BUTTS!!!!!! or End Grafts in polite society.

Beau Hannam Ukuleles

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End Grafts from my latest batch of jumping fleas

Koa, buck eye burl, snakewood with red and blue art nouveau ribbons. (on a Tenor)
butt.jpg

Koa and ebony (on a Selmer)
butt2.jpg

Curly maple double rectangle (on a concert)
butt3.jpg

Indian rosewood rectangle with blue and white purfling and engraved moons. (on a concert)
butt4.jpg
 
hahahahh- I called End Grafts "Butt strips" for about 10 years but have since made myself change to End Grafts after a mate got called into HR for "butt strip" searches on his work computer hahahhah
 
Mental!

#butts
 
Very nice! Numbers two and three have a distinct art deco look to them. I like it. I am just now finishing my first two ukes with end grafts. They are very amateur by comparison (and yet are still pretty cool!).
 
Very nice! Numbers two and three have a distinct art deco look to them. I like it. I am just now finishing my first two ukes with end grafts. They are very amateur by comparison (and yet are still pretty cool!).

Thanks - I'm an Art Deco man in public but mostly im an Art Nouveau man in the privacy of my own home :)
 
I'm struggling with some basic build issues, one day I'd love to produce something at that level. For now I'll have to enjoy your creativity and craftsmanship. Great work!
 
Thanks mjgreenwood- just keep plugging away at it-
I'd recommend you buy/read any instrument making books (guitar mostly and these can be bought cheap on ebay) as you get great ideas on making cuts in wood, clamping ideas, glue ups, inlaying tips etc from them.

For mitering, use the reflection in the back of the polished chisel to line up the purfling cut.
 
Beau, between you and Chuck, that's it. I've had it. I quit.

I was just happy to finish my latest one, which had no inlay on it, and was a very simple Koa Spruce, which I did just for fun, and requiring no artistic thought whatsoever (well, compared to some other ukes). I'll have to do that more often.

Or, maybe I'll just resign myself to hocking bits. Heck, I can't even do that (since I don't have any).
 
I couldn't do that work now - eyesight is poor and although the varifocals and head magnifier bring the work closer, everything is being enhanced so it gets distorted and precision becomes elusive... I've been doing 'plane Jane's' forever and people still buy them. My hat is off to you, Chuck, kekani and others who can do this stuff with such flair and precision.
 
Thank you- it is such a nice thing to get praise from the likes of Chuck, Aaron and Pete.

I wanted to add some flowing curves into the first end graft- I'm wanting to move away from right angles as im sick of looking at them on instruments (every one is mitering their butts off at the moment) so I want to get into more nouveau curves and engraving which I really like and are more challenging to do. I am also fine tuning a kind of water colour technique for headstocks which looks promising. It should (hopefully) prove to be a more interesting and creative way of adding colour and dimension to a headstock. Fingers crossed.
 
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