Few More done Finally

Vic D

Vic D

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Here are a few I've finished lately. I've picked up a few things lately that should help speed things up a bit... like a palm sander and a couple of decent pattern bits sose I can start shaping stuff instead of trying to coax it out of the wood with a rasp... still need a jointer plane and a spoke shave but oh well, it'll come. Definitely think I'll start finishing the necks and bodies separate. Every uke I've done has scratches in them from where I'm using a heavy old hand held drill to buff them and it slips (severe carpal tunnel in both hands)... will stop that with a buffing arbor and pad for the drill press when I can pick one up.
Soprano number seven (poplar with redwood top) is getting grain filled right now and Soprano number eight is firewood.
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Are you sure it's carpal tunnel Vic - Go to a light touch spinal therapist - hey may have a different view. Get your foreplane and woden spokeshave off eBay. You'll see me using them in all my videos. A Millers Falls #15 or Stanley/Record #5 is the business. Why are you grain filling poplar? It should be fine enough to do without.

You can rig up a polishing set-up with a motor and a bearing/shaft assembly from Lee Valley Tools. It's what I use...
 
You may be able to get a good spoke shave and plane at a flea market. I got a Stanley #67 spoke shave for $5 at a local flea market. I used it a lot carving the last two necks. Good looking ukes Vic.
Doug
 
And these are for sale... where?

They're gorgeous!
 
Pete Howlett said:
Are you sure it's carpal tunnel Vic - Go to a light touch spinal therapist - hey may have a different view. Get your foreplane and woden spokeshave off eBay. You'll see me using them in all my videos. A Millers Falls #15 or Stanley/Record #5 is the business. Why are you grain filling poplar? It should be fine enough to do without.

You can rig up a polishing set-up with a motor and a bearing/shaft assembly from Lee Valley Tools. It's what I use...
Click to expand...

Yep, I'm gonna go the motor route in the future when I find one (back alley garbage day search) but for time being the drill press solution fits my budget. Still watching the Millers Falls and Stanleys on ebay... soon as I can afford it I will snatch one up, I like the look of Records too. I'm definitely wanting for a Stanley Sweatheart spokeshave or equivilant, it just looks right for my hands, but I've read that the old wooden ones can't be beat and since you've reinforced it, then that's what I'll get. My hands, yep, I had healthcare for a brief moment back in the late 90s and had them checked out, they hooked me up and shocked me for about an hour, and then I think they checked my hands ( I don't do doctors ). What's really cool is when you wake up and you have to force your fingers to straighten out and they do so with a snap (trigger finger) which is different than the carpal tunnel syndrome but similar. Searching the bearing shaft assembly from lee valley now. Thanks Pete.
 
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they look great man. maybe you can put the drill with the buffer attachment in a vise. i hear you on not having the best tools, i got a jigsaw and no bandsaw to there is always a lot of filing in order. but they look awesome. im almose ready for my first build and i am getting pretty antsy.
 
UncleElvis said:
And these are for sale... where?

They're gorgeous!
Click to expand...

Thanks so much Uncle Elvis! Well, I don't really like to go there in this forum but I've been putting them on eBay. They're getting more uniform now but the finish is still a bit lacking (scratches etc.) , which I explain in my auctions. I'm sure once I get my buffing and dust situation under control I'll feel much better about them, they do sound pretty dang good, except for a couple so far, which don't sound as bad as like, umm... one of those real cheap ukes...
 
erich@muttcrew.net said:
Nice stuff, Vic. Hard to decide which one I like best - I'm sure I'd have a blast trying them out.

BTW, what happened to #002?
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Thanks Erich! Man, what happened to number two... that's a long story. It started out as a redwood top with walnut sides and back. The back recieved a piece of bacon while sitting on my gobar deck next to the microwave in the kitchen, said bacon gave all the oil it had in it to the walnut and the back was replaced with redwood. Then the sound hole somehow got off center while gluing up. Then somewhere down the line it aquired a chip in the back on the edge of the redwood, which I foolishly tried to fix using redwood dust and glue instead of laying in a tiny redwood patch while trying to match the grain, resulting in a blackish looking fill.
I sold it on ebay and the guy has it back up for sale http://cgi.ebay.com/Handmade-Redwoo...815?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item336224faff
I wasn't happy with the sound on this uke at first but he explained that good strings made a world of difference, and after trying some Aquilas recently I wholeheartedly agree. I won't be putting anything else on my ukes from now on... they sound so "buttery" to me.

Another thing, I won't be using black fiber binding again... now that I see it again up close, I just don't care for the look of it. Maybe it's the brand, I dunno, but I'm done with it.
 
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haoleerik said:
they look great man. maybe you can put the drill with the buffer attachment in a vise. i hear you on not having the best tools, i got a jigsaw and no bandsaw to there is always a lot of filing in order. but they look awesome. im almose ready for my first build and i am getting pretty antsy.
Click to expand...

Thanks Haoleerik! I did think about putting my old drill in a makeshift jig but... this might sound stupid but I like polishing and sanding them near an upstairs window that gets a lot of daylight... I need to purchase a couple more lights for the dungeon lol. With my first couple ukes, a cigar box soprano and a StewMac soprano kit, I started out with a jigsaw, a hand held belt sander, a stanley chisel, a japanese flush cut saw and 30 dollar drill press from harbor freight and a wagner safe-t-planer. I came into a little money soon after I did those and as soon as I could get there I in the checkout line at Rocklers with a Jet 10-20 thickness sander... it's the one item above all others that most folks wouldn't do without, that and a good bandsaw.
 
Doug said:
You may be able to get a good spoke shave and plane at a flea market. I got a Stanley #67 spoke shave for $5 at a local flea market. I used it a lot carving the last two necks. Good looking ukes Vic.
Doug
Click to expand...

I know... I so want to get down to the big flea market next time I have some jingle, flea markets and yard sales and a good eye can make for happy days... Thanks Doug!
 
My dungeon... I soooo need to invest in some white paint.
 
Holy ukulele orchestra, FrogMan! Vic, dude, these are fantastic. A good looking bunch of ukes. Good job, man.
 
Pete Howlett said:
Why are you grain filling poplar? It should be fine enough to do without.
Click to expand...

Oh yeah, almost forgot. It has a spanish cedar neck, poplar back and sides, redwood top and walnut binding and headplate veneer. So while I was grain filling the neck and walnut I figured I'd give the rest a once over and go ahead and raise the grain on the poplar and redwood... seems to have done the trick but yeah, it's a waste of grain filler. I guess I really should have raised the grain on everything before I started grain filling.
 
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