Building completely using hand tools?

iBankai145

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Is it possible to build a ukulele completely (or almost completely) using hand tools? I'm building one for my senior project and I figured that before I get started I make sure that this is feasible. The only "electric" tool I have is a drill, and I don't really want to use power tools...
Would this make the building process much harder? I'm mainly concerned with cutting the neck and the headstock angle.

Thanks,

iBankai145
 
I'm not a Luthier, but there were stringed instruments before electricity so I would say yes.
You will probably need at least some wood carving tools and a Mitre box to cut the head stock angle correct and straight.
 
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You can certainly build a uke with only hand tools. Your skill level and time will be the main issues. Long apprenticeships used to be the rule in the old days, so skills were built very gradually. Also, don't assume that because they had no electricity they had no machinery. The first were human powered, then animals, water, and steam took their turns. For instance, the hand-cranked drill press goes way back. Still, I don't want to discourage you. Instruments can be designed to make construction easier, and you might have to dismiss many contemporary ideas about what makes the perfect instrument. An acquaintance tore apart an old desk, built a simple box without resawing anything, and stuck on an old tenor banjo neck. Its plenty loud enough to practice with, and by adding a transducer he can be as loud as he needs to be to play out (which he does all the time). I'm not sure what kind of grade he would have earned, though. Discuss the issue with your teacher to find out what his expectations of you are. Check out CigarBoxNation.com for some ideas to take to him. I also met a man who made a very fine Brazilian rosewood guitar from lumber and did all the resawing by hand, did everything with hand tools. Determination is as large a factor as anything else.
 
I just built a uke at Hanalima...

building a uke and make it sound nice and look nice, not as easy as you think...

we had a full shop of tools...table saws,drill press etc....

depending on the quality of the build that you want...not easy making it with the right tools....
so no electric tools sounds pretty hard to me....

and if is your first ukulele,it will be interesting...good luck

fyi I have decided not to do any more garage builds...if I want a new uke I will leave it up to the many luthiers who do this for a profession...but this only me....
 
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A good luthier who knows their stuff could make a good sounding uke with a sharp pocket knife and enough time. Since most of us aren't stranded on a far off island without all the essentials, building a good uke can be done any number of ways. If you want the experience of using just hand tools, go for it, but learn how to get the tools sharp before you begin or your experience will be frustrating.
 
Now after cheering you on, I think it would be best for you to buy "serviced" wood for your first handmade build. Get the wood thinned and a rough neck blank. I guess I'm saying buy a kit of "flat wood".
LMII could supply it as well as any of the kit suppliers. Bend your own sides, shape your neck, etc.
 
i'v built my first uke in a very well equipped workshop with all the "toys" and power tools you can imagine, it was a great experience and made a lot of things fast and easy. now i'v almost finished building my second uke with very few tools and even fewer power tools (rotary tool, drill, jigsaw and bending iron). it took me longer and was more difficult but on the other hand it made me think more and improvise, which makes the result more enjoyable.

my advice would be to get a good Japanese saw and a lots of clamps of different sizes.

good luck!
 
I took Rick Turner's build class. I can't say enough about what a great class this is and how much of a great teacher Rick Turner is.

Anyhow, based on taking this class, it's my opinion that if you truly want to learn the "how" everything works and how it works together, building your first uke or two or ten, completely by hand will teach you skills you won't learn by relying on power tools, and it will make your builds better in the long run. Using a power sander for instance took seconds to get something close to the shape I wanted, but chiseling, filing and sanding gave me a greater appreciation for the wood and its characteristics etc. The wood kind of lets you know how far you can take it when you're working by hand, something you won't get a feel for using a planer to get down to the thickness you want for instance.

Just my two cents.
 
I think thinning the wood would be the most challenging. File and microplanes can shape a neck pretty quickly.
I find the whole process addictive, but I do have power tools.

Anne Flynn
 
yes you can cause I did and im a newbie. handplane to thin the soundboards. sharp xacto blades to cut the sound hole and a utility knife to flush trim the sides. but you will need somekind of heat sourse to bend sides.

but to make life easier at least buy a flush trim router to flush trim the excess wood when you glue on the sides to the back and front. your hands will thank you.
 
My workshop is very basic and I do most of the build by hand. I used to plane the wood down and then scrape and sand it to thickness. I have however moved on from there and now have a drum sander as I use a lot of curly wood which is extremely difficult to plane. You can certainly build a uke using nothing but hand tools.
I built my first guitar with almost nothing. Mind you it was a lengthy exercise and a lot more difficult than it needed to be. The bending iron was made out of a piece of 40mm water pipe mounted on a fibro cement base. I put a propane soldering torch up it until it was hot enough to bend the sides. I use spoke shaves and coping saws a lot as well as some really great files called razor files to shape necks .
Good on you for having the right frame of mind to challenge yourself.
Regards
Garry Petrisic.
 
Cigar Box Ukulele's seem like they would be one of the more basic ones you could make. Plus they kind of look cool and they're meant to be primitive/ raw/ authentic/ roots-y.
Side note - I can barely work a screwdriver so maybe I'm not the best person to take advice from - haha!
 
I don't build my ukes with only hand tools, but I have done all parts and processes by hand on various ukes. I think you might find some inspiration on my blog, www.argapa.blogspot.com, look for labels tools, wood, workshop if you don't want to read everything.

And sharp tools are essential. In fact, really sharp is really essential.

And the last spruce top I made was planed to thickness, and the result so brilliant I'll never sand a spruce top again.
 
How do you think that they built instruments prior to the industrial revolution? Or for that matter, in many parts of the world today?

I remember just 20 years ago watching a group of men in Mexico building guitars in a lean too shelter with nothing more than hand tools and very rudimentary work benches.
 
How do you think that they built instruments prior to the industrial revolution? Or for that matter, in many parts of the world today?

I remember just 20 years ago watching a group of men in Mexico building guitars in a lean too shelter with nothing more than hand tools and very rudimentary work benches.

I have seen many of these instruments from Mexico come into my shop. Unfortunately, most of them are very crude and don't hold up well. But that is the point for these instruments, they are made for a quick and cheap market and aren't meant to last. The folks who put these guitars together are fast and can do 5 -10 guitars in a week by themselves. I couldn't put together that many guitars in a 3 months even with all the power tools I needed.
 
Thank you for the tip. I was planning on buying some guitar wood form Stewmac and thicknessing it to the correct thickness (what is a good thickness for sitka spruce?). I kind of want to buy guitar wood, though, since I have a bit more wood so a bit more room in case I mess up...
 
Thanks Sven! Your blog is awesome! Great pictures of the building process! Would it be possible for you to give me some tips on tool sharpening?
 
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