Beerbelly's SG ukulele build

My friend heard I was making a (electric) ukulele, and asked if I'd make his daughter a traditional one, so that's my next upcoming project. I ordered a tenor-size kit in mahogany from StewMac, and downloaded the instructions. Of course, they would like you to buy all the recommended tools from them, including some cam clamps for gluing internal bracing; $20 each + shipping. I searched online, and found many DIY videos, so I'm making my own. Very cheap and easy, with some 1/4" oak strips from Home Depot and a spring pin for the cam pivot. The trickiest part is figuring where to put the pivot hole for the correct amount of tension- a little trial & error there, but they work great.
 

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I read somewhere a while back that the first thing an aspiring luthier apprentice used to have to do was make some cam clamps. If they they could do that, they were accepted. Seems you passed the test. Me, I just buy em...

Did you buy the cheap kit or the expensive one? You might want to start a new thread for that project.
 
I 'borrowed' the design for mine from a book. The arms were cut from two pieces of half-inch ply, with the shaft channels dadoed out on the table saw before being glued together. The shafts were cut from
aluminium plate using a fine blade on the table saw. The stress points on the arms are reinforced with stainless rod. They are a bit rough and ready but don't do much work as they are only used for bracing.P1010369.jpg
 
I read somewhere a while back that the first thing an aspiring luthier apprentice used to have to do was make some cam clamps. If they they could do that, they were accepted. Seems you passed the test. Me, I just buy em...

Did you buy the cheap kit or the expensive one? You might want to start a new thread for that project.

I bought the premium kit. And yes, I plan to start a new thread for that one. It'll be the first acoustic-style instrument I've built, so I'm expecting a learning curve.
 
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I 'borrowed' the design for mine from a book. The arms were cut from two pieces of half-inch ply, with the shaft channels dadoed out on the table saw before being glued together. The shafts were cut from
aluminium plate using a fine blade on the table saw. The stress points on the arms are reinforced with stainless rod. They are a bit rough and ready but don't do much work as they are only used for bracing.View attachment 122352

All the instructions I've seen suggest drilling a hole at the end of the 'spring' slot to prevent splitting.
 
All the instructions I've seen suggest drilling a hole at the end of the 'spring' slot to prevent splitting.

That is true for solid wood construction as the grain line could easily open up in use. With plywood that is not a risk. A small stainless steel plate under the pressure pad eliminates the risk of the ply splitting under cam pressure.

With regard to 'how many to make?', I made six (for guitar), two long and four short, but only use three or four at a time for ukulele. I find that large plastic spring clamps are easier to use where reach is not required... the problem with these is that a Herculean grip is needed to open them.
 
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Ah, I forgot you used plywood.

Here are my 4 finished cam clamps. I'm thinking with these and a bunch of wooden clothespins, I should have enough clamps.

OK, I'm done hijacking my own thread!
 

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Ah, I forgot you used plywood.

I'm thinking with these and a bunch of wooden clothespins, I should have enough clamps.

I gave my extensive stash of clothespins (pegs in Aus.) back to their traditional owner-user in favour of the 65mm mini spring clamps that you often see on cards of 6 or 8 in '$' stores. The advantages of these are that they have a stronger grip, a larger gape, are narrower (for linear continuity around curves) and can't be glued to the job. I bought 'truckload' for jumbo guitar bodies, so I now have enough for three lifetimes of Uke building. The grip can be strengthened with the very small cross-section racing bicycle tubing, but this is not necessary for the typical use of kerfing.
 
After a few weeks of curing, then wet sanding to 1500, I polished the SG uke today. It turned out pretty well, but I have a couple of spots I'll have to touch up on the edges. My sanding & polishing effort is not "calibrated" for such small details!
 

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After a few weeks of curing, then wet sanding to 1500, I polished the SG uke today. It turned out pretty well, but I have a couple of spots I'll have to touch up on the edges. My sanding & polishing effort is not "calibrated" for such small details!

Looking good.
 
Done! I'm leaving the pickguard & pickup plastic on until I get the action & intonation set up, but it already sounds great! It's set up for high G tuning right now, but I may play around with that.
 

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Done! I'm leaving the pickguard & pickup plastic on until I get the action & intonation set up, but it already sounds great! It's set up for high G tuning right now, but I may play around with that.

Great Job!!
 
Very nice BB. My SG mini bass in South Africa was delayed, apparently he mis-measured the neck and position of the bridge so he's starting over.


This is Michael Kohan in Los Angeles, Beverly West near the Beverly Center
9 tenor cutaway ukes, 5 acoustic bass ukes, 11 solid body bass ukes, 11 mini electric bass guitars (Total: 35)

• Donate to The Ukulele Kids Club, they provide ukuleles to children in hospital music therapy programs. www.theukc.org
• Member The CC Strummers: YouTube: www.youtube.com/user/CCStrummers/video, Facebook: www.facebook.com/TheCCStrummers
 
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