Project Ukulele

[zenguitar]

Recently a friend asked me if I would help his daughter make a ukulele. And after some discussions and planning, we agreed that rather than charging him for doing the work, he would buy two sets of materials and I would make one for myself and help her with hers at the same time.

So, after a few weeks of planning and research, we are getting close to finalising designs and ordering the materials.

Now, while a uke isn't a guitar, they do have a lot in common. And it should be a lot quicker to build than a guitar.

So, if the interest is here, I'd be more than happy to post a build diary with pics. What do you all think?

Andy

[Stan]

If you're up for it zen.
I'd love to look in -.

All the best musicians have a Ukulele or two, i believe.

[Dave B]

Definitely! The uke is a fun instrument that even a numpty like me can pick up. It would be fascinating to see one built from scratch.

Mandolin next ..?

[zenguitar]

cheers guys,

looks like I'm keeping a photo diary.

Construction wise, ukes are pretty much the same as acoustics. So it should be useful to anyone interested in building their own acoustic guitar. And it should be equally relevant to anyone interested in a flat top mandolin too.

Looks like we will be building two Tenor Ukuleles. I've spent the last couple of weeks working on plans. Ruth found a pic of one with a cutaway, so I've managed to scale that up into a drawing for her approval. I am going for a standard body. Once the drawings are agreed, I'll turn them into templates and moulds, and we'll be ordering the woods.

But to wet your appetites...

I've already come up with a theme and ideas for inlay for mine. So watch out for something on some unusual inlay techniques, this will be a first for me. And as I would have to modify other truss rods, I am considering making them from scratch.

Andy

[Stan]

i have read that George Harrison traveled with two ukuleles - the story goes - it was just incase he ran he ran into someone who could also play. Ukulele duets! i cant wait!
zen - you and Ruth should make dvds.

[zenguitar]

Isn't making the d*mned thing enough without having to learn to play it too!!

Andy

[zenguitar]

OK..

drawings approved...

Moving onto the cutting list, templates, and moulds.

Woods are pretty much decided too.

Andy

[grab]

i have read that George Harrison traveled with two ukuleles - the story goes - it was just incase he ran he ran into someone who could also play.

Or because when your plane goes down and you're stuck on a desert island, it's better to have two paddles for your raft.

[RegressiveRock]

i have read that George Harrison traveled with two ukuleles - the story goes - it was just incase he ran he ran into someone who could also play.

Or because when your plane goes down and you're stuck on a desert island, it's better to have two paddles for your raft.

Zen has converted me on Ukes: amongst other things they make a great starter intrument for kids. (If you can stop your three-year-old playing it with their feet, that is).

However, my mate left his banjo on the back seat of the car whilst he went shopping the other day. When he came out of the lift on his way back he could see that the glass of his rear window had been smashed.

He ran back to his car that to find that some bugger had put another fecking banjo on his back seat!!!

[zenguitar]

OK... things have started moving.

I've bought all the materials for the jigs, and cut them down to size ready to cut out templates and moulds over the next couple of days. Both instruments will be made with Hawaiian Pheasantwood backs and sides with Red Cedar fronts. These have also been ordered from the USofA and should arrive in the next few days.

Tools are being serviced and sharpened. And I'm preparing a second order from the USA with the neck woods, hardware, internal body woods, bindings etc.

And I'll get some pics to post now things are getting interesting. With some details of everything done up to now.

Andy

[zenguitar]

latest update...

Bloody Paypal!! But excellent US Postal Service. Body woods are in the system and due soon.

Finished the jig for building joining the fronts and backs today, pics on the way, and almost finished the templates for both ukes.

Andy

[zenguitar]

Things are moving...

I've spent the last couple of weeks building jigs and moulds... Here they are.

[image][img]http://i262.photobucket.com/albums/ii92 ... &%20Moulds[/img][/image]

And a jig for jointing the fronts and backs...

[image][img]http://i262.photobucket.com/albums/ii92 ... ng%20Board[/img][/image]

We spent the afternoon preparing the backs for jointing. Using a shooting board to plane the edges on the two halves of each back ready for jointing. Like the wood? It's Hawaiian Pheasant Wood, and this piece is exceptionally pretty.

[image][img]http://i262.photobucket.com/albums/ii92 ... ing%20Back[/img][/image]

And this evening we joined the first back in the jig. We'll start tomorrow by joining the other back and then go on to prepare the fronts for jointing.

[image][img]http://i262.photobucket.com/albums/ii92 ... ing%20Back[/img][/image]

Andy

[Stan]

Isn't making the d*mned thing enough without having to learn to play it too!!

Andy

thanks zenguitar - looking great and excellent photos to -

[Dynamic Mike]

Wow those cramps are pretty cool. Did you make them yourself?

[Jumpeyspyder]

Wow, your jigs are better quality than my finished DIY jobs

Did you do anything to stop the backs from sticking to the jig ?
what type of glue did you use ?

[Hewesy]

Gorgeous Zen. Fancy moving on to a lapsteel slide guitar next (I could use a week on the south coast...)

Hewesy

[zenguitar]

Cheers guys...

Wow those cramps are pretty cool. Did you make them yourself?

No, although once you have one you can see how easy it would be to make as many as you need. They are called Klemmsia clamps and they are a type of cam clamp. They are very popular with guitar makers for a number of reasons, they are very light, it's possible to put them in place one handed and then use the same hand to keep things together and free the other hand to tighten the clamp, it can apply a lot of pressure but in a very controllable way. In the UK you can buy them here and StewMac have their own versions too.

Wow, your jigs are better quality than my finished DIY jobs

Did you do anything to stop the backs from sticking to the jig ?
what type of glue did you use ?

Cheers Jumpey... If you look closely at the pic of the back jointing you can see the end of a strip of newspaper. It lies between the jig and the glue join. I wipe the paper with candle wax but that's not essential, some of the paper sticks anyway and you still have to plane and scrape the surface true on the outer side and thickness from the inside. I'm using Evostick PVA wood glue, in theory Titebond or Humbrol is marginally better as it has less slippage when it sets. But for something this size it isn't significant.

Gorgeous Zen. Fancy moving on to a lapsteel slide guitar next (I could use a week on the south coast...)

Hewesy

Cheers Hewesy, I thought you would have finished the lapsteel by now!! And besides, it would take longer than a week. But if you have a workshop I'm more than happy to visit with my tool boxes as long as you feed me and take me to the pub every night

Andy

[zenguitar]

And just so you know what it looked like when it came out of the jig...

[image][img]http://i262.photobucket.com/albums/ii92 ... 20Back%201[/img][/image]

I just ran a scraper over the join to see how it looked.

Andy

[Hewesy]

Cheers Hewesy, I thought you would have finished the lapsteel by now!! And besides, it would take longer than a week. But if you have a workshop I'm more than happy to visit with my tool boxes as long as you feed me and take me to the pub every night

Andy

Sadly not mate, woodworking course ended and the summer beckons!

I might just get back to you later in the year though, I'm sure something could be arranged (the Sunn needs a new nut too..!).

Hewesy

[zenguitar]

I might just take you up on that Hewesy, although I'm sure the Sun runs on hydrogen, not nuts!!

Meanwhile....

Now both backs are jointed, we are working on the fronts.

[image][img]http://i262.photobucket.com/albums/ii92 ... ic%20front[/img][/image]

This is the first one after planing the jointing edge. A nice piece of Western Red Cedar. And it smells wonderful when you plane it

[image][img]http://i262.photobucket.com/albums/ii92 ... ng%20front[/img][/image]

And here it is in the joining jig. Notice how I am using one of my planes for clamping? The two halves are very different thickness, so I clamped the plane there to control the thinner side across the full length of the join. Not essential, but it does ensure that we can minimise the amount of wood work on the 'good' side to maximise the bookmatch.

We already made a start on the sides, here's Ruth working on the 1st.

[image][img]http://i262.photobucket.com/albums/ii92 ... 0alt="side[/img][/image]

She's planing the good side to remove the sawing marks. Once it's true we'll flip it over and thickness from the inside.

Andy