Building journal for my #5 uke - first Koa concert

UkeforJC · Apr 27, 2012

I am building this concert uke for my coworker who is interested in getting a koa uke for her husband and she does not mind that I am a pretty new builder.
It is nearly done, so I decided to start posting some pictures.

This is my # 5 build, but first time using the koa wood.

She wanted one piece top and back, so we purchased a guitar set that is big enough for one piece top and back.

Many master builders have told me: bend the sides before doing anything else. I first cut the sides to the right size , thicknessed the sides to around 2 mm. And bent them with a home made bending iron.

So, the sides were bent, trimmed and tail block is glued on.

UkeforJC · Apr 27, 2012

i will use bolt-on method to attach the neck, so I pre-drilled a hole on the tail block before I glued the block to the sides.

I used a small block plane to make the radius on the block. Then the block was glued on.

I somehow always like solid lining. I bent four pieces of spruce lining and glued them on.

UkeforJC · Apr 27, 2012

To cut the bevel on the neck/tail block, I used my new finger plane, a Christmas present from my beloved wife last year. This small little plane is quite nice, but I think using a sharp chisel might be faster.

Now moving on to top and back. I planed down the wood to around 2mm.

Well, what do you know. It is so pretty after I smoothed the surface.

Then I cut the sound hole using a very easy jig. It worked very nicely.

Sven · Apr 27, 2012

Great pics of some very clean work. I must say those bends look awfully good for 2 mm sides - I often go slightly below that. It's gonna be a stunner.

And my compliments on the growing plane collection.

Sven

BR Ukuleles · Apr 27, 2012

The workmanship is spot on so far. I'm looking forward to seeing this progress.

tattwo · Apr 27, 2012

Looks great JC. Any chance of a sound sample?

Flyfish57 · Apr 27, 2012

Excellent work so far--I also like the growing plane collection.

saltytri · Apr 27, 2012

Very nice! Thanks for posting plenty of photos - it is always interesting to see how others do particular tasks.

mzuch · Apr 27, 2012

Many master builders have told me: bend the sides before doing anything else.

Why bend the sides first? Seems counter-intuitive to me. To guard against unwanted movement, I don't bend the sides until the soundboard is completely braced and ready for assembly.

dustartist · Apr 27, 2012

In case you break them...

UkeforJC · Apr 27, 2012

Hey guys! Thank you all for your kind words. Ya...about the plane collection.
I think I might have the addiction now. I just visited Japan last month, and I bought a Japanese style plane (kana). It has a white oak body.
I haven't figure out how to tune it or use it yet. We will see.

@mzuch, just as what dustartist said. Sometimes, we got very nice looking sets, but there is no way to tell how the wood will behave.
To me, bending the sides first, if everything goes ok, then I will start working with the top and back. While I am working on the top and back, the sides will stay in the mold, clamped.

UkeforJC · Apr 27, 2012

Then I cut the profile of the top. I used some cut off to make a koa bridge plate. It is slightly larger then the bridge I will be using.
I still don't have the ability to make my own bridge yet, so I purchased this premade rose wood bridge from LMI. It looks fine to me.

Now, is the brace time. One of my favorite process.

I cut the braces from one bar of Sitka spruce.

Then glue the transverse braces and the bridge plate onto the top

Braces also glued to the back.

UkeforJC · Apr 27, 2012

I then made the tone bars, glued them on and then shape them.
I used only two bars for this concert uke.

I tried to use this small finger plane to shape the braces on the back.
It work nicely. The curved bottom on the plane makes it so easy to shape the braces. BUT, it took so long. Next time, I will cut off most of the material with a chisel, then finish shaping with this plane. I love these curves..

UkeforJC · Apr 30, 2012

Then the prepared top was glued to the sides

This is my favorite process - trimming the excess of the top using sharp knives and chisels.

Then the back was glued on, and excess was trimmed.

UkeforJC · Apr 30, 2012

moving on to neck

I got a piece of very nice Spanish Cedar for the neck. It is 3" wide.
First, I used the plane to smooth the surface.

then I measured the 15 degree angle for scarf joint and cut it with a Japanese saw.

Then the stacking heel blocks were also cut.

I really wanted to minimize the glue line in the stacked heel, so I did my best to prepare the joining surface. First planed the surface, then sanded it with 100 grit sand paper.

All the components for the neck blank.

UkeforJC · Apr 30, 2012

Then I drew the profile of the neck. Also drilled the hole for the barrel nut, while it was still easy to clamp the neck blank to the working board.

Then cut off the excess. I cut roughly 2 mm outside the line.

Then...endless carving. I got a new set of carving knives. These are so nice. It really made carving the heel very enjoyable for me. I love this process now.

Then use a spokeshave to shape the neck.

UkeforJC · Apr 30, 2012

So, now the neck is roughly shaped. The tools I used was carving knives, a spokeshave, raspes and even the finger plane.

The shape the heel even more.

I learned this from Sven. I carved off the wood in the middle. This will make the process of making the perfect fit between the body and the neck much easier. (But it still took me a long time to make the almost perfect fit.)

UkeforJC · May 1, 2012

It is just too noisy to hammer the fretwire into the slot in my apartment.
So, I went to the park to do that. I can hammer as loud as I want. When everything is done correctly, I didn't even need to level the fret. They are almost perfectly level already.
The fret marker is white MOP.

Then the neck is bolt on, fingerboard is glued on. I also put a piece of nice koa on the head stock.

Now...endless sanding..

UkeforJC · May 1, 2012

Actually, I just finished applying the last coat of tru oil finish.
I actually had to sand off everything after the third coat, because I found a couple spots that wasn't so smooth. But now the finish is nice and smooth.

I will leave it for two week, before I do anything. I will post some more pictures then.

Any suggestion so far?? If you have some feedback, that will be really nice. I would love to learn from all of you.
Thanks..

Sven · May 2, 2012

...

...

I fear I can teach you no more. Get back to me once you get cocky and sloppy, I know plenty about that!

Top work.

Sven

Building journal for my #5 uke - first Koa concert

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