Janko
Well-known member
First off ...thanks to all for your tips and help that got me this far. Muchly appreciated.
What follows isn't much, but It's my baby and I'm pretty proud! so far
I built this neck from maple but the slots came out bad on the face. They didn’t line up. Maybe 3/32’s of an inch mismatched. That wouldn’t do because then the sides wouldn’t line up.
The other side was good.
So I made some corrections to my jig and made some practice cuts on some scrap. The cuts were better so I built another neck but this time out of Oak. Much cheaper! (I learned that things work way better on scrap)
That turned out better but still crooked in the same spot but this time I tried to fix it. When I was done the cuts matched but were too wide. So I threw it in the box and thought I will pursue a bolt on neck. In my creative mind it seems easier. Besides. I discovered I didn’t like Oak. It was porous and splintered and chipped on the edges to easy.
So on with a building a Hot Pipe Bender. That went well.
The only problem is that I think it cools to fast when using it. Maybe a smaller pipe would do better?
Next was to cut some Kerf from a 1×2 Spruce 8′ piece I had laying around. That was boring until I managed to get a jig that worked OK on my tiny cheapo band saw.
AWESOME! I was so proud of those I felt like I had just conquered the world.
So now to bend them. Here goes nothing I thought! But to my surprise it went well also. I had envisioned horrible thing happening . What a nightmare that would have been. If I couldn’t even make Kerfing how the hell would I do anything else?
So now I’m gathering stuff to make a hot box bender so I can bend the sides. It was too hard to do on the pipe. I think it wasn’t hot enough and I ended up over soaking and splintering one Walnut side. It was difficult to get the bends in the right places. One more thing! I didn't for some reason clue in about sanding the side pieces down from 1/4 inch to 1/8th inches at least even though I did the research. I think that had a lot to do with it.
I think I was freaked about the process and the cost of the WOOD! So I wrecked it. I know. Sounds wierd like Dr Phil stuff! I didn’t tell you at first because it still hurts but a mans got to do what a mans got to do. Order another piece. By the time I’m done I’m sure it will be the most expensive ukulele ever built. So far it's been a bitter sweet experience. My next big moment of joy will come with a good bending experience on the sides. I am very apprehensive now after my first failer.
Ok so, off to get more stuff. I’ll be back.
What follows isn't much, but It's my baby and I'm pretty proud! so far
I built this neck from maple but the slots came out bad on the face. They didn’t line up. Maybe 3/32’s of an inch mismatched. That wouldn’t do because then the sides wouldn’t line up.
The other side was good.
So I made some corrections to my jig and made some practice cuts on some scrap. The cuts were better so I built another neck but this time out of Oak. Much cheaper! (I learned that things work way better on scrap)
That turned out better but still crooked in the same spot but this time I tried to fix it. When I was done the cuts matched but were too wide. So I threw it in the box and thought I will pursue a bolt on neck. In my creative mind it seems easier. Besides. I discovered I didn’t like Oak. It was porous and splintered and chipped on the edges to easy.
So on with a building a Hot Pipe Bender. That went well.
The only problem is that I think it cools to fast when using it. Maybe a smaller pipe would do better?
Next was to cut some Kerf from a 1×2 Spruce 8′ piece I had laying around. That was boring until I managed to get a jig that worked OK on my tiny cheapo band saw.
AWESOME! I was so proud of those I felt like I had just conquered the world.
So now to bend them. Here goes nothing I thought! But to my surprise it went well also. I had envisioned horrible thing happening . What a nightmare that would have been. If I couldn’t even make Kerfing how the hell would I do anything else?
So now I’m gathering stuff to make a hot box bender so I can bend the sides. It was too hard to do on the pipe. I think it wasn’t hot enough and I ended up over soaking and splintering one Walnut side. It was difficult to get the bends in the right places. One more thing! I didn't for some reason clue in about sanding the side pieces down from 1/4 inch to 1/8th inches at least even though I did the research. I think that had a lot to do with it.
I think I was freaked about the process and the cost of the WOOD! So I wrecked it. I know. Sounds wierd like Dr Phil stuff! I didn’t tell you at first because it still hurts but a mans got to do what a mans got to do. Order another piece. By the time I’m done I’m sure it will be the most expensive ukulele ever built. So far it's been a bitter sweet experience. My next big moment of joy will come with a good bending experience on the sides. I am very apprehensive now after my first failer.
Ok so, off to get more stuff. I’ll be back.