Latest Activities

For a while, I was maintaining a website with my bandura activities but for me, the standard html thing was just a little too cumbersome to deal with.  Eventually I'll put some updates there and add some historical info here but for now, to see information about my first two banduras, check the old website here.

Since my last update on that site, I've re-topped bandura number one because the soundboard was too weak and collapsed, completed bandura #3 and almost finished a 000 sized acoustic guitar from a stew-mac kit. I'll cover the details of those in other posts as time permits.  The guitar has been completed and finished (i.e. I've sprayed the lacquer) and the finish now needs to cure for about three weeks before everything is level sanded and buffed to a high gloss shine.  Then the neck is attached to the guitar for finial setup.  While it's curing, I've started work on bandura #4.

After I completed bandura # 1, I decided that I was going to make three banduras in parallel but about 1/4 of the way into the build I changed my mind.  Although it seemed like a good idea at the time, the problem is that you can't use the experience from one instrument to make design changes to the next.  I had made three sets of the main frame parts for the three instruments and as I was going along, I had an idea for a much better way to join the "rim" to the "poly frame" but I had already made the cut on all three parts. At that point I decided that until I get a decent design down, I would work serially instead of in parallel.

Bandura # 4

Bandura #4 starts it's life as the second rim, poly frame and

 neck from that batch of three that I started many years ago.  I changed the design to eliminate that "bad cut" from the original design. This instrument will have one major innovation I'll get to in a minute. The main design elements of this one are:

• Sitka Spruce Top
• Sitka Bracing
• Curly maple Back
• soft maple poly frame and neck.

The big innovation for me will be that this one wil

l have a spherically domed top using the same tools used by flat top acoustic guitar makers.  I'll go into this more in another post.  As far as I can tell, the Лвівянки (Lviv banduras) have been using this method for a while but this could be the first time that it's been done on a North American Bandura.  I've actually tried to put a dome on my last two banduras and the re-top of bandura #1 but my attempts basically failed.  

I've about had it for writing for tonight and to continue about the doming will take an entire post so to conclude this post, here's a picture I took last night after profiling the sides as a little teaser: