Making a Neapolitan Mandolin in Naples - November 2022

[sebastiaan56]

Earlier this year I came across an ad by Carlo Mazzaccara for a Neapolitan Mandolin making course. This has been a bit of a obsession of mine for a while now. I grabbed the opportunity, crossed the world and we had our first day in the workshop yesterday. My intention in this post is to create a record of the build process. I will spare the minutiae but of course answer any questions as I can. There will be a few posts as the time budget for the build is a month.

Some quick background. Naples is the home to a long tradition of mandolin making. It is the home of the Calace factory, in fact we walked past it. It was also the home of the Vinnacia family. Neapolitans claim the modern mandolin as their own. Naples the city is busy, historic and fabulous. Follow my social media if you want more observations.

Firstly the workshop. On the first floor on a street in the old city in Naples. A well laid out working area with a small bandsaw (by my standards) a sanding disc, and a central bench with several vices. The walls are crammed with timber, bowls, tools and the general stuff of lutherie. The workshop is above the showroom where an extensive collection of new and restored instruments are displayed and sold. There are several luthiers working there and I will post about them as it becomes relevant to the build.

Like any mandolin the Neapolitan mandolin is built around a mould. In this case Carlo used CNC to describe the ideal shape. The first task is to shape the neck block to the ideal shape. The block itself is made of a local timber which is halfway between spruce and maple. I dont have a species name… yet… The neck block and extension are clamped to a bar that is the width of the neck which is screwed onto the mould. Shaping is done with a flat chisel and a selection of rasps. Great care is needed as this will determine a lot of the final placement of the ribs. The photos show the block after shaping on the mould. The block and mould are then ruled to creat visible zones and the quote Carlo “provide navigation places for the ribs”. Tomorrow we start making ribs

[kiwigeo]

That looks like my idea of a holiday in Naples! Keep us posted Seb.

[lamanoditrento]

So are you being instructed in Italian? Post away. Really looking forward to following along.

[sebastiaan56]

So are you being instructed in Italian? Post away. Really looking forward to following along.

Yes, and broken English. This is fair enough as my Italian is pretty limited. Fortunately everyone speaks a bit of each.

There is some stunning work going on in the workshop. I will post other photos when I can take some.

[sebastiaan56]

End of Day 3.

There are now six ribs fitted to the mould.. The basic process is to bend the ribs to shape, then mark out the widths. The rib widths are determined by dividing a sector of the mould into equal sections and dividing by the number of ribs. This is done at three points along the mould. The end for the headblock was determined to be 1mm wide and the tail block ends are all pointed.

Once the rib is bent the heights of the sectors are marked onto the rib and the rib shaped on a disc sander and a sanding board. The critical shape is that each rib has a perfectly straight edge. So the build process proceeds right side rib, left side rib. The left hand side of each right rib is straight so the only real flattening to do is the right hand side of the right hand rib. Visa versa for the left hand side ribs. This is half the work Im used to and made my day.

The ribs are glued to the headblock first. Everything is done with hide glue. The contrasting spacer is included at this point. They are secured with tiny nails and work proceeds down the mould to the tail block. Once the rib is tight and secured hide glue is rubbed into the joint. Uncalendared paper is the stuck to the joint and the whole lot kissed by the hot iron to secure it.

Ah yes, the hot iron. In a central spot in the workshop there is a gas fired brazier with space for four irons. On the top is a pot with boiling water wher the glue is kept to temperature. The irons are mild steel, 4-5mm thick, 30mm wide and 300mm long. They are bent like an egg flip and fitted with wooden handles. They are used to bend the ribs and adhere the paper fasteners in the various gluing operations. A truly wonderful system.

Scorching is inevitable but will be removed when the finishing process starts. There will be a lot of scraping to come. The photos should be self explanatory. I should add that the workshop is a full service Luteria. There are instruments being made and restored as well as the banter that accompanies a busy workshop. Im loving it.

[sebastiaan56]

Update time

There are now 20 ribs on the mould. We have turned the corner to coin a phrase. The centre back of the bowl is relatively flat and the bowl then rises steeply. this transition occurs over four ribs each side. These ribs need to be twisted as they are fitted so the procedure is a bit different now. Size and fit the rib to the mould, glue and nail the rib in at the head block, secure the rib with pins and then glue the tail block end. The rib is then covered in glue with particular attention to squeezing the glue into the seams. Paper is then placed over the seam and the hot iron is used to coax the rib into the correct shape. When done properly the ribs end up perfectly aligned as a bend that would be impossible to execute properly off the mould “melts” into place. It is a very effective system.

Each morning starts with cleaning up the previous days paper and burnt glue off the mould and then a thorough inspection for evenness of the ribs and proper shape of the bowl.

Work has commenced on the soundboard as well. First the spruce boards (Val di Fiemme) are cut to the shape for future handling. The grooves for the cant are positioned and then cut by hand. They are 1/3rd of the depth of the soundboard. The two halves are then bent at the grooves using a hot iron tilted on its side. The angle of the cant is then checked against a brass template and when correct it is held by pieces of masking tape overnight. While this is resting the braces are cut and shaped to the final curve of the soundboard. This is continually checked against the template. The braces are marked for position and left for gluing.

The procedure for gluing the two halves of the soundboard is poetry in motion. The edges of the two halves are flattened on an upturned plane in a vice. Then another fillet is taken off with the boards at a very slight angle. The boards are then lined up and the glue applied. They are positioned until the glue grabs and then glue and paper is applied and set with the hot iron. The soundboard is then set aside to dry.

I hope the pictures convey what is happening. I do have videos but will have to get back home to start a channel.

All of this is happening at La Bottega del Mandolino in the old part of Naples. This lutherie specialises in the traditional method of mandolin construction. The building is 17th century and there are remnants of the old Roman well in the building. Carlo is proving to be an excellent teacher and the others in the lutherie are good company.

[Dave M]

Good photography too!

[Mark McLean]

I am loving this - the pictures and the whole idea of it. Thanks for bringing us on the journey.

[sebastiaan56]

Progress photos.

Firstly the mould keeps getting ribs on it. Ive included a photo of the current status, a ribbed mandolin back and another bowl style. The bowl style we are building is considered to be the pinnacle of Calace design. You will notice how sharp the curves are compared to the more rounded shape. (Stunning Rosewood BTW.) I have included a photo of the “moulding onto the mould” process. I hope that helps.

The other process was bracing the soundboard. There are many ways to achieve this but this is the traditional one employed in the Calace factory. The process, rule up placement of the braces, cut inserts for fingerboard support into the main braces, Glue first brace, clamp and wedge for tightness, add fingerboard brace, glue top brace capturing the fingerboard brace, clamp and wedge, glue lower brace, clamp and wedge, add flat supports for the centre joint, glue and wedge, tape lower seam support with blocks. Glue is cleaned up as each brace is glued.

Once again, I’ll post some videos when I get back to Oz. I also need to figure out how to sequence these photos. Mi dispiache…

[Allen]

Fascinating process. Love seeing the progress.

To order photo's the way you want, you have to insert them by picking the one you want in the list of phot's and inserting the code. Otherwise the software uses a default that never is in the correct order for me at least.

[sebastiaan56]

Thanks Allen.

Progress. All of the ribs are on the mould! The last two were sized by creating a paper template for each side. They were then cut out, shaped, fitted, glued and finally clamped. The lot will now sit till Monday when the cap strip and linings are added. There will also be a bit of scraping….

A point to mention, when I said that the iron is uses to punch ribs into place a I need to add that they are all fitted perfectly first. The iron will move them but 0.25mm is a long way in this process. Precision is required to make this process work.

The Soundboard was also completed. After the clamps come off the braces were trimmed. All are the same height under the “E” strings. The top to have a crescent curve and the bottom slopes away from the high point. There are no recurves at the edges of the top braces. The whole soundboard was then cleaned up and the edges of the braces rounded over.

Finally a pic of the crew in the Luteria. Im have a blast.

[sebastiaan56]

Photos didn’t load, try again.

[sebastiaan56]

Update time,

The bowl is off the mould and has been lined with decorative paper. A tailblock has been added as have linings. Both spruce. The label is in and the bowl has been trimmed, slots for the braces cut and the top glued on. I expect the photos will say it all but I can elaborate. Apologies for brevity but I have been fighting photo file size issues.