My Kamaka Factory Tour

mds725

mds725

UU VIP
UU VIP
Joined
Oct 12, 2009
Messages
12,337
Reaction score
232
Location
San Francisco CA USA
As I mentioned in an earlier thread, during my Great Ukulele Shopping Adventure on Oahu and Kaua'i, I took the Kamaka factory tour. Here are some photos.

Tour Part 1

This is the fiirst thing I saw when I went into the Kamaka storefront. Kamaka models are on the wall (left to right, deluxe concert, deluxe soprano, pineapple, soprano, concert, tenor, 6-string tenor, 8-string tenor, baritone). The counter in the foreground is the top of a display case that houses some vintage Kamaka ukuleles, including one of the first pineapples.

attachment.php


There were two of us on the tour. Coincidentally, my tourmate (I didn't get a photo of him) was from San Jose, CA, just down the peninsula from San Francisco. We were greeted by Fred Kamaka (one of Sam Kamaka's sons), who showed us some of the vintage ukuleles while giving us a comprehensive history of Kamaka and the Kamaka family, including some great stories about Sam Sr.

attachment.php


Fred displays a very pretty block of koa while talking about the properties of koa wood.

attachment.php


Fred enjoyed showing us this photo of the original Kamaka factory. I think he said the photo was taken in the late 1920s. On the far right in the photo is Sam Sr. That's Fred standing next to his dad holding an ukulele.

attachment.php
 
Last edited:
Tour Part 2

Fred then took us around to the back of the factory, where the koa wood is stored. The koa is stacked so it can dry, a process that can take several years. He said that they rotate the wood weekly so that the oldest wood is always used first.

attachment.php


Here's a stack of mahogany wood blocks. Each block produces two necks. You can see the profile of the necks penciled in on the surface of the blocks.

attachment.php


This is what the necks look like after they've been cut from the mahogany blocks.

attachment.php
 
Last edited:
Very cool! Thanks for sharing. Love those trips you can incorporate a visit to where something you love is made. I went to Bologna a few years ago to see my Ducati Monster come off the assembly line. Their museum was amazing!
 
Tour Part 3

Fred demonstrates where the bracing goes on the soundboard. Fred explained that on bigger soundboards, the soundhole becomes more vulnerable. Notice how the concert soundboard on the left is braced the same way as the pineapple on the right but also has an additional brace. Tenors have two additional vertical braces below the soundhole.

attachment.php


These devices are used to mold the sides of an ukulele. The wood that's going to be used for the sides is wet and then placed on the metal plates, which I believe are heated.

attachment.php


These are the machines that are going to replace the devices now being used to mold the sides. Fred said that the new machines can mold sides much more quickly than the old devices. Each machine takes one matched set of sides. You can see the curve form the machines use on the machine to the right.

attachment.php


The older devices don't know what to make of the new machines.

attachment.php
 
Last edited:
Tour Part 4

After the sides are run through the molding machine, they're placed in these static wood vice molds so the sides can settle into the curved shape.

attachment.php


Before the soundboards and backs are glued onto the sides, the infamous Kamaka red tag is placed on the inside where the neck attaches to the body. The first two digits represent the year, and the remaining digits are assigned in order, so an ukulele with the number "111000" is the 1,000th ukulele made in 2011.

attachment.php


When the sides have been removed from the vice molds, the soundboard and back are glued on. Notice the little tabs at the waist of the ukulele in the foreground. Those tabs are used to vice the body while the glue dries.

attachment.php


After the soundboard and back are glued to the sides, the body is placed in a vice while the glue dries.

attachment.php
 
Tour Part 5

Meanwhile, fretboards and headstocks have been glued to the necks, and the necks have been placed on these shelves, where they wait to be assigned to bodies. Fred said that great care is taken to match the grain of the headstock to the grain of the body.

attachment.php


When the bodies are ready, the necks are glued on, and the instruments are placed in a vice while the glue dries. They're beginning to look like ukuleles!

attachment.php


After the necks are attached, the bodies are sanded and polished many times. These two ukuleles are in different stages of the sanding process. The beautiful grain of the koa is beginning to emerge.

attachment.php


Fred then led us upstairs, where finishing work is performed. Here's a view of the lower level from the steps, with the wood storage area on the left. Most of the lower level work area is out of view to the right.

attachment.php
 
Last edited:
Tour Part 6

Upstairs, the ukuleles get bridges, tuners and strings. The ukuleles on the lower shelf are waiting for their tuners. The ukuleles on the middle shelf already have theirs. The tuners are made in Germany.

attachment.php


Ukuleles that have already gotten their tuners.

attachment.php


Across from the shelves where ukuleles wait for their tuners is the bridge work area. Bridges are attached before the tuners are attached. These concert ukuleles have had their bridges glued on and have been placed in vices while the glue dries.

attachment.php


Next to the work area where ukuleles sit while the glue on the bridges dries is the infirmary. These ukuleles are waiting to be repaired.

attachment.php
 
Tour Part 7

Around the corner (to the left) from the shelves in some of the previous photos is an area where custom work is done. Here, Fred shows off a just-finished Jake Shimabukuro custom ukuleles. Kamaka is making only 100 of these, and the right to buy one was distributed through a lottery.

attachment.php


The back. The custom work area is behind Fred.

attachment.php


And a close-up of the body.

attachment.php


Uke p***.

attachment.php
 
Last edited:
This is a great pictorial travelogue. Great photography too!
 
Tour Part 8

Work on these ukulele has been completed. so they've been placed on these shelves, where they await inspection by a member of the Kamaka family. I believe the top shelf is for repaired ukuleles and the remaining shelves are for new ukuleles. No ukulele leaves the factory until it's been approved by a Kamaka family member.

attachment.php


When the tour was over, we went back to the storefront, where Fred allowed me to pose for a photo with him and the original Kamaka pineapple.

attachment.php


I hope you enjoyed this Kamaka factory tour. Everyone there was very friendly. Fred is a delightful tour guide and an ukulele and Kamaka encyclopedia. Someone should interview him for a book on the history of Kamaka Ukuleles.

Mahalo for taking the tour with me. Aloha!
 
Last edited:
Thank you, sah, for the travelogue of somewhere that very much resembles heaven to me! *grin*
 
Seriously awesome pictures and break down- saving up to go to Hawaii now. I agree with the Unk- that's heaven to me (wait- Gene Vincent tune on a Uke...off to go figure it out) :)
 
Thank you for having taken the trouble to put this all together for everyone to see. Amazing how the Hawaians have carved out a sustainable business for themselves and their community. Photos were very clear and informative, especially these new benders next to the old ones.
 
Thanks for bringing back a lot of great memories for me. I enjoyed my Kamaka factory tour immensely and it was nice to relive it through your posts and photos.
 
Fantastic. This looks so simple. No special bracing patterns, no unusual body shape. Looks like anybody could build a Kamaka.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

D
Kamaka Factory Tour
Replies
7
Views
706
merlin666
M
M
2016 Kamaka Factory tour - video
Replies
1
Views
573
Nickie
Nickie
Trinimon
My Kamaka Factory Tour 2012
2
Replies
39
Views
4K
Trinimon
Trinimon
PedalFreak
Kamaka Factory - Can you buy after the tour?
2
Replies
25
Views
6K
peterp
peterp
wickedwahine11
More photos from my tour of the Kamaka Factory
Replies
8
Views
2K
P-co
P-co
Top Bottom