Arcy
Strummin' in the Rain
The Uke Book Illustrated arrived yesterday and I've read about halfway through. I'm really impressed, and from a novices point of view (some woodworking background, several starts that turned to kindling, but no completed instruments). It's one of the best and clearest lutherie books I've read.
The illustrations are excellent and the instructions are in a hand writing font, but very readable. In ways it feels more like an art book than a project manual. If it were hardcover it wouldn't be out of place on a coffee table. In soft-cover this will go in my workshop.
The project is a Spanish construction tenor ukulele built around a solara. It's all hand tools (so far the only sign of power has been dust collection) and assumes no woodworking background. There is lots of info on chisels, rasps, scrapers, shooting boards, etc. Except for the bending pipe it shows how to make all of the specialty jigs and tools, and it goes into very good detail about how to use them and where, how to set up for gluing and clamping, and how to clean up the squeeze out. The illustrations show each part built up or carved down in several steps at a level that would be difficult to pull off with photos.
I'm not going to follow it's instructions exactly (I have a router and I will use it), but after reading it I'm much more confidant in the areas that hand tools will be appropriate for me. Several steps that I thought I had understood are now much clearer.
The only negative is inherent in the scope: the book teaches how John Weissenrieder builds ukukeles. Several of the high level steps are done differently from other sources I've looked at (solara vs. molds, different radiusing jigs, fancy heel, etc.), and it doesn't mention other building styles or explain the advantages or disadvantages. Even so, the low level details are presented clearly enough and with enough explanation that the concepts will travel even if the details are different.
I'd be interested to know what an intermediate or advanced builder thinks. From an intermediate POV, does it cover the areas well that gave you trouble in your first build(s)? From an advanced POV, do the steps look as sound to someone who knows what they're doing as they do to me? Are there pieces that you'd recommend a novice without master oversight skip or do differently?
I'm still struggling to find time and space to build my Stewmac kit, so it may be a while before I can use anything here in a scratch build, but I'm certainly jazzed to do so. If only I weren't in a different state from my workshop!
--Rob
The illustrations are excellent and the instructions are in a hand writing font, but very readable. In ways it feels more like an art book than a project manual. If it were hardcover it wouldn't be out of place on a coffee table. In soft-cover this will go in my workshop.
The project is a Spanish construction tenor ukulele built around a solara. It's all hand tools (so far the only sign of power has been dust collection) and assumes no woodworking background. There is lots of info on chisels, rasps, scrapers, shooting boards, etc. Except for the bending pipe it shows how to make all of the specialty jigs and tools, and it goes into very good detail about how to use them and where, how to set up for gluing and clamping, and how to clean up the squeeze out. The illustrations show each part built up or carved down in several steps at a level that would be difficult to pull off with photos.
I'm not going to follow it's instructions exactly (I have a router and I will use it), but after reading it I'm much more confidant in the areas that hand tools will be appropriate for me. Several steps that I thought I had understood are now much clearer.
The only negative is inherent in the scope: the book teaches how John Weissenrieder builds ukukeles. Several of the high level steps are done differently from other sources I've looked at (solara vs. molds, different radiusing jigs, fancy heel, etc.), and it doesn't mention other building styles or explain the advantages or disadvantages. Even so, the low level details are presented clearly enough and with enough explanation that the concepts will travel even if the details are different.
I'd be interested to know what an intermediate or advanced builder thinks. From an intermediate POV, does it cover the areas well that gave you trouble in your first build(s)? From an advanced POV, do the steps look as sound to someone who knows what they're doing as they do to me? Are there pieces that you'd recommend a novice without master oversight skip or do differently?
I'm still struggling to find time and space to build my Stewmac kit, so it may be a while before I can use anything here in a scratch build, but I'm certainly jazzed to do so. If only I weren't in a different state from my workshop!
--Rob