I built this ukulele

I have built a couple of guitars over the past few years as a student of a local luthier.

I decided to try my hand at building a ukulele at home. I don't have much for tools. The back, sides and neck are butternut. The top is red cedar. The fretboard and bridge are black walnut. The only thing that I bought, were the tuning pegs and the fretwire.

The butternut was from firewood logs. The red cedar was an old shingle that was in my barn and the walnut was from a defect gun stock some gave me. The saddle and nut are cow bone. I used hide glue for all glue joints. I only used hand tools. I got blisters from using block plane. I still need to redo the nut because I screwed up on cutting the slots. The body shape is messed up too, because I tried using a makeshift cardboard mold.

I actually learned quite a bit trying to work on my own without a mentor. It was a crude attempt. Next time, I will spend more time. I am thinking of trying to build one with a butternut top

http://img717.imageshack.us/img717/5479/butternutuke0209.jpg
http://img96.imageshack.us/img96/660/butternutuke0109.jpg
http://img28.imageshack.us/img28/5849/butternutuke0309.jpg

It actually sounds OK. not real loud, but has a nice tone.
Here is a sound clip:
http://www.archive.org/download/Wheels_339/wheels.MP3

-BoB

It looks and sounds good. That butternut almost looks like oak.

Looks pretty darn good for a first effort!

If I may suggest, it looks like you have the bridge too far up on the body. That could contribute to the "not real loud" issue. It almost looks like if you shortend up the neck so the 12th fret was at the body you would have it about right...

Really nice over-all - it's fun, eh?

Not bad at all for a first attempt, hope my first comes out half as nice.

That is really nice and has a great sound...how thin is the wood? A thicker wood can sometimes "muffle" the sound because it doesn't vibrate as easily...but MMMMMMM. rich buttery nut goodness! I really like it!
:drool:

Very nice. I'm liking the headstock design.

Thanks for the comments.
It was a "quick and dirty" build. I was inspired by things like cigarbox ukes. My mentor would have never let me do at his shop what I did at home. For me it was a "proof of concept". I screwed up in many places. I messed up the fret spacing around the 12th fret. Yes, the top is too thick (about 2.5mm).

I Copied the body outline and the scale length from a Lanikai concert uke.

Things that I liked about this:
I used a simple beaver tail shape on the headstock and the end of the fretboard.
Butternut is a very lightweight and easy to carve wood.
I spent about $12 + 50-60 hours of my time.
I had fun.
My wife and daughter had fun watching me build this.

I will never be a really good builder.
But I don't let that stop me.

Luthiers need to be artists, craftsmen, machinists, tool-smiths, salesmen and woodworkers. My hat is off to the luthiers. The hand builders are way under priced are creating incredible investment bargains.

The mass-produced stuff with plastic bindings and wood laminates is not in the same league.
The good side of the cheap stuff is that more people can afford to buy a ukulele. Maybe they will eventually want better instruments.
The dark side is that it squeezes the "low end" of the market and makes it very difficult for new or young luthiers to make a living.

We are living in a "golden age" of instrument making. Handmade guitars and ukuleles are a bargain.

-BoB

BoB,

Nice work. Just curious, what all tools did use in making this? You said you didn't have too many. But the uke looks really good.

Thanks,

Doc J

Doc_J said:

BoB,

Nice work. Just curious, what all tools did use in making this? You said you didn't have too many. But the uke looks really good.

Thanks,

Doc J

Click to expand...

I had a firewood log of butternut. I split it in half with wedges and a maul. The log had been split and drying for a couple years.
I don't have a froe, or a decent ripping saw so I sliced wood off of these logs with a chainsaw. I was left with rough and uneven boards about 3/8" thick. I spent several evenings planing these pieces of wood with 2 block planes.

The top was a red cedar shingle, and was fairly easy to level and plane.

The fret slots I cut with a hacksaw and miterbox.

I rough shaped the neck head and tail with a wood rasp and carved with my pocket knife.

I have a couple of home made scrapers that I used to smooth the wood.

I finished with French Polish method.

Very nice. I've wanted to try some butternut, but I can get other wood locally, like cherry, for less. I'm sure I'll spring for it someday.