Time to try ..

I've been meaning to have a go at making a ukulele for a while now, and have finally got started with it.

I doubt that it will be *playable* but should be fun to make and hopefully look cool as decor.

My first try is in clear acrylic - going to be a challenge to do the neck, which I may layer, but all a learning curve. What I'd like to do is a variety of them in different shapes and mixed colours to give as gifts to friends ... whether it turns out to be wayyyyy beyond my abilities and too time consuming to do is to be seen lol.

Front and back are now cut and I'll post the pics of those as soon as I get them from my phone camera - I need to smooth the edges of these before I cut the sides.

My acrylic is 2mm thick which may not be flexible enough for a decent sound, but I'm currently sourcing some 1mm and 1.5mm.

The front and back both still have protective backing on them at the moment.

Please don't take offense, but I think an honest attempt should be made to make a playable instrument. We will all bend over backwards to help you if that's what you decide to do. I don't think most people come to this board to learn about decor. We've already had enough questions about building with cardboard, hubcaps, etc that didn't go too far.
If you've got the interest and incentive, why not build the real deal. We'd love to help you and we can all learn that way.
Good luck

Hi,

Don't get me wrong, I am trying to make a ukulele that is more than functional - I am just unsure that it will have a decent sound quality due to the thickness of the acrylic, it's all trial and error. I go camping with a group of friends and it would be great to have something that we didn't have to worry about quite so much when we are away, which is why I hope to make us one each.

I'm trying to figure out how to post photo's here now ....

I know acrylic ukes have been made. One was discussed here not too long ago; maybe someone will remember and comment. I would think a thorough knowledge of working with plastics and glues would be important.
I'll respectfully bow out now as this is way over my head.
Good luck.

Here's a thread from Oct 09 about plexiglass acoustic ukulele
.

That bears out what I thought about sound quality. The one shown there looks very smart though! I was thinking about putting an acrylic neck on it too, but seeing this makes me wonder whether wood would be better. Thanks for the link