Tom's Ukulele, Neck

So I had made a neck blank earlier out of some nice 2 colored walnut I had, complete with heel block.  It was a bit short, so I decided to do a scarf joint, similar to how Washburns and Ibanez do their headstock.  It was my first time trying it, so needless to say I messed up the cut and had to start over.  I ended up taking a 2.125" section off of a walnut body blank I had made 2 weeks ago.  I intend to do a smaller body size out of it, and it was 16.5" wide, so it didn't hurt too bad. 

So I ended up taking that, made sure I cut it an inch longer than needed, and put the heel block on it.  Just took the clamps off a few minutes ago and sanded off the leftover glue that i couldn't scrape off with a razor blade.

I'm gonna go with a shorter, Martin style headstock instead of the Harmony/Silvertone/Stella shape I had originally planned so I won't have to mess up another joint.  I already showered after sweating my butt off all day, so I'll do the cutting tomorrow.

I overslept?

I know I promised multiple updates a few days ago, but I've been all consumed with the X-Games, and its been too hot to work, and I also had to wait for my StewMac order to come in, and pick up a few things from Menards.

So I got out the other night and finished carving the braces and sanding the mold.  Last night I bought some brackets for the mold to hold it together, so here's some pics of those:

Today I put together the mold, and did a couple last minute touch ups so its flush in the center.  I also cut a neck blank, which promptly broke when i put it through the jointer to true up the edges.  So I ended up cutting a second one, which after the glue dries on the heel, I'll cut and glue the scarf joint for the headstock.

While that started setting, I set up my tiny little table saw to cut the veneers for the sides.  I think in the future, I'll find another way to do it.  This was a bit scary.  After that, I set up my little double board planing jig I used for the top/back, and trimmed and sanded it down to the line I had marked at 2.125".



Now I'm going to take a break for awhile, because I'm sweating more than playoff intensity Kevin Youkilis.  Later on i'm going to try out the smaller bending iron I set up with some test strips, and possibly get the sides done.  This one is a 2" tube, with a step down to 1.5", using a 1500 degree heat gun as the heat source.

I probably wouldn't reccomend using something like this full time.  This will just hold me over through my first couple ukes until I can buy one of the super expensive models from Luthiers Mercantile.

Tom's Ukulele update

Mail just arrived.  Brazilian Ebony for the fretboard.  The board is 0.25"x4.5"x12", so I'll have an extra piece for another fretboard.  Also got some 7mm mother of pearl inlay dots.

Side 1



Side 2



Tom, when you see this, let me know which side you'd prefer for your fretboard.

More later.

Tom's Ukulele update

This will be part one of 2 or 3 updates today. 

I did the carving on the braces earlier, and will put that in a separate post.  Just came in from the garage, needed a break to dry off, so I wanted to post the rough cut of the mold up.

I had a 2x12 scrap under my workbench that wasn't warped, and decided to cut it out of that instead of buying more plywood and doing a poor job laminating it.  I drew out a center line, and traced my pattern onto it.  I initially was going to try with my router, but I just couldn't see well enough.  I ended up scrapping that idea, and made room to get to the bandsaw. 

Here's the rough cut, I'm gonna use sanding drums in my drill press to get the rest down to my outline and smooth out a few areas.

Tom's Ukulele part 2.

Today I slept all day, and decided I wasn't gonna waste the whole night doing nothing sitting on the computer.  I cut all the braces out of some 3/8 and 1/2" poplar dowels, and got the ones for the back glued in.  While I had those all setting in my clamping jig, I cut out the sound hole on the top so it would help me place the braces on that side.

I used a hole saw in my drill press to do the soundhole.  It slipped a couple millimeters while pressing it in, so its slightly off center.  I'm gonna use hand files to clean that up so its more centered.

After that I figured out where I needed the braces for the top, I'm using the bigger braces for this side, since it'll be under string tension.  Those will get glued in after the back comes out of my jig, and then I can get to shaping them.

Stay tuned.

Tom's Ukulele

About 4-5 weeks ago I had posted up some pics of some nice bookmatched walnut veneers I had gotten in asking if anyone was interested in a soprano ukulele.  My long time friend Tom stepped up almost immediately wanting one of my originals.  I told him I'd get started after I finished up the repair jobs I already had on reserve.  After I finished Lou's Regal, Ted's Gibson, and another of Lou's guitars, I started making a rig to joint the veneers.  I forgot to hook my shopvac up to the jointer and made a giant mess when I put some 1x8's through it for the jig.

After I sanded them to where I was satisfied, I taped em up and set em aside so I could join together a backing.  I felt the veneers were a little too thin to stand on their own, so I laminated the top to a piece of joined maple, and the back to a piece of mahogany I had.  That brought the overall thickness to about 1/8. 

After fumbling around with trying to print out a 6 page blueprint I had downloaded and tweaked a little, I finally got the body section to print and cut it out to use as a template.  Placed it where I thought the grain looked best, and I cut both sides out with a coping saw. 

I cut them both out slightly oversized.  Once I glue em onto the sides, I plan on using a flush/trim router bit to size it up perfectly.  Gonna assemble my bending iron this weekend, and hopefully get my mold made monday.  Keep an eye out for updates.

Gibson Southern Jumbo complete

Last night I got the last 2 braces in.  I had initially been worried that I would need to do some touch up work because it was really hard to set them in line with the old glue lines, but they're solid as a rock.  I took off the clamps and jacks this morning, and polished and strung it up, and fuck does she sound pretty.  I didn't have any acoustic strings in stock, so I put some 12 gauge steels on there and it has some amazing sustain.  Played a couple songs to make sure she'd stay in tune, and I think its ready to go.  The crack on top is still noticeable, but its solid.  I don't want to risk touching up the finish and potentially ruin it, so I left it as is.  Hoping the owner is happy when he picks it up.

Gibson Southern Jumbo Update

I apologize for the lack of updates this week.  The saddle blank I had ordered arrived earlier in the week, but had a crack in it, so I had to order another one.  The seller I bought the original from was in China (yeah, i know, big mistake, but the color matched the camel bone nut, so i grabbed it), and I wasn't about to pay to send it back and wait for a new one, which could take up to a month, so I ordered one semi-locally and it got here in 2 days.  Spent a few hours shaping it both to the correct height/radius, and also to the contour of the bridge.  It still needs some minor tweaking, but i think it came out pretty well.

I also finished the internal back bracing, and the strip down the middle to add support where there was a minor crack forming from the old stuff falling out, and tonight I tackled the top crack.  I massaged some titebond into the crack, then levelled it out, and wiped it clean.  After that, I added another strip underneath to support the crack so it won't split again, and will be notching the top braces to accomodate it when I put them in on monday.  Snapped a few pics, and attempted to get a usable one from the inside.  It'll be better when I get an inspection cam.

Used my magnets once again, the brace in back is new.  The original had a nasty split in it, so I whipped up a new one out of a blank I had sitting around.  More to come Monday.