Thread: A new set of ukuleles

Thanks Ian,
I have stalled a little on this thread, I have been busy building a chook run and doing other family things.







The last thing I did on the ukuleles was to cut and fit the tail end grafts. A wedge of the burl and hand cut then chisel out the tail of the instrument to fit. I was going to set up the router and make a jig for it and it got overly complex for no reason, so doing it by hand was the best solution for me.
I add a light coat of shellac after every step to seal the timber up and stop dirty fingers touching it!










I then went ahead and cut the perfling and binding channels. I will have to take some photos of the set up I use for this as it has to be more complex than it looks due to the radius on the back of the instrument.
The two channels are .8mm and 2mm in width, the perfling and binding need to be bent with the bending iron then glued into place. I have all the timber cut to size, just need the time to fit it!

Well it’s been a while since I last worked on the ukuleles, back into it again.
I now have completed binding one instrument, it’s the most frightening part of the build and the part I enjoy the least. It’s very hard to get the timber bent (with the bending iron) to match perfectly to the instrument. Then it’s time to cut the joints and not have gaps. Tape both the binding and perfling strip (the black piece which is Wenge and .8mm) then set in place with super glue. There is no going back if it goes wrong!





Only four to go!!

They are a thing of beauty and an indication of your knowledge making musical instruments, thanks for sharing.

Another two now have binding completed.













I wasn’t sure about binding the Silky Oak with Red Gum but I think it’s my favourite now!

And now all five have binding!!!
I can now get on to cutting out the neck blanks for them while I continue to build up the shellac on the bodies. Feeling very satisfied that the bodies are completed minus the bridges.

Absolutely beautiful work!

Originally Posted by aarggh

Absolutely beautiful work!

Aaaaaah, I agree!!
Well done Cal.. hope you are enjoying "the journey" as we are observing the results at milestones .
Thanks for sharing, especially via the excellent photography

Euge

Thank you both! Just in the process of making up three more neck blanks to suit the Silky Oaks and Cherry ukuleles. Will update soon!

Along with trying hard to improve on the acoustics of my instruments I am also trying to raise the quality of finish. I am working on the Wenge fretboard for the tenor ukulele at the moment. The neck has been rough shaped and the burl veneer for the head stock rough cut.

Sensational work! Love looking at the pics!

Speaking of finish, I see a bottle of shellawax? in some of the pics, is that your go to finish, or just as a sealer?

I tend to lean to Tung or Danish oil for most things I make, but I've wondered how much impact the finishes affect the tone of the wood for acoustic instruments?

I'd imagine excessive coats of Danish oil would be verboten along with most PU based or mixed finishes?

I see a lot too that the insides don't get a coat of anything?

Thanks Ian! It’s Aussie oil that I use on the fretboard after sanding up to 2000 grit and a bit of micromesh.

I am using Neil’s hard shellac for the bodies and yes I agree with you on the use of tung oil being too heavy for acoustic instruments. Some people use it on acoustics and a lot of people use it on electric guitars.

And as for the not coating the inside, I’m a bit baffled why people don’t. It seems to go against the benefits of sealing the exterior of the instrument. I give mine a couple of coats of shellac, yes I’m sure the timber still breathes through the coating on both sides but at least the timber is closer to equilibrium than leaving one side raw. The more luthiers I follow the more I see that do coat the instrument inside.

And this afternoon I have been busy with Paua shell and a small coping saw. With hopes of inlaying these into headstocks.

Just as I get my head around how high you have raised the bar then you hike it up some more. This is a great thread to watch.
Regards
John

Very kind words thank you John!
I think sometimes I bite off more than I can chew! I look at odd video here and image there and think “how hard can it be?” As it turns out, very! I find it hard to see just how steep the learning curve is with building instruments “ you don’t know what you don’t know” it takes me quite a bit of time agonising over each process before I even attempt it. And that in itself frustrates me because I see it as wasting time. As two of these instruments are for really good friends of mine and another is for my ukulele tutor I want them to be perfect. I also want to get them finished so the pressure is off, but I can’t rush them! Quandary!!!