Thread: We have a lift-off!

northern i think. got it from Gilet.

I've got northern as well, boards I got from Boutique Timbers.

G'day all,

Once again, I launch into the explanations for the lack of progress...............

All the same chestnuts . Snaglisting kitchen, got new fridge, which wouldn't fit in old space, so the next set of cupboards, (next years project), got moved up. Couple that with Xmas, holiday up coast, and weather so hot I can't last more than 15 min in shed, and the crazy humidity, and there you have it.

In fact I have been making some slow progress, but just not posting, so now I'll post a couple of updates

Where to start?

The first task was bending the sides, no pics, as air was too blue for camera. Used the propane torch, but obviously got the arrangement better this time, as before I noticed, sides dried out, and scorching started. Fortunately not bad enough to be disastrous Lots of sanding and scraping however.

Once completed, and placed against plans, not too shabby
Attachment 163607

In the meantime, I continued with the soundboard. Using some offcuts of coolibah burl I had, I cut out segments on my segmented bowl bandsaw jig, to make up a rosette.
Attachment 163608
Once these were glued up, I hotglued them to a softwood mandrel, and trued them, and turned down to thickness and diameter on the lathe.
Attachment 163609
Rosette channel was cut using Cumpiano's "hi tech" ice-cream stick router, and chiseled out.
Attachment 163610
Glued and clamped using the mandrel as a caul,
Attachment 163611
And after scraping back flush, the "router " came back into play to cut out the soundhole.
Attachment 163613
Next it was to the workboard, to glue on the bridge pad,
Attachment 163614
And the fan braces
Attachment 163615Attachment 163616
Followed by shaping and feathering.
Attachment 163617
I know this is overkill for a uke, but I am really doing this build as a learning precursor to doing a classical, so I am treating it as a mini class'

And a first look at what it will look like. On the workboard, with shim (red) in place, and clamped to tailblock. Sides are not down to length yet, as can be seen by outline visible inside the sides.
Attachment 163643

Had a spell with no pics, while the remainder of braces were added and carved, and the soundboard glued to the neckblock, and tailblock.

Then it was on to installing the linings. I am using some Australian Cedar I had on hand, and decided to use the individual block method, as with the tight curves, it made more sense to me. First planed up strips, and then cut the blocks on the bandsaw.
Attachment 163618
Sides trimmed to size, clamped to match outline and glued and clamped to tailblock. Glueing in blocks.
Attachment 163619Attachment 163620

What did not show up at this point, was the hazards of changing the detail of Cumpiano's methods. He does this straight on the workboard, but I decided that I should have the shim in place. What then happened, was the shim shifted, and combined with the softness of the cork while clamping down the sides, resulting in the soundboard flexing into a "hollow" and being locked into this by the glued in linings.

So it was out with the chisel, and carve off about 20 lining blocks in the affected area, before reclamping correctly, and reglueing. The good news is that this corrected the error, and all's good again.

And finally for now, completed, and planing sides down to tailblock, and slant from waist to headblock.
Attachment 163621

And all this in between gluing up panels for the kitchen doors!
Attachment 163622Attachment 163623

And a pic of my "constant humidity cabinet" in which everything lives with dessicant. I take pieces out to work on and return in between.
Attachment 163624

more updates when I make more progress.

regards

Back again.
I have been taking some “me” time, so not too much progress on the kitchen, but a bit on this.
Slow but steady progress, and steep learning curves. I believe that my idea to do this as a learning exercise is paying off. While I would still not be accepting of a complete b@lls-up, I am highlighting a number of things which I will adjust when I do start on a full size build. Mainly things where the reading I have been doing has not highlighted the implications of how I interpreted the text. All will help to make the likelihood of a high quality 2nd build better.
To the progress.
Next step was bracing the back.
Marked out, and gluing back grafts.
Attachment 164349
Arching braces on disk sander. Using WRC for braces and grafts, as left over from the board i cut the soundboard from.
Attachment 164350
Glueing arched braces using flexible caul.
Attachment 164351
And 2 views showing braced back, and curve.
Attachment 164352Attachment 164353

Braces were peaked and carved, followed by final sanding.

Bandsaw jig for cutting kerfed linings. These are from Australian cedar.
Attachment 164354
Using small bulldog clips to glue lining in place. This was done in 2 halves, to accommodate the arch in the back. I decided not to use solid and bent linings, as the small size, and tight curves put this in the "too hard" box.
Attachment 164355 Attachment 164356
Back arched, brace pockets cut, and linings leveled and sanded. Also showing the cauls for later clamping of bridge and fretboard.
Attachment 164357
Glueing on the back. Used a variation of the "roping" method, with dozens of thick leccys, and cork padded cauls at neck and tail block. Went really well.
Attachment 164358 Attachment 164359
Starting to look like something now.
Attachment 164360
After trimming back the soundboard, I cleaned up tailblock and inserted a tail graft, cut from the same burl as the soundhole rosette. (pic below)
And then on to one of the steps which has been stressing me out since day 1. ( The others would be the side bending, and fretting I guess.)
I don’t have any of the binding jigs which are available, and the indexing attachment on my hand router was too agricultural, so I looked at an alternative solution.
As the uke does not have significant arch in either soundboard or back, I turned to the router table. I had a 13mm flush trimming straight bit. I changed the bearing to the next size down, (3/8” maybe?). Some trial cuts suggested this would not be too far out.
Doing repeated light freehand cuts, working down to contact with the bearing, I nibbled it away. I worked conventionally when cutting with the grain, and climb cut when going “uphill”. When extending the binding ledge across neck and heel by hand, I had one of those “learning” moments, where these were cut to match the binding strips as cut, rather than the final binding thickness. Not too serious, as fretboard will cover the top, and the heelcap will cover that end, after carving back to final binding dimension.
Attachment 164361
In general the binding ledges looked good, as did the tailgraft, moistened to show figure.
Attachment 164362
That’s as far as I have time for now, so I’ll get back with further progress in a week or so.

Regards

Looking good Alastair.

Love the Silky Oak sides.

Thanks for that Steve,

On to some more progress.

Then it was on to cutting the bindings. These were cut from some Imbuia, or Brazilian walnut, which I have been hoarding for 40 years. This was the other bit of one of those “hindsight” moments. Cut the bindings nearly double too thick, and 50% too wide.


Attachment 165652



So that while the Imbuia bent extremely well,

Attachment 165653

The resulting bindings were too stiff to coax exactly into contact with the binding ledges.
With the result that I was going to get gaps.
I started gluing in the bindings strapping with masking tape, but found that I could not exert enough pressure, and also the tape “self released” so the first runs were a bit of a disaster.

Attachment 165654

What we got was a few gaps, where I had not bent exactly to match.

Attachment 165655Attachment 165660
I filled these with epoxy, coloured with sanding dust from the bindings.

Attachment 165657

After scraping back, the results were reasonable.

Attachment 165656

And I believe will not show once there is finish applied.

As is usual with this build, hindsight is 20/20, so changed method to strapping with rubber bands for the next two sections.

Attachment 165658

With a lot more success. This binding was the worst bent of the 4.

Attachment 165659

The bound and scraped back body.

Attachment 165661Attachment 165662

Then it was on to the fretboard. Another of my high stress hurdles. Used some Solomon Queen Ebony I got at the WWW show. Very pretty, but as hard as nails, and a b*gger to plane. Tried all my existing saws, to find that none of them had a suitable kerf for the fretwire.
So I did what every self respecting ww’er would do, and took a lunchtime trip to Carbatec, and came back with their fretting saw. Fret intervals came from feeding the scale length into one of the calculating spreadsheets I found on the internet. I measured in mm, (hopefully to better than 0.25mm), and we’ll see how successful I was once completed, and in the critical hands of no. 1 son.

Cutting the fret slots with home grown depth stop, and with fb blank spot glued to a melamin workboard.

Attachment 165663Attachment 165664

And completed.

Attachment 165665

Tapered to final dimensions, and the soundhole end finished. I did 14 frets, rather than the traditional 12, so I could extend the fb to cover the brads I had used during the gluing of the neck.

Attachment 165666

Gluing the fb in place was an exercise in clamp congestion on the small neck.

Attachment 165667

The fretting followed. No pics, as air too blue for photography. Didn’t do too bad though, although the last fret blew out a chip in the ebony, which had to be glued back.

Attachment 165668

Fortunately invisible, once the frets were clipped back
Next step was grinding the fret ends, and leveling

Attachment 165669

Then started to carve the neck.

Attachment 165670

It soon became obvious that my original nexk blank had been far too thick for the small instrument, and the initial result was fairly agricultural.

Attachment 165671

What followed was an extended carving session, moving the joint with the headstock further up, and thinning the shaft to a more elegant profile. It has been impossible to get exactly what I wanted, as while the headstock end is fine, except for an obvious scarf joint line, I have had to leave a fair bit of thickness nearer the heel, so as not to give a clumsy transition. I am reasonably satisfied with the result, however, and it passed the “guitarist son” test. “yep, feels OK.”

Attachment 165672Attachment 165673

Still needs final smoothing and detailing.

Another weight off my shoulders.

And as far as I have got to date. SWMBO is now on my neck to do the next of the kitchen stuff, preparing for a huge invasion of relatives for a multiple birthday, so will catch up when more progress.

regards

This is a cry for help

Got the bridge built, and rough nut and saddle, but I'm stymied as to bridge position.

As I am not working off proper plans, (and am not a musician) I have only a hazy notion of what compensation would be normal on a soprano Uke.

As it is looking, will be 346mm scale length, and action at 12th fret will be 2-2.5mm.

The best references I can find on web suggest about 2mm of compensation, (ie 348mm to saddle)

Are there any gurus out there who can give me any advice?

regards

No pictures ATM, as I have been too frustrated with progress, and too multitasking to get round to taking any. I will post some more when setting up, and the completed build.

Right now it is more important to disguise the st#ff-ups, rather than celebrating them

That said, some progress has been made, albeit slowly.

Nut was roughed to fit, and scratch grooved, and a temp tailpiece and fishing line used to set out the geometry and positions.

Bridge was roughed out from offcut from FB. I was lucky that my one small router bit was the exact fit for the bone saddle blank, so the execution went fairly well. My original idea had been to go with a scaled down classical, but closer reflection had me thinking that this would overpower the lower bout, so after a visit to look at some mid range sopranos from local makers, I reduced the area a bit, and lost the wings. Ramp to the tieblock was routed, then hand carved with chisel. In cutting down the saddle, I have a sliver which will become the trim/reinforcement on the back of the tie block. (note to self: I hate the smell of burning bone)

What was delaying here was the lack of info I had on action and compensation, given I am not working off specific plans. Many thanks to kiwigeo and the folk on ANZLF for their assistance.

Now to the next frustrating bit. With a WW background, some confidence in my skill level, and a fair bit of hubris regarding the quality of workmanship on the build to date, I underestimated (and tended to scoff at the emphasis placed by Cumpiano on) the amount of finiting which would be needed to get the quality of result I aspired to.

Add to that an unforgiving FP finish, which I have used successfully many times with furniture, and you have a recipe for mediocrity.

Some key points: (these might be self evident to the experienced, but may assist poor mortals like myself down the track)

Surface prep:
Do it, then again, and when you are certain it's fine, redo. With shellac, every bit of torn grain, sanding mark, scraper dig, tiny gap, fingernail bruise shows up like d*gs b*lls. (and they don't show until you have a gloss coming up)

If you are going gloss, grain fill. I chose to compromise with a slurry of talc/shellac, which I have used before. Unfortunately, subsequent coats lift a bit out of the pores. I will settle for a glossy satin on all but the soundboard as a consequence.

Be very careful when sanding detail. Without a block, it is easy to sand hollows which glare at you once the gloss comes up.

Size:
I have found the small areas of the uke challenging, when compared to a table top. It is difficult to get your pad to the right charge, and there is not the room to get the "trail" going. And when you get to the corners, and have to go straight, you go back once too often, or too slowly, and remark the softened shellac. DAMHIKT

All said, I am making progress. IF I can solve the junction between FB and SB, I will be starting to get close.

Then it will be the comedy of errors around set-up....... Remember I have to cope with no.1 son's infallible ear

I'll take some pics over the w/e, and hopefully have something to share next week

regards

Good day All,

Pay attention now, as this is the final straight of a long and drawn out saga.

With some expert advice from Martin, and some perspiration from me, we made progress in getting the finish to a reasonable standard.

And then I was too impatient to heed his latest bit, and pushed on impatiently to my detriment.

Once I had the finish "getting there", I moved on to gluing up the bridge. First mistake was to check positioning, with the bridge held down by 'leccys. This, combined with my impatience, and not waiting for the shellac to harden, has left me with some surface marring of the soundboard, which I will either have to fix, or live with.

Once the bridge was positioned, I masked off exactly to bridge dimensions, and then scraped off the finish back to clear timber using a sharp chisel vertically as a scraper. In parallel, I routed a small recess in the back of the bridge, for a bone insert on the tie-block. That broke my 2.5mm router bit, (ebony is hard) but I was able to use the stub to finish off. Bone inlay glued in with epoxy, and bridge finished off on the sanding board.

Then it was time to fit the bridge caul inside the uke with Blue Tac, and (just) fit in the 2 clamps in order to glue the bridge in position. The masking also helped here to hold the position as the clamps were snugged up.

Attachment 167503 Attachment 167504
Glue squeeze out was cleaned away, and the tape stripped, before it did damage to the finish.

Attachment 167505

Once this had dried overnight, it was on to the setup. When cleaning up the fretboard, it became obvious that I had done a cr@p job of dressing the frets, so that had to be redone, before going any further, at great risk to the finish.

Then the saddle was given a preliminary shape, and tuners installed, followed by strings. Nut spacing, and action were set up by eye, and then the first test: No. 1 son's chromatic tuner. Sometimes the gods will smile..............

As it turned out, the expected reshaping of saddle etc did not eventuate, as by following advice from Martin, and ANZLF helpers, the G and A both intonated almost perfectly straight up.

With the strings on, and tuned up, it was on to the second hurdle.......... No.1 son

Took his guitar away, and gave him this. After he had played it for about 1/2 hr, I asked him what he thought.

Uh, Yeah, It's OK.

Is that a pass?

Anyway, daughter, (saxophonist) has declared that it's hers now.

Here are some pics of the finished instrument.

Attachment 167506 Attachment 167507

Attachment 167508 Attachment 167509

Attachment 167510 Attachment 167511

The blemishes don't show, (but they are there). I haven't tidied up the stringing, as I will take the strings off down the track, and refinish soundboard and back, just for good measure.

It has been an interesting project, now I need to decide whether the bug has bitten deep enough to overcome the stress, and move on to a classical build. The neck blank has already started..........

regards

Looks great Alastair,. Impressive run of posts and pictures from the 8th of March, cant believe I missed them some how ?? just trying to take it all in now. love the Silky Oak look

Is it going to be a silky classical ?

cheers Rob

Hi Rob,

Thanks for that, it was the learning experience I was looking for

I now have No.1 son talking about the "next one", so I might be committed, (and probably should be)

Tempted to stay with the SO, as I have enjoyed working with it, both on this and the kitchen fitout. Might have to see if Mal can find me a suitable board.

regards

Originally Posted by auscab

Looks great Alastair,. Impressive run of posts and pictures from the 8th of March, cant believe I missed them some how ?? just trying to take it all in now. love the Silky Oak look

Is it going to be a silky classical ?

cheers Rob