TENTALONE, now that is an odd word. I presume is an old Italian word used by violin makers to describe the bracing that held their instruments together. And of course that is what Tentalones do for ukuleles, they are the triangular bendable braces that you see in the corners where the sides meet the top and bottom. They are really what holds an instrument together. One surface is glued to the top or bottom, the longer surface is glued to the side and you are looking at the third, unglued side.
You can buy these things machine made from the luthier supply houses very cheaply. I guess I am pretty old fashioned as I like to make them by hand.
You can buy these things machine made from the luthier supply houses very cheaply. I guess I am pretty old fashioned as I like to make them by hand.
Here is the jig that I make them with clamped to the work bench. The working part of this is the small strip of wood nailed to the right hand edge with a little stop piece at the top. I run basswood through my table saw making little strips. These are then run through a homemade jig that fits on the bandsaw and cuts the segmented grooves which allow the tentalone to bend. Then I bring them here and
 With the sharp blade of an exacto knife held at an angle, I slice off a triangle of wood leaving a nicely tapered tentalone |  Then with a sanding block and 120 grit paper I smooth and shape this soft wood to the nice gently curved surface I want you to see through the sound hole |
Doing this by hand, sitting in my workshop with a little Bach playing in the background, seems a lovely way to spend a few hours during a Ukulele build cycle. Sure it is not very economic, but I take pleasure in doing it and that is why I make ukes anyway. Somewhere in the dim dark past I got it into my head that one of man's highest callings was doing skilled and beautiful work with his hands. The older I get the more that old belief resonates with me. Creating with your hands is not apt to make you rich, but the sense of pleasure and achievement can surely make you happy. So I will just whittle away until I have enough of these things for the three tenors I am working on, and I will have more moments of pleasure when I glue them into these ukes, knowing they came from my own hands.
