Joy and Sadness

The joy is from my newfound fascination with ukuleles and the anticipation of building them myself. I've played acoustic, electric guitar and bass for 40 years but always looked at ukuleles as toys.

Since finding out that my sister in-law has started play ukes and is coming here for my son's wedding, I decided to buy one and learn it. I purchased an Oscar Schmidt OU2 and re-strung it with Martin fluorocarbons. I'm not saying it's as good as a solid wood uke, but it sure sounds sweet. I bought another one on eBay with a cracked neck that I'm repairing re-finishing. I plan to string in low g tuning.

The sadness comes from seeing so much wood being burned and thrown away when it could be turned used to make these lovely, inspiring little instruments. My neighbor lives in the house where my wife and sister in-law were raised and he's a tree cuttin' fool.

Most of what he's cut down is split and burned out in the open and in the middle of the day. Think about that.....not even being used to provide a moment's warmth in the winter, or burned at night to provide a campfire. I know not all of it would be good for instrument making, but you get my point.

We're having an independance day party here tonight and if he comes over, I'm going to beg a few pieces from him to build my sister in-law a uke as a gift. I think it would mean a lot to her have an instrument built from wood she grew up with.

Mojo

Hello Mojopreest and welcome to UU.

Why in the world doen't your neighbor at least sell the wood as fire wood and make himself a few bucks?

I think it would be awesome to receive a ukulele made by someone you know and with the wood from "home". What an awesome idea. I am sure she would cherish it.

Wot's ..."Independance Day" all about anyway

Hey Mojo!

That's a great idea!!! Hope it all comes together for you.

Timbuck:

Here's what Independence Day is all about:

Independence Day, commonly known as the Fourth of July, is a federal holiday in the United States commemorating the adoption of the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776, declaring independence from the Kingdom of Great Britain. Independence Day is commonly associated with fireworks, parades, barbecues, carnivals, fairs, picnics, concerts, baseball games, family reunions, political speeches and ceremonies, in addition to various other public and private events celebrating the history, government, and traditions of the United States. Independence Day is the national day of the United States

Aloha Mojo,
I have an Oscar Schmidt OU2 I bought over 3 years ago and it is my daily player...even among my customs.. and is a favorite of mine....try to drop tune it a half or whole step...if you
want to try an alternative tuning...PM me...MM Stan

I thought it was about an Alian invasion..and Will Smith sorted them all out..And what about "Hawian Independence Day" 28th November.

Independence was voted on and declared July 2 1776 a day John Adams predicted would be a great national holiday.

Who's John Adams? Is he a whiskey maker?

I called it Independance day because of the international nature of this forum. Thanks to the folks that stepped up and explained it !

I must have fallen asleep at my laptop last night because I remember typing a reply, but I don't see it here.

Anyway, my neighbor agreed to let me snoop through the woodpile. He also gave me a 5 foot ( meter and a half ?) long section of maple that he "harvested" a couple of years ago. It's about 8 to 10 inches (200-250mm ?) in diameter. That should make a few good necks.

That should make her happy because she remembers it as the first tree in the neighborhood to turn colors in autumn. It's leaves were a bright crimson red.

The oak is pretty much all up in smoke however. I've always wondered what the grain looks like. We call the species "pin oak" here because of the needle like stuff that grows from the branches.

Maybe I can find some back in the forest behind the house. I'm told that my father in-law brought them up from there and planted them anyway, so it's the same thing. The bottom branches point to the gound like a shrub, so it would be easy to harvest some dead ones as they stay connected to the tree for a long time.

Lets hope I can build it while she's still alive. The wood needs to dry after all.

Does anyone have experience ripping and resawing on a bandsaw ? Mine will only accept up to a half inch wide band. I need a rip fence that will compensate for blade drift. I saw one online that had a round part that was set square to the table, and one that's on an angle. I don't have a tablesaw, and would prefer to use the bandsaw anyway to minimize the width of the cut.

Thanks for the replies and encouragement.

cnkguitarsandukes said:

Hey Mojo!

That's a great idea!!! Hope it all comes together for you.

Timbuck:

Here's what Independence Day is all about:

Independence Day, commonly known as the Fourth of July, is a federal holiday in the United States commemorating the adoption of the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776, declaring independence from the Kingdom of Great Britain. Independence Day is commonly associated with fireworks, parades, barbecues, carnivals, fairs, picnics, concerts, baseball games, family reunions, political speeches and ceremonies, in addition to various other public and private events celebrating the history, government, and traditions of the United States. Independence Day is the national day of the United States

Click to expand...

Great explanation! Couldn't of said it better myself!