tricks for turning the bolt?

AlaskaTheo

AlaskaTheo

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Until now I have put the soundholes in the usual position, and I have mostly used an allen wrench and or flexible screwdriver shaft seen in photo. It always seems a pain, not so much with bigger soundholes.

It didn't occur to me right away, but when it hit me, I had to laugh, this one will be tougher.

IMGP0321.jpg
my solution, so far, is that this soprano will have an end pin, and I will make a foot long allen wrench. I'm not stoked on the end pin, do you guys have good tools or solutions for turning the bolt? and not just for offset soundholes.
 
On some of my earliest ukes I doweled and glued the neck in place. I am just finishing a baritone with an offset sound hole and that's what I did with it.
Love the "fine tuning" handle-less drilling hammer for those fine adjustments that can only be achieved with such a devise!! LOL
 
Drill a hole in the butt just big enough to put your allen wrench through, and leave it. You could even put it in the middle of an inlay to feature it. New problems require new solutions. Open minds won't care that the hole is there. Closed minds aren't worth pleasing. I do this on my wooden top banjos and no one has ever said a word.
 
http://www.hiwtc.com/products/flexible-screwdriver-yy-403-010-656421-21413.htm

21413.jpg
 
-unfortunately the side soundport doesn't provide any access.
IMGP0322.jpg

-I know that dowels are a totally viable joint option, but I like the bolt system and it's already in place.

-the hole I would need could be pretty small and inconspicuous, but I think once the hole is there it's just asking for the peg or a jack, I think I might try to make a small peg appropriate to such a sized instrument, I probably only need a 1/4" hole

-I would love to check out the magnetic bolt setup, but it will be a while before I get to that end of my wish list

-that flexible screwdriver looks more useful than the one I have. Mine is too stiff and runs the risk of damaging the the soundhole, do you use one of those, how do you like it? In terms of a flexible devise, the access is only a little more awkward requiring a tighter bend then usual, which mine is only barely adequate for.
 
If you are putting an endpin jack in, you could just weld an allen wrench to a rod long enough to reach. If not, you could drill a hole through the end block anyway, then cover it with a strap button.

Edit: Oops, I should have read the sentence after photo..... But I do think it is probably the best option.
 
AlaskaTheo said:
-that flexible screwdriver looks more useful than the one I have. Mine is too stiff and runs the risk of damaging the the soundhole, do you use one of those, how do you like it?
Click to expand...

Never used one myself. I did try training Gerbils to use an allen wrench, but it takes just over 2 years before they get the hang of it. You run the risk of a uke containing a dead Gerbil, which then requires training a snake to retrieve rodents from ukuleles. It was taking me 7 years per build.
 
Well here's an allan wrench I threw together(14"), a little 1/4" rod and some shop scraps.IMGP0324.jpgIMGP0325.jpg

The next step will be to make the end pin

I figured I'd skip the whole trained gerbil bit, besides there's no snakes in Alaska, ermine would work, but their unreliable and just as likely to stash rodents inside, I once found a half dozen frozen voles stashed in my barbecue:).
 
Not sure you can cook voles from frozen. The last pack I bought from the supermarket said to defrost for 2 hours.
 
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