formica laminate sheet for ukulele ?

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kkmm

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Some has built ukulele with cardboard (posted recently on this forum).
I am wondering if anyone has built ukulele using formica laminate sheet ?
 
Make sure you have a laminate trimmer for the routing - otherwise it tends to chip.
 
I've seen it done in guitars. They sound ok for what it is. I bet it would make a cool uke.....especially if you use a funky pattern like this

pink-boomerang-countertop.jpg
 
I asked because I do intent to make one (or more) depending on the sound it going to give.
I imagine that formica is brittle, but thick enough for top/back/sides.
I am good at carving the neck by now (done one real one and about 4 for practices). what I need is to make the body.
One good part is I won't have to apply finish to the body, this is my weakest point in instrument buildings.
And I do have a laminate trimmer.
 
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There's actually a patent on making at least guitars (and any decent patent attorney would have covered ukes, etc.) with HPL (High Pressure Laminate). A guy commissioned John Reuter of the Roberto Venn School of Lutherie to build the first one, and said guy got the patent that Martin had to license to do their instruments. The Martin HPL guitars sound frighteningly good, I must say. The building of them is amusing, to say the least. They don't bother bending the sides; they just glue them to neck and tail blocks, and you see a big circle which they then pop into a mold, glue in kerfing, sand the rims on potter's wheel-style sanders, and then glue on top and back. Kind of cool, actually.
 
Not positive, but it didn't look like anything special. Might try LMI white.

I've done Formica topped solid body guitars in the past...my "Model T" slide guitars, and my favorite pattern is called "Rosetta Boomerang".

http://www.google.com/imgres?hl=en&client=firefox-a&sa=X&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:eek:fficial&channel=s&biw=1176&bih=606&tbm=isch&prmd=imvns&tbnid=TZm98v_-g8ONVM:&imgrefurl=http://homepage.mac.com/ianmorton2130/S.M.A.R.T%2520Distribution/page3/page49/page49.html&docid=j5zw0gR_106tfM&imgurl=http://homepage.mac.com/ianmorton2130/S.M.A.R.T%252520Distribution/page3/page49/files/page49_3.jpg&w=300&h=374&ei=snTKT8HDJYjA2gWSq8zaCw&zoom=1&iact=hc&vpx=117&vpy=122&dur=108&hovh=251&hovw=201&tx=107&ty=158&sig=103764587185236958192&page=1&tbnh=136&tbnw=114&start=0&ndsp=18&ved=1t:429,r:0,s:0,i:74
 


More pics
http://s164.photobucket.com/albums/u13/gyozu/Formica Ukulele/

Funny thing. I just purchased this ukulele this afternoon. At first I thought it was contact paper till I got it outside in the sunlight and saw the interior surface. Homebuilt and rough as a cob. Tenor size. No bracing on the upper surface so both the top and the neck are bowed about 3/32nd.

I wish I could tell you how it sounds, but this is my 1st and only uke, so unless i find a local player that evaluation will have to wait.

Looks like the interior braces on the back and the lining are glued with epoxy. No idea how it was shaped. The black dots at the heel and neck are finishing nails to hold the blocks. Neck is screwed on. The ends of the frets are smoothed and filed over so maybe the builder had a commercial fretboard that he started with. Action is about 3/16" at the 12th. Top plate is about 1/16th thick. Body tapers from 2 5/8" - 3".


So yes, Formica would seem a useable material. I know there are several local banjo makers who use formica on the fretboard to make frettles banjos.

Not to trample this thread, but any other observations or thoughts on this uke would be appreciated.
 
I've had several of these guitars in my shop for repair in the past year or two. The guitars get bumped hard and the tops and backs come unglued from the sides, and once they start to come unglued they seem to just keep going. I couldn't tell what kind of glue was used originally but to keep them together I used a light epoxy. Most of the folks who brought in the guitars for repair didn't seem to know they where Formica or that the necks were multi-laminated. The most common response was, "Really, I though they were all wood. Sounds pretty good to me."

Not positive, but I think Mike Longsworth made the uke in the link. He called it, " For Mike A Uke". Maybe it says that in the link, I didn't look that close.
 
Epoxy probably would be the best choice. The necks are what's called "Stratobond", essentially plywood with all the grain running in approximately the same direction. Comes from Rutland Plywood.
 
I had one of those Martins in for repairs a year ago. The guy was dead certain he bought a solid wood guitar. I don't think he actually knew what solid wood looked like. I don't know what they go for in the USA, but for a little more here, he could have a really nice custom made solid wood guitar from any Australian builder. Never ceases to amaze me the power of the brand name.
 
That would appear to be HPL ("Formica" is a brand name...) over a wood substrate, and the top looks massively thick. The Martins are just HPL, braced kind of as though it were solid wood.
 
The thickness and wood that is evident in the sound hole is from a piece of wood that was glued around the soundhole to stiffen it a bit. It only extends about 1/2" from the opening.

The rest of the top is only as thick as that dark line, so about 1/16". Top flexes if you push on it and You can see a strong flashlight beam through it..
 
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Thanks for all the information here, now I learn few things:
a) formica is usable for building ukulele
b) use light epoxy to glue top/back to the linings.
c) the edges to be sanded smooth at 45 degree so they do not cut the hands at the touch
The patterns of these formica sheets do look very attractive.
I will go buy one sheet (8' x 4') and proceed.
 
I would hold off buying a full sheet. Not sure where you are located, but here in Winston-Salem there are stores run by Habitat for Humanity call "Restore" where they sell donated building materials. I always see short pieces of Formica/HPL for sale. You might also see if you can find a local shop that does fabrication of countertops or case goods. They probably will give you a load free for the hauling.;) I know I've done that at shops that fabricate solid surface countertops like Corian. they snagged me fishing in their dumpster and brought me in the shop. Left with a bunch of sink cutouts.
 
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