New builder- a couple of questions

Hello,

I've been lurking here for about a month and thought I should introduce myself before asking questions. I'm an amateur woodworker in Seattle, and I have no specialty whatsoever. I've built furniture, from chairs to casework, and I've built boats to longbows. My shop is located just up the street from Dusty Strings, in the Fremont neighborhood of Seattle, and I appear to be surrounded by all things ukulele.

I am new to lutherie and to ukuleles as well. I don't even know how to play one. Although I was taught to play clarinet, and later, saxophone, for the past ten years I've been playing the Irish concertina.

I've decided to try to build my first ukulele from scratch, while at the same time finishing off a Grizzly kit. I've watched all of Pete's videos at least twice, and a few others that seemed worthwhile, so felt confident to make the jump.

I am using Christophe Greliier's soprano plans but thought to make a few modifications. I plan to use Pete's bolt on method for attaching the neck, and I from what I've gleaned from this forum, I should arc the top, although the plans show a flat top. I have some nice koa left over from a furniture project, and so thought to use it instead of mahogany, as shown in the plans.

My first question is about thickness. The plans call for 1.5mm thickness all around. This translates to .0591", which seems a bit thin, judging from what I seen in discussions here. I've milled my koa down to .0625" for the top and bottom, and .066" for the sides; all to 120 grit. I know that each piece is different, but without deflection testing, I'm inclined to stop at this thickness unless advised differently.

My second question is about units. Griellier's plan is obviously metric, but most of the posts here are decimal inches, regardless of country of origin. I am comfortable with either. Is there a general agreement to use decimal inches, or should I continue in metric?

My last questions are about materials. I have a diverse store of materials from previous projects and so thought that I might use basswood for linings because it's light, and I have both gaboon and macassar ebony, or cocobolo, to choose from for the fretboard. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Thanks,
Tom

Hi Tom, welcome, I'm in Seattle myself this weekend. To answer your questions, first I think your thicknesses are about right. Remember things will be made thinner during the finish sanding. As for converting the dimensions, use the system you are most comfortable with and what your measuring tools read. I use both all the time. If you have koa I would consider using that for the fretboard. It would be easier for you to install the frets in. Next choice would be either ebony, and Cocobolo last, as it can be hard to glue.

Brad

Hello Brad,

Thanks for the welcome, and the advice. Are you in town for the Best of the Northwest show? If you have time for a shop visit, send me a PM, I'd be please to show you my shop.

As far as gluing cocobolo, I've found that a freshly planed or scraped surface glues well, but that after an hour, or so, it becomes questionable. Some folks treat it with acetone before gluing, but I've not had much success with that.

Tom

I have been keeping a blog of a tenor build I am working on. You might find something of interest there. www.malevolentmusings.blogspot.com

Cocobolo is OK to use if you scrub the gluing surface with acetone first until no color is left on your wiping rag (use lots of clean rags!) and glued up within a couple of minutes of doing so.
Koa is not the hardest wood in the world and if I am going to use it as fret board material I will saturate it in thin ca before slotting. It toughens it up nicely.

Good luck Tom, you're about to have a whole lot of fun.

Hey Chuck,

Thanks, I'm looking forward to learning as I go along. If you don't mind my questions, I was wondering about bookmatching tops and bottoms. I've noticed that Pete prefers not to bookmatch tops and bottoms for sopranos, but that all the sopranos on your website are bookmatched. Is there any advantage, other than aesthetics, to bookmatching? I have sufficient material to bookmatch the top and bottom, and the stock is also wide enough not to, either way. Since this my first, I thought to do the top and bottom in one piece each, for simplicity, but I'm also ready to do whatever is best.

Thanks,
Tom

Welcome to the forum Tom.

As far as bookmatching goes, I'm in Pete's camp, if you do not have to, don't.

Brad

When it comes to small instruments such as a soprano uke, it's really just a matter of aesthetics and economy. There's no doubt that one piece construction is easier, but if you're willing to put in the extra effort, book matching always looks better. At least in my opinion.

I've read stuff about the importance of perfect book matching in larger instruments for carrying vibration, but for smaller instruments such as ukes I'm thinking it's more important to find just the right balance in thickness and stiffness of the various parts. I build with one piece tops whenever I can because, hey, no seam to bust open when it's left in the car on that trip to Arizona! And you can rely on my expertise because I've almost built ten ukuleles! That said, the mind sees beauty in symmetry, therefore a nicely exectuted book matching will always draw the eye away from a one piece top.