MADE THE MISTAKE TODAY of going to the local wood store shopping for my daughter. There I came across and fell in love with a lucious piece of Alaska Cedar with wonderful tight grain quarter sawn just the way I like it when making necks for my "blondes". I just could not resist- $103.00 later I walked out with this big hunk of beauty and when I got it home, I just had to figure how to best cut it for tenor necks.
Here we go, thru the band saw. Ah the smell, ah the beauty, oh my this is beautiful wood to work with, light, strong, stable and very pretty.
 Plotting out the most efficient way to cut this beautiful stuff is a bit of a challenge. First I ripped the big plank into three sections of 2 3/4 inch wide pieces, then each piece was drawn out to net six necks. How long will it take me to build 18 "Blondes" you might ask. Well maybe I will live to 95 if I continue having fun like this |  Here are the pieces for ten tenor necks. If you glue these pieces together carefully you can almost not find the joint. The trick is matching up the grain and sanding each piece perfectly flat before glueing. Sure hope I don't lose my current craze for "Blonde" ukes, Alaska Cedar necks, plain Koa sides and back, Englemann Spruce soundboard and fancy Aussie blackwood binding. Beautiful ukes I think. |
