Wow. Thanks for the replies!
I tried it again this morning with a drill and then the dremel and sanding drum attachment. Significantly less smoke and it sanded out nicely, but it's rather uneven. Since I do have access to a router I'm going to take Rick's advice and build a jig to clean it up. I'll post pics when I'm done for any who may be interested.
There are a couple of reasons I wanted to give a soundport a try. First, I think they look cool and Chuck (and others) do great work with them. Also I think for those who's experience with ukes are just what they find at their local music shop, it's new, different and adds a bit of razzle dazzle.
Secondly, the uke I'm building is two plates of irocco (I got a couple of planks given to me from a friend who works in a wood shop) with a strip of mahogany about two inches wide down the middle. I want to do a couple of smaller soundholes on each side of the strip, accentuating it.
But mostly because I think it looks cool and since I don't know what the sound properties of irocco would be as a tonewood, but that it's pretty dense, I thought it couldn't hurt.