Building a Laminated Uke

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Bradford

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For those of you who do not have a shop full of tools and are trying to get the nerve to attempt a scratch build, here is a Christmas present. After a fair amount of trial and error, I have worked out this construction method that simpifies the building process and is easy on the checkbook. In a nutshell, the body of the uke is constructed of laminated veneers. Three layers of veneers yield a thickness of 1.7 - 1.8 mm, which is ideal. No thickness sander or tedious sanding, scraping needed. The sides are cold bent and laminated over a form, so no side bender is needed. I purchased the veneers from a Woodcraft store, they are fairly inexpensive, and are available online if necessary. The selection of woods available is large, and because you are building a laminate, you are free to design some wild looking instruments. Here are some pics of the first one I built. Outer layer of the top is fiddleback maple, outer layers of the back and sides are walnut. The two inner layers are H. mahogany. The three piece neck is walnut with a maple center. I will be posting the construction details and pics shortly.
Enjoy,
Brad
 

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It's beautiful. What about the sound? Look forward to posting of construction details. Even I may be able to do it. Hope so.
 
wow, that is interesting.
Please share with us the construction details.
I am interested to build one too.
 
Aloha Brad,
Nice job, I prefer cold bending, it must have a nice sound.....Thanks for sharing....MM Stan
 
Wow, can't wait for more details Brad! That looks very nice and I am intersted in learning this building method as well, thanks for sharing! :)
 
Yes, I want to know the secret! I tried to build a laminated back a year ago, using three layers of cherry veneer, and couldn't get them to stick together properly. I was using hot hide glue - maybe I just didn't get them together fast enough. But it seemed as if some patches just sucked up glue, whereas on other it sat on the surface.
 
OK, here is installment number 2, how to laminate the top and back. ProfChris put his finger on the main problem, what glue to use? With thin veneers glue bleed through is going to happen, so regular Titebond is out. Regular hide glue has a short working time, and wrestling with veneers takes a while. What worked for me was Titebond Liquid Hide Glue. It has a very long working time and set up time, what bleed through that occurs is easily removed with a damp rag and it does not matter anyway because the bleed through does not show through the finish.

The pics show my clamping jig, which is just two pieces of 3/4" birch ply topped with Formica so the bleed through does not glue everything together. You can see one of my test runs on the jig. The holes were drilled in the ply to help things dry. Even then, you need to let things sit overnight to set up properly. So that is the short version, let fly with any questions you may have. Next up, how to laminate the sides.

Brad
 

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Hi! Brad,
I really appreciate that you share your methods with us.
SO, the first question I can think of is ...do you glues the veneers cross grain?
does this matter at all?
Thanks
 
Hey UkeforJC, you are very welcome. I have benefitted greatly over the years because a number of world class luthiers freely shared their knowledge with me, this is my way of giving something back. To answer your question, yes, I glued the middle layer with the grain 90 degrees from the outer layers. Whether this is important or not, I don't know, but it is the standard way of laminating wood.

Brad
 
Here is how I lay up and bend the sides. The pics show the bending form I made. The form consists of two pieces of 1/4" plywood, cut to the shape of the sides, (-1/8" to allow for the thickness of the sides and the cross sticks), with a number of 1/16 x 3/8 x 3.5" cross pieces. Rubber bands are used to hold the veneers in place while drying. Craft sticks are a quick and easy way to get the sticks. The layup consists of two long outer layers and three pieces of inner layer material, cut with the grain 90 degrees to the other layers. The sides are glued up in two operations. The inside long piece of veneer is layed over the form, glue is applied the the center of the inside veneer, this is placed over the waist area of the side and using gentle pressure to bend things to shape, rubber bands are used to hold thing in place. Then you add the other two inside veneers on either end, again using rubber bands to hold things together. Let this setup dry overnight, and add the third layer of veneer as before. That is a quick and dirty explanation of the process, again if something is not clear, ask me to explain.

Brad
 

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It sounds great, I took it to the ukulele group that I play with yesterday and they could not believe it was a laminate. I'll try and do a video when I get a chance. I think this type of construction has a lot of potential for home builders. You could use it to make a top for a CBU, make the whole body like I did, or do the sides and back with a solid top. By bookmatching, you can do concerts and tenor sizes. I've just scratched the surface here, hopefully others will join in and we can refine the process.

Brad
 
Brad ..I just watched the video..I had no idea that you were such a good looking dude:)...The uke is very impressive, great method for wannabe builders who dont have the bending and sanding gear.....My very first attempt at building a uke (3 years ago) had 2 layer veneer laminated sides, I glued the two pieces together with "Titebond" then bent them in the hot Foxy bender..the heat seperated them from the glue and they ended up as scrap.:mad:
 
Bradford said:
Here is a video sound sample of the uke.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YlfsMJjvcaY

Dave the idea of laminating an arch top is interesting.
Click to expand...

Thanks much, Dave, for everything. I'm beginning to believe I can do it too. About your video: impressed by the sound of this laminated uke, good voice, great performance, loved the stage and the hands free magnifier on your head was a nice touch. Sincerely appreciate all the written and video info.
 
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Thanks!
That is a very nice video. You play and sing so well too.

So, in order to bend the sides, I will have to figure out a way to make the form first.
However, I don't have any power saw to cut the plywood.
Is there any other way of cold bending? or other kind of form that can possibliy serve the same purpose?

Like the kind Dave g uses in his video?


Thank you ..
 
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