Starting costs?

@ ProfChris,
well....I dont have any access to a drill believe it or not....I did however use a screwdriver and a pair of scissors to bore the holes out.Very painful and slooooooow process. I only used that stuff coz im currently very,very veryyyyy far away from home, where I do actually own a drill:D LOL
 
If you feel like building ukes..or just one uke..to hell with the cost!..just build one...I started by sawing up an old Maranti door :D
 
If you feel like building ukes..or just one uke..to hell with the cost!..just build one...I started by sawing up an old Maranti door :D

Must have been expensive once Mrs Timbuck noticed the draught!

000110... (or Binary, as I shall always think of you), indeed Australians are made of tough stuff. Make the next one with a sharpened teaspoon.
 
Ah, the wood buying bug.....it's a virus with no cure. Much like the golf club and fishing tackle virus. We're all doomed I tell you.
 
ProfChris,
I have the worst ideas when it comes to usernames! Sharpened teaspoons.....yea im not too keen on that lol!
 
There is no such book in print Andrew. Most books I have ever read are written by people who do not build for a living and I certainly know that the writing and publishing such took a year out of Andy Manson and Jonny Kincaid's lives. And still you have no idea from reading these two excepplent books the true costs of setting up business. The losses you make the first three years, the endless hours you spend hunting down materials only to be let down when you recieve them, the countless times you have to refinish pieces because the lacquer formulations have changed and so on and so on.

However, anyone entering the business now is well placed to stand on the shoulders of us aging giants :) - the internet is very well developed and that shrinks the geographical vastness of the market - I know of three recent luthiers in UK who have come into the game in the last two years who would have sunk without a trace in 1994 when I started and I only survived because I had a distributor in Hawaii buying everything I made and only one other competitor in the UK building - they don't call me the grandad of ukulele building here in the UK for nothing :)

In short, it costs a lot of money to set up in business, very little of you want to do it as a rewarding hobby...

There are plenty of books that can give a synopsis of the building process. Whether you think they are valuable or not, but if a guy has absolutely no building experience then there is really no other viable place to start other than to find a class or a luthier that is going to help you out. It is naive to believe that a guy is going to open up a custom uke shop on day one that requires the specialized tools that the professional luthier has spent the last thirty years obtaining. You didn't so why would you expect anyone else to do so? If we told every new, potential builder that he had to have $30K in tools if he wanted to break in to the uke business then the craft would die in no amount of time. Its unfortunate that we can't be realistic and encouraging to new builders. That certainly wasn't the way that I was treated when I got in to building instruments. Rant over.
 
Wow, thanks for all the replies! A lot of great information here. I didn't even think about taking a woodworking class somewhere, but that's a great idea. Learning from a luthier would be great too.

Anyone in the SF Bay area want to take me under their wing ;)
 
If we told every new, potential builder that he had to have $30K in tools if he wanted to break in to the uke business then the craft would die in no amount of time.

Nobody ever said that he had to spend $30k. He was curious on how much professional tools cost, and I think I gave him a fair answer. Yes, it could be done for much cheaper, but could spend 30K on tools in a heartbeat. Not to mention wood, sandpaper, glue, electrical work, rent for shop space, etc........it goes on and on.
I don't think we have to worry about the craft dying out.....people will find a way.
 
Wow, thanks for all the replies! A lot of great information here. I didn't even think about taking a woodworking class somewhere, but that's a great idea. Learning from a luthier would be great too.;)

Hey cashmoney, for starters you could take Rick Turners "build a uke in four days course". It's taught at the Crucible in Oakland. This will give you a feel for the craft. If you want to make a bigger commitment, check out Roberto-Venn School of Luthiery in Arizona.
 
Invest in a few good hand tools, a bending iron and a sheet of 8x4 3/4" plywood for forms and then spend the rest of your money on wood. If you must make dust get a bandsaw, a drill press and a router. Then spend the rest of the money on wood. Instead of watching the NBA evenings, scour YouTube for every demo of the building process both production guitar and ukulele - dont wate your money on any book - buy wood instead... you see the pattern here :)
 
Hey cashmoney, for starters you could take Rick Turners "build a uke in four days course". It's taught at the Crucible in Oakland. This will give you a feel for the craft. If you want to make a bigger commitment, check out Roberto-Venn School of Luthiery in Arizona.

+1 on the Rick Turner class!! Amazing amount of knowledge on tap especially if you do your homework and ask the right questions. You'll also have a great sounding/looking uke to show for your efforts. I played mine so much, I never got around to applying a finish (having to do that now). Truly a bargain for what you get out of the class.
 
Not sure what it's like in other parts of the world but most of our local libraries carry luthery books. I've borrowed and read all i can get my hands on. Someone will probably point out that ukes and guitars are different blah blah blah but anything that can give guidance on scarf jointed necks, bending sides and neck joint methods can't harm you.

And it's all free.
 
Hey everyone,

I'm considering starting to build my own ukes but have absolutely none of the tools or machinery necessary. How much would you estimate it costs to get things going? I know prices will vary depending on new/used and things like that, I'm just looking for a ballpark figure though.

Edit: I want to eventually have my own workshop and build custom ukes, so I'm looking for suitable equipment. I know there must be cheaper options just to get my feet wet, but I'm curious as to how much the equipment is that the "pros" use.

Thanks for the help!

No where in your responses did you mention anything about your experience in wood working. If in fact you don't have any experience, having some or all the tools isn't going to help you one bit to build a uke. With high end power tools you could even do yourself bodily damage if you don't know how to use them. Get some knowledge about wood working and take a class with a luthier who can guild you through the process.
 
actually I was just thinking... if you do not already have a secret little stash of wood, this might be a challenging proposition...
 
I'm in the middle of my first build and I can give you a rough idea of my start up costs. I could have done with a little less looking back, but it's sure easier with more tools.

14" Bandsaw with riser kit (riser kit is not necessary) $700 or so
Bosch Laminate Trimmer $125
Dremel $125
7 good used handplanes $300 (More than I need really) Could have gotten away with 2 or 3
Scrapers $40
Fretting Kit $120 or so
Made my own thickness sander (works great!) $200 You can save a lot of money and time if you make one yourself.
Drill Press $100
Hand Drill $50
Diamond Sharpening Stones $125
Honing guide $10
Viking bandsaw blades $60
Veritas Finger Plane $70
Kit of cheap router bits to get started $30
Hammer, Square, Misc hand Tools $100-$200
Clamps $120
Bending iron and propane torch $50
Plywood for jigs $200
Chisels $40

Many of these tools could have been bought used, but I live on a small island and used tools rarely come up where I live. I don't think I have everything on that list either. All of the big items are on there though. You could do without the bandsaw, but that would take a lot of elbow grease. You don't need a thickness sander either, but you can build one so cheap that you may as well. I've never built a machine in my life until a couple months ago and it works amazingly well. Hopefully that gives you a bit of an idea. You'll find that when you start working on your instrument you'll start figuring out what you need as you progress.
 
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