Leeward Lounge Ukes, back to the drawing board

I have used large end blocks, but noticed on a spruce soundboard that it telegraphed as a flat spot when the rest was domed. So I started slanting the top of the block so the contact area was as wide as the lining strip. Then I started using thinner blocks so the entire block is now as deep as my lining. Width I keep at around 35 mm, would that be 1 1/2 inch..?

Great, Sven. Thanks for the advice! I was planning a flat, hardwood top but having a domed bottom. Either way, your same advice applies. I really appreciate it. :)
 
I've been working a lot on my new design. I'm going to try a zero-fret on this one. It took a while for me to wrap my mind around the way it works, but I think I have it all worked out on paper now. Now I have to work out my neck geometry and profile. I'm very excited to get this build going!
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I think it looks very exciting and elegant. One question though, are you sure the C- and E-strings won't hit the tuners of the G and A? I can't tell on the screen.

Sven
 
I think it looks very exciting and elegant. One question though, are you sure the C- and E-strings won't hit the tuners of the G and A? I can't tell on the screen.

Sven

I have thought of that. It will be pretty close. When the tuners get in I will measure them before I cut anything for the headstock. Since the posts aren't as wide as the holes for the machines, I think I will be ok. If not, I will bump out that angle by the nut by about 5 degrees or so and that should give me some more space.

Thanks for the input, guys!
 
So, while I'm waiting around for raw materials to arrive, I have been making all new jigs, and templates to accommodate my new design.

One of the scariest things I've done is to make a new bending form and alter the shape of my Waldron side bending machine. My upper bout is so narrow that the machine as it came didn't work for my design, so I had to disassemble it, cut nearly an inch off the front of it, and reassemble it. It worked fine, but since that side of the machine is so much shorter, the springs didn't work the way they were designed to, so I had to pull that side in tighter with some twine while the machine did it's magic.

The other alteration I had to make on it was to make the waist shaping part of it much narrower because the waist on my design is so narrow. That was no fun at all! The metal that is used on it is way thicker than I had imagined, so it was pretty tricky to bend the steel back into place and get it all screwed back together.

I was scared to make any changes to the bender, because I was afraid of messing it up and it wasn't exactly cheap! But when it was all apart I traced all of the pieces onto large sheets of paper and stored them away just in case I had to make new parts. Fortunately, it all worked out ok.

I've got this one solved, so it's on to the next thing!

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ps, I have no idea why that pic is sideways.
 
I would love a Waldron bender but can't afford one so I made a primitive bender that works ok. Made out of scrap around the shop which keeps costs down to a couple bucks. Design and construction self explanatory. Uses aluminium gutter material as heat conveyor (not ideal, steel better but it was available and works ok) and a heat gun as heat source. Side plates wet down and wrapped in a aluminum foil. Tape to hold down where necessary and a big honkin clamp for the waist caul.

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I would love a Waldron bender but can't afford one so I made a primitive bender that works ok. Made out of scrap around the shop which keeps costs down to a couple bucks. Design and construction self explanatory. Uses aluminium gutter material as heat conveyor (not ideal, steel better but it was available and works ok) and a heat gun as heat source. Side plates wet down and wrapped in a aluminum foil. Tape to hold down where necessary and a big honkin clamp for the waist caul.

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Pretty cool! It's essentially the same thing as the Waldron bender. I don't know that I could work without a heat blanket anymore though. I rely on it too much!

Apparently my cat, Talulah, has decided to help me with my drawings. She's soooooo helpful! :rolleyes:

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Concerning Brass frets, I've used then on a couple of projects. I liked them as they had very low crowns. Haven't noticed any discoloring of the fret board or greening of the frets. The SF Bay Area is benign and they haven't had allot of handling. If I had my druthers, I would have used bar frets like the old Martins. They are easy to set or reset the highth with out using a file. I just can't find the narrow silver nickle kind and guitar bar frets are too wide for my liking.
 
A couple of nights ago I finished up my 15' radius dish sanding jig. I used a piece of 3/4" plywood - the good stuff that has both sides hardened and coated in epoxy. Then I attached varying thicknesses of plywood that I thinned down using one of those safety-planer deals on my drill press. Then I glued and screwed everything together under a 1/8" thick piece of MDF and attached some 80 grit sand paper. I'm pretty pleased with my results!

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Just moments ago I thicknessed all of my tonewood down to a skosh over 2.5mm, and tomorrow I think I will glue my bookmatched tops and bottoms together. Once those have all dried I will scrape all of those down to something close to their final thicknesses, leaving just a tad for final sanding.
 
Ok, so I've finally stopped procrastinating and started actually cutting the expensive wood! As you see, I've glued my tops and bottoms together, bent my sides over my new side-bending form, and glued in my kerfing. Just now I glued in my sound hole patch and it's drying in one of my go-bar decks. The soundboard and back are just slightly oversized, maybe by a 1/8" or so. They will get trimmed down once I route out the binding channel.

It's been ages since I've had this much fun! I love the whole puzzle-solving aspect of building. I guess it's why I chose to be an engineer by trade.

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After a lot of fooling around, I finally got my top attached and the top binding put in. Overall, I'm very happy with it. Now that I have a better understanding of how the brass acts, the rest of the uke should go much more smoothly. It is still pretty rough yet. Once it is all filled and polished smooth, everything should really pop.

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Is there a way to rotate attachments?
 
Very clean build. The brass binding looks great. Did you pre-bend the brass or work it into place and glue?

BTW I'd probably go with EVO Gold frets go with the brass binding.
 
Very clean build. The brass binding looks great. Did you pre-bend the brass or work it into place and glue?

BTW I'd probably go with EVO Gold frets go with the brass binding.

Thanks, Doc_J! Originally, my intent was to work it and glue it as I went, but the brass was way harder than I was imagining. So I tried to use the same form I used to bend the sides, but the brass had quite a lot of spring back. In the end, I simply bent everything by hand to get it as close as possible to the final shape, and then worked it in and held it in place until the glue dried.

And I already have the EVO Gold fretwire sitting on my bench!
 
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