the build shown in the video above from Stewmac:

5777 White Plastic Binding

5787 Black Plastic Binding

0735 Mandolin Tailpiece (Nickel)

0321Waverly Ebony Mandolin Endpin

4018-BStrap Button Felt Washers (Black)

4982-SB Ebony button, chrome screw

6181 ColorTone Shellac

6010 Bleached White Bone Nuts, Gibson Style Blank, Mandolin

0764 StewMac Narrow Fretwire - Narrow/Low, 2-foot piece

0767 Adjustable Archtop Mandolin Bridge

0781 Mandolin Truss Rod 0748-N Truss Rod Cover Screw

0615Truss Rod Cover for Banjo or Mandolin

2511-N Golden Age A-style Mandolin Tuners - Bright Nickel, w black keys

0991 Peg Head Overlay Veneer - Ebony

0719 Spruce Tone Bar Wood, Set of 2

0727 Red Spruce Top Wood For Mandolin or Violin

1054 Unslotted Fingerboard Guitar - Ebony

4093 Kerfed Lining for Mandolin

0964-IP Pearloid Fretboard Side Dots, Package of 10

0003-IP Pearloid Dot - 6mm

10917 D'Addario Phosphor Bronze Mandolin Strings - EJ7

45082 StewMac Z-File Fret Crowning Files - Original

1175 Fret End Dressing File

0942 Gauged Nut Slotting File Set for Mandolin - Medium

4323 End Pin Jack Reamer

0344 Peghole Reamers - Standard

15643 Aluminum Radius Sanding beam 18" Long - 12" Radius

4577 Fret/Fingerboard Levelers - 8" Length 3770 Fret Rocker

1298 Binding Router Bit Set 5046 Archtop Bridge Fitting Jig

4365 Fret Press Caul with 5 Fret Press Inserts 6159 Pocket Truss Rod Wrenches (5/16")

3910Basic Setup Kit 4152 Dragon Hand-cut Rasp - Large/fine4179Razor File - Tapered Curved

0331 Ibex Archtop Plane - 47mm 3760 Fret Beveling File (3 3/4")

5767 Stickit Self-adhesive abrasive - 120 grit 0584 Brown Tape (3/4")

1976 Bind-All Binding Glue

7000Super Glue Starter Package

0622 Titebond (4 oz. bottle)5030Color Tone Stain (Vintage Amber)

5038 ColorTone Stain (Cherry Red)

5104 ColorTone Stain (Dark Walnut)

5991 TrueChannel Binding Router Jig

2231 StewMac Fret Slotting Miter Box with Fret Saw

0689B ending Iron

0688 Mandolin Side Bending Extension

Another HUGE thank you goes out to Woodcraft Gallery for their continued support of my channel. They are THE REASON I get to do so many cool projects like this, and share them with you all on my blog and Youtube for free! Shop woodworking tools and materials and find local stores and classes at www.woodcraft.com

Building a Mandolin