Using #FreeCAD and my #3DPrinter to make an extremely specific clamp for a laporoscopic repair on a broken plywood #mandolin. This one will go through the f-hole to clamp a loose brace to the top. The holes accommodate an M6 bolt and cross dowel.
I hope this works, otherwise I'll have to take the back off, which is way more hassle!
I made a small change to the top jaw to keep it parallel when tightened. A dry fit seems to work perfectly. The next step is to apply some glue with a syringe and some tubing, but I have to buy the tubing first.
Update: I did the laparoscopic surgery on the mandolin. Working through the f-hole with a syringe, tubing, and wire, I I glued the loose brace and clamped it with my 3D printed clamp. After a day and a half of curing I put on new strings and brought it up to tension. So far, it's holding!
@threedaymonk wow nicely done! I've got a bellied acoustic guitar to repair that I'm not particularly looking forward to doing and that's significantly bigger than a mandolin!
@threedaymonk not sure about the neck angle but I've had a couple of experienced people look at it (I was hoping it just needed a set up!). And turns out the previous owner reduced the bridge height as much as was possible to try compensate, so presumably it had this problem when I bought it and slowly got worse. First photo is my old bellied guitar, second is my new replacement guitar (I wasn't sure it was fixable so bought a new one but I'll be giving the repair a go myself at some point).
The mandolin is done! I adjusted the new nut I'd fitted, and took a couple of millimetres off the bottom of the bridge to get the action lower. It's now low enough that a plectrum can be held between strings and fingerboard. It's not a fancy instrument, but it plays very well (thanks to the fret levelling I also did yesterday) and sounds good enough in a domestic setting.
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