A SNOWY CHRISTMAS SEASON DAY

We awoke to a lightly falling snow and it seemed like a sunday to spend in the warmth of our home and the Christmas tree.  After a nice breakfast, and an hour of playing my favorite uke before the fireplace, I repaired to the workshop to get a serious start on the next four tenors.  

First, I began prepring the instrument tops.  This is the cedar that will top the Cocobolo #95.  This is wonderful cedar that I have had for 50 years.  Old growth from the Lake Whatcom watershed.  I tap toned a number of pieces and chose this one.  It just sings.!

First you have to get the mating surfaces absolutely flat.  This will be a two piece top.  I place a piece of sandpaper under my table saw fence, and with short, one way strokes flatten the edges until, holding them up to the light, i can see no daylight between them.
Now they are ready to glue together.

Here is my method.  It may seem rather simple, but it works beautifully.  I have a board with a fixed fence. The pieces to be mated, after lots of inspection to be sure they are book matched, are place on the board with a piece of saran wrap below the mating point.  You don't want to glue your sides to the support base.
​  A piece of plastic is also placed over the joint on the top as a glue shield.

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Then a straight and flat piece of wood is placed over the joint to apply flat pressure on the joint.

Then the joint receives the glue, the pieces are laid together under the visqueen, the wood, and two huge and heavy bags of lead shot.  They are to keep the joint from rising when the clamping pressure is applied.  Notice the simple clamping process.  You can never have too many clamps in a workshop.  Clamp it up tight and wait for an hour or two.

And here is the result, a perfectly joined toneboard ready for the thickness sander.  When this is sanded down to about .80 one hundreths of an inch you will not be able to see the joint.  That will be the final thickness of the top after several more funtions must happen to it.  Stay tuned.  

I also was able to produce six lovely tenor neck blanks this afternoon.  I will show you that process tomorrow.
​Brian