Blog Posts

THE BACKS ARE BRACED

4/10/2019

The backs and braces spent last night in the "Go Bar deck. The glue was well dried by this morning. I just use wooden dowels from the lumber yard to apply the clamping pressure. they work fine.

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The color palettes have been selected. Ukuleles have to sound good, but they must look good as well. Color matching of woods is important.

The tenor will be a beauty, with a bubinga body set off by tiger stripe maple binding and a rich
bear claw Sitka Spruce soundboard. The neck is a lovely piece of tiger stripe maple matching the binding. I chose a warm brown piece of Honduran Rosewood for the fretboard. It will have the Yin/Yang in the first fret as inspired by Stu Fuchs, and a spalted maple peg head plate.

Today I found an unusually dark chunk of Honduran Rosewood in my stash, and cut it down for a beautiful fretboard. It will nicely match the East Indian Rosewood body and Redwood soundboard. I will have the Stu Fuchs Yin/Yang also. The neck is a nice piece of Honduran Mahogany and this uke will also have a spalted maple peg head plate. I have not chosen the binding yet, but think I lean toward figured koa.

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THICKNESS SANDING COMPLETED

4/9/2019

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It takes a bit of time, but all of the pieces are now sanded down to their final thickness. The sides, ready to bend, the backs ready to resonate and receive their braces.. I first sand them down with coarse sand paper, then change to finer grit for the finish. The finer the grit, the longer it takes .

I am very pleased with the Bubinga back for the tenor. I really could not find where the glued center joint was even when using a 10 power glass. That was a great glue joint.

'What a fascinating and intricate piece of East Indian Rosewood for the Baritone back. This will be truly amazing when finished. You can stare into its depths for hours, and see a thousand images.

I took a phone call today and sat at the extreme south end of the workshop as I talked. 'though it was a different view that you might enjoy. Here are two of the sanders,

The band saw and table saw, with the wood lathe behind. The walls are adorned with my reject water color paintings and various curiosities and past projects;

Here is the work table and the long workbench stuffed with the tools collected over a lifetime.

And finally, the drill press and a cut off saw. A fun and effective workshop containing lots of memories.

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JOINING THE BACKS

4/8/2019

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Large ukuleles, tenors and baritones, generally use two pieces of book matched backs. Here is how I do it.

The most important step is joining the edges perfectly. First I plane each piece, then I place a long strip of sandpaper on my table saw surface and sand until I can see no light between the two edges. Take your time and seek perfection, this is important.

Once the edges mate perfectly, lay down a strip of visqueen both below and on top of your joining edge. then apply the glue, being sure both surfaces have received glue.

Here is a simple, but effective way of clamping the two pieces together, that is if you have a 25 lb bag bird shot.

The pieces and parts for #s 116 and 117 are slowly being assembled on the work table. A tenor and a baritone in their early stages. Tomorrow I will be thinning the backs and perhaps bending the sides. Stay tuned.

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HERE WE GO AGAIN

4/7/2019

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Two more instruments are in process. A Bubinga/Bear claw Spruce tenor for Lee in California, and a baritone for Beth in Illinois to match the tenor I just sent her. It will be East Indian Rosewood and water tank Redwood also.

The baritone neck will be Hounduran Mahogany and the tenor neck is tiger stripe maple. The necks are ready to attach to the soundboards now. today I selected the wood for the bodies. Some lovely Rosewood and Bubinga.

Here is the underside of the Kasha baritone. Each of these little tone bars has a purpose in distributing the sound. of prime importance is that none of them reach the sides which means the entire top of the uke is free to vibrate and make sound. Also that the bass strings are braced more heavily than the tenor strings.

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MiSi Pickups

4/1/2019

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Pickups are a nice addition to a ukulele, even if you only us them to practice with an amplifier. I have long been an advocate of MiSi Pickups and have installed dozens. Two more today. Containing a pre-amp, a simple one minute charge connected to 110 and you can play through an amplifier for 16 hours. No battery to change, simple to use and very high quality, plus you get a nice strap button to boot.

This is all that you see on the outside, the strap button. The piezo cable is hidden beneath the saddle.

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AT LAST- WE HEAR THEM SING

3/31/2019

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The clamps are off, the bridge is attached, Now the string holes are carefully located and drilled. the tape is to protect the wood should the drill slip.

The Peghed tuners have been installed and the string shown is being used to gauge where to drill the string holes in the bridge. I will be using the strings shown above. Thomastik Infeld wound basses and Savarez trebles.

I use an old fashioned hand drill. It is easier to control. Don't want any slip ups here.

And here they are, strung up and ready to play. On the left, #115, Redwood top and East Indian Rosewood body, on the right, #114, Bubinga body and Sitka Spruce "bear claw" soundboard. Now its hear what the sound like.

#115 has the rich warm voice that I expect from this wood combination. I have made a number of these now and they have all had wonderful tone. This is a duplicate of the tenor I built for Stuart Fuchs. It will be sent to Beth in the midwest, I think she will be very happy.

#114 will be heading for its new home in Denmark. Torsten is going to get a beauty. I love the "bear claw" markings on the Spruce, but I really am pleased with this tenor'a tone and playability. A slim fast neck, low action and a quick, clear and resonant voice makes this just a delight to play. I will hate to ship it off after I have installed a MiSi pickup. I have started a twin of this one for Lee in California.

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TIME TO STRING THEM UP!

3/30/2019

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'the long French Polish process is completed. it is time to hear what these beauties sound like. The first step is determining exactly where the bridge and saddle must be placed.

'this contraption stretches two strings across the instrument between the zero fret and the free moving bridge. It allows you to move the bridge around until perfect intonation is achieved. When the bridge is placed just right ou can pluck the strings open, and get exactly the same note when fretting the 12th fret. When you find that spot you mark it with tape. here is the 'sweet spot" for Beth's uke.

Then you carefully tape to the edges of the bridge to outline exactly where you will scrape off the finish to bare wood so you can glue on the bridge. The scraping is done with a razor blade.

This process also provides the first chance to hear the sound of the instrument. I expected the rich tone of the Redwood-no surprise, but I was delighted to hear the rich tone of Torsten's bear claw Spruce. I think both of them are going to be good ones.

In the morning the clamps come off, the tuners will be installed and we will hear how our first Bubinga and Spruce tenor sounds. If it sounds as good as the baritones I have made with this combination I will be thrilled.

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NOW I AM SURE IT MUST BE SPRING

3/29/2019

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The Mason Bees are in the rhododendrens,

And warming themselves in the sunshine. This is a male, you can tell by his long antenna,

Another busy day in the workshop. The new tenor soundboard is done, More French Polish on the two tenors,
two neck made for the next build. and the last of the many tone bars and clamped on the new baritone top. Notice the "bear claw" markings on Torsten's tenor. Luv. it!

Kasha bracing for the tenor. Notice none of them extend to the edges, thus the whole top vibrates.

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IT MUST BE SPRING!

3/28/2019

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THE HEATHER IS IN BLOOM AND THE BEES ARE LOVING IT.
This big bumblebee queen was loading up on pollen and nectar to take back to her secret cave and stock the honey pots to feed her soon to be born babies. I saw the huge queens of three species of Bombus feasting on the heather today, Also lots of male Orchard Mason Bees recently emerged from their winter cocoons and eagerly waiting for the females to appear.

The workshop was a busy place too. The two tenors got more French Polish, The Maple bowl got another coat of finish, Tone bars are being glued to the tops of two new instruments, and a Maple neck is being pieced together.

The tone bars get glued on, two or three at a time. I let them set for a couple of hours before removing the clamps.

I put a new blade in the band saw. Amazing how much difference a sharp blade makes. I cut some aluminum with the old blade-Bad idea!

Installed a carbon fiber rod in the neck. Epoxied in, this neck will never warp. So it was a busy day, I was busy as the bees.

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BACK TO THE WORKSHOP

3/26/2019

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After a great weekend in Vancouver, t was back too the workshop today. the first order of business was another coat of French Polish on #114 and #115, and then my attention turned to the sound boards for #116, a tenor for lee, and #117, a baritone for Beth.

Oops, first I had to finish the bottom of this bowl promised to a charity auction next month. Got that done quickly and then to the ukuleles.

Here I am bending the rosette over the hot pipe. Once bent it is ready to go into the groove.

I gently tap it into place with this little hammer

Now it is almost entirely embedded and it is time to trim to fit. I slip an old credit card under it and cut with a sharp exacto knife.

All installed. the inner hole will be perfected later.

Now you float a little thin super glue in, and the rosette is done.

Now to the thickness sander to smooth up both sides and to reduce the top to its final thickness.

Here it comes!

Once the outward side is perfectly smooth, the sanding is done on the back or inner side to free the sound hole. Here you can see it about to be released.

Freed at last !

The Final Result

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