Finally finished and just in time

lefty dan

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Finally finished and just in time. My daughter is leaving for her third year at SFSU. Im going to give this uke to her as a going back to school thing.
She likes that the wood is so old and that its my first made from scratch.
Black Walnut and mahogany neck.
Dan

uke3007.jpg
uke3003.jpg
 
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Thanks Matt, I couldn't have done it without reading all the posts here on the forum. They really help us new guys.
Dan
 
Dan,

That is some beautiful wood, and an outstanding job book matching it. How about some close-up shots and a little info on the finish you used?

-darrel
 
Darrel, thanks you. I worked on the finish for ever. I started with Minwax sanding sealer from OSH . I ripped a t-shirt, put cotton ball inside and wiped it on. After about three or four coats I lightly sanded it. Then same same lightly steel wooled it . Did this several times. Once the pores were filled in I used tru oil. It turned out O.K. but I decided to go with satin finish. So I sanded lightly and sprayed instant drying lacquer from Ace hardware. It comes in an aerosol can. I let that dry and gave it two more coats. Then lightly steel wooded it. Im very happy with the finish. The photos dont do it justice. I will see if I have any more photos but my daughter has it packed for our trip back to college today.
Dan
 
awesome. How does it sound?? I'm working on an all-walnut concert size now and would love to know what you think about the tone
 
Ksquine it was a little on the quite side. I think it is because the black walnut was so hard that sanding was long and hard to finish. I would have liked to have sanded it thinner. Because I didnt, on a soprano it may have lost some of the pop. I then switched to Worth's strings and all of a sudden it got loader and sounded great.
I like that uke and will miss it. To bad I couldn't have taken it to the uke fest in Reno this March.
Dan
 
That is one beautiful uke. I need to try finding some local walnut.
 
Man Dan, that thing looks like root beer hard candy or somethin'. Excellent job!
 
Gorgeous 'uke, Lefty. It looks like all that time you spent on finishing was well worth it. Nice job! ....so what's next?
 
The ukulele started life as a lefty. I had to make sure it would sound OK by playing it. Then when my daughter liked it so much I took the nut off and set it up righty. It was all done with a lefty nut and I had to mess with it to get it to stop buzzing right handed. Finally I did and surprised her the day she went back to school.
Next is a black walnut lefty soprano cutaway. I posted photos on another post but will post some today when I get home. I also started a walnut and redwood soprano.

This building sure is fun.
Dan
 
Below are bigger photos and the only ones I have. They were taken long before the uke was complete so the finish is not done.
uke005.jpg
uke004.jpg

Below is photos of my lefty soprano cutaway
uke020.jpg
uke021.jpg
http://i189
.photobucket.com/albums/z158/zenking/uke022.jpg

Im still just a beginner and learning as I go. I cut the Chanel for the Rosette. Then installed the Rosette. I began sanding the top. Then I realised the Chanel was not cut deep enough. The Rosette started to fall apart as I sanded. Next time I will cut a deeper Chanel. I had to sand then top and sand away the Rosette. Lucky for me I still have a top. Its thin but if you look in the photo you cant even see where it used to be. These are the things Im learning along the way. Not only do we need to be able to make them but we also have to fix our mistakes and continue on.
Dan
 
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Thanks for the new pictures, she looks gorgeous. Love that color.
 
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