Ukulele Radius Dish(s): what's your preference?

I'm curious what radius your dishes are: 12', 15', 20', etc.? What radius do you prefer for tops and backs, and what diameter and depth for the actual dish do you recommend? I've seen people talk about making their dishes out of 2'x2' plywood and mdf, but 2'2 seems much larger than one would need for even a tenor ukulele. I've heard some people say 3/4" is deep enough, and others say an extra 3/4" can help stop warping.

If you have any "specialty" techniques, such as Chuck's arched tops (sanded in an arched trough rather than a bowl like dish), I'd love to hear about them.

Thanks!

I use a 15' dish for the backs and a 25' trough thingee for the tops. Less than a 24" dish would be fine if you mount it on a potters wheel or some other rotating device. I like the 24" part because it gives me room to sand the 'uke back and forth and round and round. My dish is 3/4 MDF glued and screwed to two sheets of 3/4 plywood for strength and durability. Gives it some heft, too, so it feels more solid. A couple coats of rattle can shellac on all 6 sides so it doesn't move too much on its own. The trough thingee and the dish are the same height so they both fit on the go bar deck with no adjustments needed . A piece of soft leather turns the sanding dish into a radiused work board and clamping form.

I am using a 15' radius dish with an 18" diameter made from 3/4" MDF. The overall size is 22"x22". The braces are sanded on the dish for the tops and backs but the sides are only radiused on the back. I use weights in conjunction with the dish versus a go bar deck. I'll probably build a go bar deck once I finish some other projects. I am also going to have a 12' radius dish made which I want to try on some backs. I suggest going large if you think you will ever build anything other than a uke.

Hey Matt, I use a 15 foot radius dish for the back and a 20 foot one for the top. They are both 18" in diameter.

Brad

I'm a ukulele novice, but I decided on a 9'-10"1/8 radius (3 metres ) for the back and a 22' radius for the front. I made my own dishes using a method that's cheap, quick, clean, easy and doesn't involve a router. It might appeal to you Matt!

I'll start a new thread showing how to do it.

Some of the pros must feel they've offered this info up enough times to not want to bother doing so again (which I can understand). My thought was, there's not a single thread, appropriately titled, that contains this information, and so the information isn't easily retrieved. So, I'll do a little of the leg work and share some of the pro's thoughts on the subject:

Chuck Moore: "In my case I use a 25' radiius for the top but unlike the back, which is a 15' bowl type radiius, the arc on the tops are sprung in one direction only, from side to side. The tops of the sides are sanded in the same manner as the backs but on a radiius board, not a dish, and is done by hand."

Pete Howlett: "22' radius to fronts, cedar bridge patch and only two 6mm x 12mm scalloped spruce fan braces. 12' radius to backs, cedar back bars."

Dominator: "[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]My soundboards have a radius of 20' and my backs have a radius of 10'"

(That's all I have for now, I'll look for more later, and add them to the list.)
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That's some good info--Thanks for doing it Matt!

Yep...good work Matt. I'm now inspired to make a dish and give it a try. I've built with flat tops and backs to this point.

i like to use a 25' for the top, and 15' for the back

Jake Maclay
Hive Ukuleles
http://www.hiveukuleles.com/