tonyturley
Well-known member
- Joined
- Aug 29, 2018
- Messages
- 776
- Reaction score
- 368
The hard way to trim a sound hole port. I started by using my trim router and a set of acrylic templates to cut an oval ring from Black Walnut. Then I stuck self-adhesive 80 grit paper to the upper bout of the baritone uke and started sanding one side of the ring until it fit the contour of the uke. Then I held it against the side and traced the outline. The oval kept wanting to slide while I traced, so I had to erase and re-trace several times until I got it right. Then I used a Dremel with a tiny inlay bit to slowly cut through the side and thin ply backing, going very slowly so I wouldn't splinter the backing. Finally, I used a sanding drum in the Dremel to work away at the waste until the ring slid in place. It is hard to get a perfect fit and I had to do some gap filling, but after shaping and sanding the excess Walnut, the finished ring looked good when I wiped everything down with grain alcohol. A lot of work over the past 2 days, but I like the results.