First scratch build ukuleles

Flyfish57 · Nov 24, 2009

Howdy all,
What a great resource this forum is. Unfortunately for me, I just found it as I was just completing my first two scratch built ukulele. I built a few ukulele kits from stu mac, but wasn’t happy with the way their quality was going. Anyway, I found an old bandsaw for 50.00 at a garage sale, borrowed a drill press and forked over some serious money to LMI for a bending iron and away I went. Overall I’m happy with the way things came out. Some things are not so straight. What a huge learning curve going form a kit to scratch… Here are a few pics of them in process. I dropped the tenor(about 5 feet) while putting the final clear coats on and dented the binding and cracked the top and back. I’m happy to have seen my glue joints hold up though. That’s my putting a positive spin on it! Here a few photos taken with my cell phone while working on them—I’ll post more if anyone is interested in seeing the completed ukulele.
~Stephen

Moore Bettah Ukuleles · Nov 24, 2009

Very nice Stephen! Nice inlay as well. Building from scratch is the best way to learn all the processes.

Steve vanPelt · Nov 24, 2009

:agree:Great job! I'm a noobie, too, so I know what you're going through. Next one will be straighter, I promise. Nice inlay as well. The one I tried to inlay now has two veneers on the peg head. Can't wait to see the next ones.Oh, and nice to see you spell your name correctly, too.

Steve (Stephen)

Pete Howlett · Nov 24, 2009

Of course we are interested! What a silly question. You are amongst friends and admirers here so let's see how it goes...

Flyfish57 · Nov 25, 2009

Thanks Chuck and Steve. I think I'm going to try a compass rose next, but it might be very hard with all the stright lines--I seem to have trouble keeping things symmetrical.
Pete, I did see your youtube clips and they were a great help--I tried to copy your mold system with fairly good results

Thanks! I'll post some picks over the next couple days.

Here's my Top Ten things "I’ve learned from all this" List...
1)No matter how much you read, nothing can explain the feeling of hand planning mahogany

2)Gremlins come in the middle of the night to move freshly glued bridges ever so slightly

3)Just because you watch Pete Howlett do something in five minutes during an youtube clip, it will take me two days and several tries

4) Koa probably isn’t the best wood to start bending by hand

5) Koa has some incredibly small and sharp slivers

6) Honing a putty knife and removing a bridge (see number two) will result in a trip to the ER for five or so stitches

7) It’s cheaper to drive halfway across the country to StuMac than what they charge for shipping and handling

8) Cutting fret slots, routing headstocks, and gluing bridges are nothing compared to the nervousness of bringing your ukulele up to tune for the first time-just waiting to hear snap!

9) Building these things is almost as fun as playing them-Almost!

10) I’m addicted

Flyfish57 · Nov 28, 2009

Here some photos of the completed soprano--The tenor in the photo is the one I dropped and cracked. I'm pulling the neck off, fix the crack, and reclear.

Flyfish57 · Nov 28, 2009

The reason the butt grain doesn't match is because I bent the sides starting in the front and cut off what was left in the back

The inlay was supposed to be about a 1/8th or so higher as well...Just some minor oops since it plays and sound great!

ukeCANjam · Nov 28, 2009

WOW! That's gorgeous!

John Colter · Nov 28, 2009

DaisyBee is a real sweetie. Very nice work.

John Colter.

Steve vanPelt · Nov 29, 2009

Those look great! Love your top 10 list, too.

funaddict · Nov 29, 2009

Very Nice! What kind of finish did you use?

Alan

Vic D · Nov 29, 2009

Great looking ukes. Love the inlay, that bee is awesome. Great finish too, I hope mine turn out that nice.

Matt Clara · Nov 29, 2009

funaddict said:
Very Nice! What kind of finish did you use?

Alan

That's gotta be chaucer in your sig file. I spent a whole semester reading (almost) nothing but Chaucer.

dave g · Nov 29, 2009

Beautiful work!

Here's how to solve #2: http://www.wsukes.com/fretbdbridge.html

Flyfish57 · Nov 30, 2009

funaddict said:
Very Nice! What kind of finish did you use?

Alan

I used shellac as a sealer and just clear coated them.

Flyfish57 · Nov 30, 2009

Thanks guys!! The bee did come out better than I could have wished for! Now I'm doing a mahogany soprano with no binding or inlays--except a small snowflake

Then I'll push myself a little farther on the one after.

Thanks Dave! I did use pins to keep it lined up--worked great and I didn't have to make another trip to the ER!

cornfedgroove · Dec 3, 2009

what the heck! how in the world do you get such proficient looking ukes your first time out?

maybe I should read lol

PaulGeo · Dec 3, 2009

Awesome job. Gives me hope that mine will be halfway decent

Flyfish57 · Dec 3, 2009

cornfedgroove said:
what the heck! how in the world do you get such proficient looking ukes your first time out?

I leave a bunch of wood on the workbench at night and in the morning I have freshly built ukulele! Must be elves

Really though, I just took my time. Also, there is a lot wrong with them that you can't see from the photos--necks a little off, pin holes in the clear, ect I can go on and on.

I'm hoping it's not beginners luck--I'm doing a few mahogany ones now so we'll see
~Stephen

Flyfish57 · Feb 5, 2010

Here's the dasiybee ukulele in action! To me it sounds fantastic playing it in person, but is a bit too tinny when she records with her laptop. I'm making her a mahogany tenor soon.

Anyway, I feel like a proud dad

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