Hi all, just finished my first soprano

Hi guys, I'm Sven from Stockholm, Sweden. I'm new to this forum and thought I'd introduce myself by showing my last build. Other than building ukes at night, I'm a busy father of two and I'm an architect. Been playing ukulele for two years and been building for about one year. So far a kit soprano, two tenors and now this new sop.

This appears on Cosmos and Uketalk as well, it's the same uke and almost the same post...

First out is a link to the building blog - most pics are horribly low-res, but a couple near the end (or in a blog way, the beginning) are better.

www.argapa.blogspot.com

Then we move on to a folder on box.net, which wasn't the perfect solution I thought it was. I'm not able to link pics from there into posts here. I have to get a better solution, or a hompage.

http://www.box.net/shared/nvh5ppefhy

Specs:
Sounboard, sides, bottom, neck, solid linings, bracing, bridgeplate and headstock veneer - honduran mahogany. All from the same plank.

Fretboard and bridge - jatoba. From flooring sample.

Nut and saddle - bone

tuners - violin tuners (most likely not ebony)

Strings - worth clear

Finish - Le Tonkinois Bio Impression oil

And the frets are bar frets that need an extra filing once I get a proper file.

It's really loud and by far the best ukulele I own! I love it. I'll build more, but intend to try other types of wood - I think Pete Howlett's endeavours are so inspiring. Some of the guys in the swedish "ukulele commission" have shown interest in buying ukes from me, I just need to figure the price out. And of course get the time to build...

Well, hope you like what you see.

Bye for now / Sven

Pretty. Can't wait to hear it.

Wow! Great job Sven!

[I'll write this in english although I'm swedish too, for the benefit of other readers...]

Great looking uke! You have to post a vid on youtube when you play it so we all get to hear it. I live in Stockholm to and would love to try it out sometime!

Hälsningar [=regards]

Baron

That looks sweet, I really like the simple style. Apart from my poke-in-your-eye orange Fluke, my other uke (tenor) is as basic as it gets. Makes me want to buy a kit here in Japan and try my hand at building a uke.

Thanks for the kind words, guys.

I definitely must post soundclips and/or vids. It's just that I'm such a novice at those things, can't seem to find the time to learn it either.

Baron, it would be great to meet up, you missed the pandemonium last weekend. I think we're both south of Södermalm, right?

Sven

Wow that looks fantastic.
you must be pretty chuffed with that gorgeous looking instrument.

I know how you feel, ove finally competed my build with Pete Howlett.

I cant wait to hear a sound clip!

Sam

Hey, great! I'm going to read your blog tonight.

What is the German company that makes the small table saw and thickness plane? Looks great for a small workspace (aka the den in my apartment).

Thanks for sharing!

john

Those tools are branded Proxxon - very expensive and very small capacity. John - buy from ebay a good bandsaw, router and bench drill. It's all you need to get started.

Pete Howlett said:

Those tools are branded Proxxon - very expensive and very small capacity. John - buy from ebay a good bandsaw, router and bench drill. It's all you need to get started.

Click to expand...

Hi Pete! :music:

Thanks for your advice - especially since it'll be your kit I'm building!

I wish I had the room for the above stuff... heck, it's been a challenge finding room for my hand tools. I am patiently waiting for the day when I can have a space to set up a small shop area. Living in a small apartment in Chicago isn't making that come true very easily!

I do have access to some bigger tools - but what fun is using someone else's toys?

Thanks!
john

Hi! Of course Pete is sort of right about this. They do have a small capacity, but what they do is give very nice and precise cuts and surfaces. And they're possible to keep in the apartment and possible to use if your neighbors aren't too grumpy.

I have a few bigger machines as well but keep them in my fathers shop an hour away. So I'm pleased with the investment so far. A thickness-sander would be good, but I don't have the space for a proper shopvac. That's why the little thicknesser is so good - took the wood easily down to 1.4 mm with a vacuum cleaner to deal with the shavings. Of course I took the small measurements into account when I made my jigs and forms, so my ukulele is just under 160 mm across at its' widest bout.

I can recommend Proxxon gear for the non-professional builder. But from what I've seen of Pete's shop, his machines and jigs... makes me wish I could do it fulltime in a proper shop.

Not that I think any shop or load of equipment would get me near his expertise or talent... but I sure like machines!

Thanks for your interest!
Sven