My favorite uke is cracking!

Nooooooo!

I was looking lovingly at my koa Lanikai tonight when I noticed that there's a 1-inch crack running from the soundhole down the midseam! Yikes! I am worried now... this baby was made by Kanile'a so I'm sure it's constructed well. What's going on and how do I stop it? My first thought was low humidity but this uke is housed in the same small room as a 90 gallon aquarium, so I'm sure humidity is not an issue. What gives??

Without seeing it I'm guessing, but it sounds like a bad glue joint in the top. I assume it is a two piece top as you mention a center seam. It should be looked at by a luthier. Whether this is a warranty issue depends on the history of the instrument, are you the original owner and how long have you had it. I would certainly talk to Kanile'a about it.

Brad

something like this has been happening to my lanikai. there is a crack near the sound hole on mine too. o well. im just taking the advice of people here on uu and call it battle scars. haha.

Thanks for the replies and reassurance lol. I bought the uke online over a year ago from an individual but there was no warranty involved. I'm not worried so much about that as keeping it from progressing. I'm fine if it remains an aesthetic problem only-- none of us are perfect! I just don't want it to worsen to the point that the structure is unstable.

It sounds fixable or at worst able to be stabilized. You might consider having a luthier have a look at it. It's probably what Kanile'a would suggest and probably cheaper to have done locally rather than ship it to HI.

The Lk is definitely worth the effort.

If you can't afford having it worked on. You may want to try to do a little work so it doesn't get any bigger. Smear some Tite bond wood glue into the crack from the inside ( and the outside as well if needed), try not to put on too much. Then take a damp cloth and whip away any excess that has welled up above the crack on the top of the uke.You may want to repeat this a few times. It's not an ideal fix, but it should keep the crack from getting bigger.

hoosierhiver said:

If you can't afford having it worked on. You may want to try to do a little work so it doesn't get any bigger. Smear some Tite bond wood glue into the crack from the inside ( and the outside as well if needed), try not to put on too much. Then take a damp cloth and whip away any excess that has welled up above the crack on the top of the uke.You may want to repeat this a few times. It's not an ideal fix, but it should keep the crack from getting bigger.

Click to expand...

You could do the same with some 5 minute epoxy which might be stronger, but harder to wipe off the excess.

NatalieS said:

Nooooooo!

I was looking lovingly at my koa Lanikai tonight when I noticed that there's a 1-inch crack running from the soundhole down the midseam! Yikes! I am worried now... this baby was made by Kanile'a so I'm sure it's constructed well. What's going on and how do I stop it? My first thought was low humidity but this uke is housed in the same small room as a 90 gallon aquarium, so I'm sure humidity is not an issue. What gives??

Click to expand...

Do you actually have a hygrometer handy? It might be worthwhile to measure the humidity. I have an aquarium too but it doesn't keep the humidity from fluctuating with heat/ac/ambient conditions.

Fortunately, as the others have pointed out, the repair is a fairly simple one.

You might want to stay away from epoxy as it will make future repairs a nightmare. Some one on thes forum gave me great advice for cracks a while back. They said to use the brown tape that is used for sealing boxes. This is the kind that has the part that needs wetted down with water. Take a small piece cut it to size and place it over the crack. I've done it and it stabilizes the crack and doesn't adversely affect the sound since it is so light. I used to glue a piece of thin wook over the crack seam, but this works as well, can be removed easily and doesn't stiffen up the sound board. The only problem is buying it, (big roll) If you know someone that works where there is mail room you just need 6 inches or so for a 10 year supply.