Some of the 1000's of cock ups that can be avoided

Some of the honest mistakes for new builders to avoid
Like the Guy! who found the tuning peg bushes were a little too tight after spraying on the laquer, so he took the uke over to the pedestal drill and decided to open up the holes a smidgen with a bit of careful drilling...But! the drill bit grabbed (like they do)... the uke shot up the drill bit right up to the chuck with the Guy desperately holding on to the uke...and tore out a big chunk of the headstock.
Another Guy, decided to clean out any dust and shavings inside a newly constructed soprano body.. So! he used the shop vac, placed the nozzle into the sound hole to suck out the dust...and completely collapsed the uke.
I heard of another collapsed instrument , a guitar this time, when the luthier was trying out his new vacuum chuck and also unintentionally placed it over the soundhole.
Another was the keen repair man who used a party balloon to hold a reglued loose bracing in place...connected the balloon to the spraygun air line and exploded the uke...Another Pro builder buffing on the final finish, lost a bit of concentration when the buffing wheel grabbed the tenor uke and flung it 20 ft down the workshop...Cans of laquer spilled on the completed instruments..Bridges glued in the wrong place...Fret slots cut the wrong way round on the fretboard.. Rosettes ending up on the inside, instead of the outside. etc: etc: etc: :wtf:

hahahhaha

While buffing, I burnt through the lacquer on the top of my personal guitar- I was so over the whole process by then i just left it and there it is to this day.

Most of my cockups have been because I was in a BAH which is in a Big Axe Hurry

I once was admiring the newly applied finish I'd just sprayed on a guitar, then went to hang it up and for some reason missed the hook. Let me tell you. An acoustic guitar can bounce nearly as high as the hight it's dropped from. I learnt how to replace a back after that instance.

Added a soundport only to discover it was on the wrong side. It became a cutaway.

After getting this mandolin-shaped tenor body together I discovered the red cedar top was cracked. I grabbed the edge of the sound hole and pulled off a large splinter. Then another. Then another. Surprisingly, once all the top was pulled off the braces still remained with the sides. The layer of cedar glued to the braces shredded off. This also happens to bridges glued to red cedar---they come off spontaneously with a thin layer of cedar attached.

jcalkin said:

After getting this mandolin-shaped tenor body together I discovered the red cedar top was cracked. I grabbed the edge of the sound hole and pulled off a large splinter. Then another. Then another. Surprisingly, once all the top was pulled off the braces still remained with the sides. The layer of cedar glued to the braces shredded off. This also happens to bridges glued to red cedar---they come off spontaneously with a thin layer of cedar attached.

Click to expand...

Update: It was easy to save the braces. They pulled free after a bit of coaxing. I had another top already made up. It was easy to put the body back on the flat dish, sand off the old top remnants, and glue on the new top. Back in action.

"Another Guy, decided to clean out any dust and shavings inside a newly constructed soprano body.. So! he used the shop vac, placed the nozzle into the sound hole to suck out the dust...and completely collapsed the uke"

Hey, that was me! Seriously!