Tad's tenor build

Tad is an 'uke playing friend of my parents. At my mom's request, I offered to build an 'uke to give him. I've given most of the 'ukes I've made away to family and friends, but always after they were complete, never built for someone while they watched, so this is a first. Also my first build thread, up to now I've mostly shown pics of completed 'ukes.

Tad is now registered on UU and should be ready to folow along, so here goes.....

I scoured the wood pile and came up with this set of curly koa for this build. It's got a gorgeous light brown sugar color and striping that adds some interest. I'm heading back to the shop to work on it, so for now, here's a pic of the wood.



Steve

That's a nice thing you're doing. And a beautiful set of wood. Good luck & have fun.

Stunning koa, I'm gonna have to get me some of that one of these days soon. Looking forward to the watching the build.

Got to spend a few hours in the shop today and made some progress on the 'uke. It was supposed to be a nice day and when it started raining (again....some kind of weird winter, it should be 100 degrees by now) I wished it would stop raining. It did, and then it started hailing, thunder, lightning...sheesh.

Today I cut down the pieces that make up the top and bottom plates, tapering them so the curlies go straight across the body and the stripes are a bit narrower. Got the plates glued up and the sides bent.

Here are some pics of the plates laying under the form so you can see how the 'uke will look, and one of the hailstorm. In May. Sheesh. Tomorrow is supposed to be a nice day and I should get to spend the better part of the day in the shop. Hopefully some good progress.

Later, Steve

Steve the top and back look great. keep the pics coming . Btw how well dose wood that figured bend


Thanks Perry

Nice very talented

Looking great!

This is a good opportunity to point out to anyone who may not know, it's never a good idea to join plates or glue braces when it's raining, unless you work in a climate controlled environment. Save those tasks for when it is dry.

Moore Bettah Ukuleles said:

This is a good opportunity to point out to anyone who may not know, it's never a good idea to join plates or glue braces when it's raining, unless you work in a climate controlled environment. Save those tasks for when it is dry.

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A very good point indeed. Have I ever mentioned that I like to learn the hard way? Last year I glued a nice spruce top to a BEAUTIFUL set of red Tasmanian myrtle in the rain or fog, whatever it was, and by the next day the whole thing was a potato chip. It is the highlight of my pile of oops and I keep it around so I don't forget. Here's a pic of it.

Although my shop isn't absolutely environmentally maintained, ( I know, I know, that's the first thing I should have done, and will do later this year ) the dehumidifier keeps the moisture down 20 -25% from ambient and the 2 hygrometers are always closely monitored so that the tasks I perform are done keeping in tune with the weather. I also take notes of the temp and RH when gluing stuff in case I have to try to match it later. These days I am more concerned with the low RH and may have to do something sooner than later. Even with the hailstorm the RH barely broke 40%.

Guess I also have to mention that I'm sandbagging a bit just so I can do a post for each process and put up more pics, so I could perhaps be a little farther along than I admit to. After all, it's going to be a long month while the lacquer cures......

Today is a beautiful day here in norcal and I'm working on bracing the back. Split up some Alaskan sitka for braces, glued the seam patch on the go bar deck, and after kicking myself for not thinking of it myself, thinned and profiled it using hand planes. For now, it's back to the shop for me,

Steve

Hey Steve! This is a gorgeous wood sample, where'd you find it? (Originally, I mean). Looks almost like ours. Haven't seen Tad yet to give him the round sample, but maybe at dinner tonight. Thought last night's dinner was great, with good company, just not quite good service. Terry seemed to enjoy herself. Luv, Mom

Hi Mom! Glad to see you made it to UU. Check your e-mail. I got the koa for yours and Tad's at Volcano Guitar Works.

************DISCLAIMER***********
I'm pretty new at this, been building a year and a half. I've read a couple of books, followed a couple sets of plans and picked up a ton of hints, tips and tricks along the way at this, and other forums, but a lot of how I do it I had to make up as I go along. I've kind of slid into a way of doing this that is working for me today, more or less, but it may not be the way I do it tomorrow. I share this stuff with the world mainly so the pros here can get a little chuckle out of it, and maybe gather some insight in the way of feed back. If any task I describe or pic I show helps someone even newer than me, or inspires someone to try to build their own, that's great. I've spent most of my adult life earning a living by making wood look pretty, but when it comes to instruments I'm trying to work my way up to amateur. So please don't anybody go off and do something just because you saw it here, because my way may not be THE way. Thank you, rant over.
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Perry, this set bent like butter. I've only had a problem with the curlies popping once, and luckily stopped before it was too late. I used to have trouble with faceting while hand bending and problems with springback in the fox style bender. These days I bend the waist, and slightly precurve the bouts on the iron with just a spritz, then stick 'em on the form for 2 heat cycles. I've done the last 6 or so this way and it has been working very well for me.

Guess I better install the rosette before bracing up the plates. This is how it went. Started with the StewMac circle thing on the Dremel and a 1/16" carbide downcutter to route for the soundhole binding. I left the top thick and went most of the way through for the channel. Sprayed a coat of shellac on the area, bent an .062" piece of curly koa and CA'd it in. Sanded smooth and hit it again with a little shellac.

For the segmented rosette I used my homemade segmented rosette cutting for tenor jig. Since the purfling for the rosette is .030", I used a 1/32" bit to route out the segments. The depth here was only about half way through the top. Once the segments were done I shaped little pieces of koa on the spindle sander so the figure presents in a radial fashion. A little shellac so the CA doesn't soak in the end grain, and glued the pieces in. Went back around all the perimeters with the 1/32" bit to create a channel for the purfling. The BWB purfling goes in just like it looks, lots of little pieces, each mitered and cut to fit with a sharp chisel. I hold the purfling with my left hand, align the chisel with my right and push with my chin to cut.

Used the thickness sander to smooth everything out on top and then flipped it over and thicknessed from the back, freeing the soundhole binding in the process. One more time around with the circle cutter and soundhole and rosette are done.

Here's pics of the rosette jig in action, the empty segments after routing, my view of the purfling install, the completed rosette and what's left after.

Thanks for looking, Steve

That wood is awesome!
Looks great so far!
I think I want one.

Spooner said:

That wood is awesome!
Looks great so far!
I think I want one.

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lol!!! I had this vision in my head of an 'uke I wanted to build. I knew I'd seen it somewhere, but couldn't remember where. I scoured the internetz for days and when I finally found the right pic, it was of yours.

two dogs plucking said:

lol!!! I had this vision in my head of an 'uke I wanted to build. I knew I'd seen it somewhere, but couldn't remember where. I scoured the internetz for days and when I finally found the right pic, it was of yours.

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I wish I could take credit for it lol.
While I did convey to Chuck what my vision was and the extras I wanted, he deserves all the props.
He gave me a choice of woods and I think I done did good there. : 0 )
Even though I have that uke close by, I still find myself drooling over the pics.
I think I just may be obsessed with ukes/wood/koa. lol

Your build is looking really sweet!

Heya Steve! She's looking beautiful already! I've been following along every day, and it's so much fun to see the progress made each day. I can't wait to play her!

That is a clever jig, a thing of beauty in itself.

Sven

thetwoukes said:

Heya Steve! She's looking beautiful already! I've been following along every day, and it's so much fun to see the progress made each day. I can't wait to play her!

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And play her you will, Tad, it just takes a while. Todays post is joining the sides and lining.

I bend the sides leaving a half inch or so extra at the ends that needs trimming. With the sides clamped in the form and lined up as I like them for a good grain match at the tail, I wrap a piece of blue tape around both sides and mark the line with a square. Using a fine dozuki I free cut through the whole shmeer at once, leaving a nice straight even cut. Lately I've been using a block plane to round off the blocks and it's works well. The sides are glued to each other and the blocks glued in while in the form. Once dry, a block plane profiles both head and tail blocks.

Been using reverse kerf lining the last few builds, and really like it. It just locks everything in place, can't hardly even move the sides after it's in. It can be a little touchy, though, so I pre-bend the linings on the iron before installation. Because the waist bend is tight, I widen the kerfs there just a hair with a tiny sanding block. The sides are pre sanded on the radius dish for the back and the trough thingy on the top and the linings are glued in. I use the small binder clamps from office supply and whatever smaller clamp works at the ends where there's less room.

Because I'm still using up the store bought linings, and they are a little tall for 'ukulele, I leave maybe 3/16" or so over hang the sides. Once the glue dries, the bulk of the extra lining is removed with a block plane and then with the sides still in the form, they are sanded in the dish again. I measure each side against the other many times while sanding in the dish to help make sure everything stays even and square. And that's it, got a set of rims.

You're right that reversed kerfing makes the rims a bit stronger initially. Of course that is all moot once the tops and backs are glued on. The problem I have with reversed kerfing is in the binding process. If you are doing wide bindings or purflings there is always the chance that you will cut through the sides in the routing process. I don't want to see any air then. With the "normal" style kerfing you have a bit more wood to work with and less chance of cutting through. I find this especially important when installing rope bindings.

Moore Bettah Ukuleles said:

You're right that reversed kerfing makes the rims a bit stronger initially. Of course that is all moot once the tops and backs are glued on. The problem I have with reversed kerfing is in the binding process. If you are doing wide bindings or purflings there is always the chance that you will cut through the sides in the routing process. I don't want to see any air then. With the "normal" style kerfing you have a bit more wood to work with and less chance of cutting through. I find this especially important when installing rope bindings.

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Thanks for the tip. I have yet to try rope binding, but was thinking about it for the 'Fun Build'. Or maybe rope purfling. Somewhere I saw someone using two small, thin layers of finely kerfed reverse linings and I've been thinking of trying it.....any thoughts?

thanks, Steve

What would the point be? All you are trying to do with either kerfing or lining is to give the top and back a little more surface to glue on to. It's not about strength. If it's adds any strength to the finished sound box at all it's negligible.
BTW, if your store bought kerfings are too big, why aren't you running them through your sander?