Tom's Ukulele, Neck part 1

Sorry for the delayed update, been too busy working on this thing and been slacking on updates.  So the other night I glued up what I planned on using as the neck block and drew up the profile.

I had to draw it on this side, for the record, that isn't a crack.  I had originally glued a heel piece on, and decided to go another route, and cut it off.

I put the block through the bandsaw and cut it oversized to account for any sloppiness.  I only have 1 blade for it right now, and it doesn't like to make straight cuts. 

After cutting it out, I spent several hours sanding and filing it so that the headstock was flat and even thickness, and so that the heel area didn't show any saw marks.

I decided that was enough work for the night and saved the fretboard for the next day.  Those pics are coming up.

Tom's Ukulele, Trimming up the sides

When I woke up around 2, I took all the clamps off and popped the mold off.  Looks like both sides are secure, and I won't really need any touchups.

After dinner, I got out my laminate trimmer, and a flush/trim bit I bought from Stew Mac and practiced a few times trimming some 1/4" plywood scrap flush to my workbench.  After I was confident with my work, I went to town on the body.  My only real gripe about it is that it left a grease mark on the sides, but I have some finish sanding to do anyways, so it isn't a huge deal.  Other than that, I'm very pleased with the results.

I'm going to wait until after I do the bindings to get all the sanding taken care of.  I have to go pick the strips up from Specimen since I don't have enough in stock here.  Possibly going to do that tomorrow.

Tom's Ukulele, Back attachment

I let the glue sit about 4-5 hours with the clamps on.  Its supposed to take about an hour or two to harden, but like everything else, I like to be sure of things.  Plus its late and I got caught up in cartoons on tv.  I went out around 5 to take em all off and check the results.

I think it came out pretty damn good.  I'll note that the reason the whole thing looks crooked is due to 2 factors.  1)The braces are slightly offset, and 2)I cut the endblocks by hand, so they're bound to be a tad off.  There also appears to be a slight hump along the lower bout, but I seem to have accidentally made one in the exact same spot on the other side.  I think it adds some character, gives it a very slight violin look.

Anyway, I printed up a label to paste inside.  I was blanking on ideas for a logo, so I just made one similar to the Mosrite logo, and added in a model, serial number, and date lines.

I had trimmed up all the braces to fit after setting the clamps on the top, and gave the inside a 320/600 sanding, then hit it with some 0000 steel wool to erase my tool marks.

So fast forward a few hours, after I pasted the label in, I once again sanded everything level along the edges.  After that, I painted it up with glue, lined up the back, and clamped it on.  I used a few extra this time, the back has a slight curve to it, so I wanted to make sure I got full coverage.

I'll check on it tomorrow morning/afternoon and start trimming it all flush as soon as I remember where I put the bit I got from Stew Mac last week.

Tom's Ukulele, Top joining

Yesterday I added some 1/4" side supports along a few curved areas to provide extra strength.  I also added some strips of veneer to each side of the neck/tail blocks.  The book I was reading recommended it to make the glue joint stronger, and also because I had hand cut the blocks and they were a little undersized.  I took a picture of it, but it was before I sanded a few things flush, so it just looked like garbage and I decided not to post it.

Tonight, I trimmed up the braces to fit inside the kerfing, and also sanded down all the uneven spots so it would be completely flush and fit correctly.  I then painted some glue around the edges, and on the end blocks, let it set for a few minutes to become tacky, and placed my top on to line up.  It came out pretty even, although I noticed that the sides are about 1/16" off center at the tail.  I had planned on inlaying a strip of lighter wood there anyways, so it won't make a difference.  Here's the pic of the top clamped on.

Yeah, I know thats a lot of clamps for a small instrument, but I prefer to play it save and not have loose spots.  Tomorrow I will attach the back, and if I have time, trim it all up with a flush router bit.

Tom's Ukulele, kerfing/linings

So I decided that since I was in such a good mood today, I'd get even MORE work done.  The neck and tailblocks went in just fine, with minimal amounts of glue to scrape.  I decided that since it was still early, Might as well get a little more done today. 

Stew Mac and LMII sell pre cut/shaped linings for a few bucks a piece, but me being the type of person I am, decided to hell with that nonsense.  Tom is a very close, longtime friend, and he wanted something truly original and hand made.  So I decided to go ahead and cut hundreds of notches by hand out of loyalty and nothing better to do. 

It took awhile, but I really take pride in my work, and try to do as much by hand as possible.  After cutting a 36" long 1/4" poplar dowel, I broke it into a few pieces and started gluing it in.  For those of you who like to poke fun at my excessive use of clamps...you're gonna love this...

Bought a 50 pack of clothespins at the dollar store after seeing someone use this method on a full sized acoustic build.  Not sure if this is the proper method, but it works great. 

I may or may not decide to do the other half tonight. Most likely I'll do it tomorrow.

Tom's Ukulele, End blocks

Well, I took all the clamps and spreaders off this afternoon, and was very pleased with the results.  I trimmed down the overhang on all four ends, and began making the neck and heel blocks.

I cut the blocks from more 2x12" scrap, and shaped them by hand with a pocket plane and some wood files.  Got them about as close as I could without going overboard, and I just glued them in.

I'm going to let these sit until later this evening at the earliest.  I prefer to give it extra time over risking not enough.  Once I'm confident with the glue joints, I will be cutting and gluing the kerfing to attach the top, and planing down the sides by about 1/16".

Tom's Ukulele, Sides

So I decided that I'd get to work on the sides tonight.  I set up my makeshift bending iron, got a tub of water, and my set of test strips.  It took about 4 tries before I got the hang of it and didn't leave any scorch marks.  Once I had the method to where I was comfortable, I got out the good set and had at it.  First one went rather smoothly, but on the second one I had a small crack occur.  I think its close enough to the end that it shouldn't matter.  Either way, it will sand out and be almost invisible by the time i'm done.  I accidentally melted part of my heat gun though.  I think I'll be more careful next time.  Heh...

I'm gonna let this set overnight and dry out/cool off.  Tomorrow after court I plan on trimming it to size and  installing a neck and tail block.