All Walnut ukulele

Sawdust

Sawdust

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I want to build an all Walnut concert ukulele, has anyone ever made a neck out of Walnut?

Does anyone see a problem using walnut for the neck?

Thanks very much!
 
Sawdust said:
I want to build an all Walnut concert ukulele, has anyone ever made a neck out of Walnut?

Does anyone see a problem using walnut for the neck?

Thanks very much!
Click to expand...

I have an Adamas guitar that has a walnut neck and fretboard. The neck is fantastic and the best I have ever played. But I heard from someone who built those guitars that the wood is very hard and takes some effort carving. An all-walnut uke would be on top of my list of desirability for sure.
 
Quite a few have been made. In the UK, by Pete Howlett and Rob Collins, names you might have heard of.

They seem to agree it's one of the easier woods to work, including carving.

I haven't yet made one myself, but it's on my vague list of future builds.
 
I carved a neck for an archtop guitar from Maple and Walnut laminated together vertically. It turned out beautifully, and I don't recall any particular difficulty in the carving. I kept the off-cut from that project, and I'm using it for the neck for my current baritone ukulele project. I was truing the top surface of the off-cut with a hand plane last night, and the shavings were curling off as thin as toilet paper, for whatever that's worth.
 
I'm about ready to give one a try, I have built several Walnut dulcimer's and the wood is really nice to work with.
 
To my ear the claro walnut ukuleles I've made have been the best sounding so far even better than Koa. I prefer working with walnut over Koa, but unfortunately buyers want Koa.
 
I have and do use walnut on necks for classical guitars, haven't ever used it on a uke neck, but i think it would work just fine. Depends a lot on the wood in front of you, but it isn't noticeably heavier than mahogany. Checking the wood database English walnut has same sg as mahogany.
 
Those who have experienced difficulties with carving walnut must not be using the common walnut (J. Nigra), as it is a pretty easygoing wood to work with. My limited experience so far with Claro Walnut is it is heavier and more difficult to work, though I'd attribute that more to the figure than the wood itself.
 
I have walnut that is not much different in weight and hardness to cherry or maple (but maple come in hard and dense or softer and lighter varieties). But I have a couple of boards of heavy and hard walnut. So it depends on the piece. Walnut would make a nice uke.
 
My first ukulele was an all walnut soprano. I only had a flat sawn board, so laminated the neck from two halves. It didn’t seem any harder to work than the sapele neck I made afterwards. It'll turn your fingers purple.
 
Sorry for being late to the thread. I have made about twenty five necks from a big black walnut tree that I sourced years ago. They have been stable, easy to carve, and finish beautifully. I think it an excellent neck wood. I frequently use it if making a ukulele with dark woods. Use it with confidence.
 
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