There was meant to be 60 but I scrapped 4 due defects in the wood ...Here's an old video of the slotting operation I used to make 3/32" thick saddles but nowadays I cut the slots for 1/16" same as the old Martin style 0. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cnLg_B_2Jq4I count 56. That's a lot of ukes to build. Should keep you busy at Acme Ukes Lmt.
I could do it on my other lathe "the Southbend" it has an automatic cross feed...but I don't mind doing it by hand.Is it necessary for the saddle to pass slowly under the lathe blade? Could you chuck a drill onto where the crank is (not the human)?
Now all you have to do is make the bits that connect those two pieces!
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Nuts and Saddles ?I haven’t liked to ask about the other of the two parts mentioned in the thread title (it might come across badly), but I wonder where they are and how Ken makes them.
Nuts and Saddles ?
I just make 12 inch long strips out of ebony ..1/16" x 1/4" for saddles and 3/16" x 7/32" for nuts..and i cut and shape them to length when needed .
Most of the vintage Island ukes where made all from Koa including the neck, nut & bridge with no seperate saddle like this one from 1910. I think bone plastic and rosewood fretboards started when guitar and mandolin making factories started to see a market in ukulele's in the 1920's thats when ukuleles started to look like mini guitars ..then it got ridiculous Making an ebony nut vintage Martin style isn't very difficult you just need a good eye.Thanks.
I guess that you use Ebony because that’s what the original design was, is that correct?
Have you done any videos of your nut and saddle making? You might find making them rather quick and simple but having made saddles from bone blanks I know that it’s (or can be) quite hard and time consuming to do. Making a nut out of wood instead of bone is something for me to think on too, will any hard wood to hand do or does it have to be something in particular?