StewMac Concert Uke Kit Bracing Issue

If you can get the dowels to fit in perfect alignment, then that is the ideal. I have never managed it in a ukulele neck joint. For me, the alignment comes from the way the two surfaces meet. I just aim to get that right, then arrange for the dowels to fit, loosely, and pack them with glue/sawdust, as suggested above. In my universe, the dowels are there simply to add strength to the joint - not to ensure correct alignment.

John Colter.
 
I took your advice and made a glue/sawdust mixture to pack around the dowels. Only the lower one needed it. It worked out fine.
I think I may meet my Christmas deadline.

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And to bring this thread to a close, I'm finished.

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So, how's it sound, right?

(Keep in mind that I don't know squat about ukuleles and the only ones I've heard have been in videos online.)

It's surprisingly good. Very sweet, musical, good volume, and a lot of sustain. Not at all like a dead plunky toy as I was expecting.

Thanks to everyone who provided advice and encouragement.
 
Not at all like a dead plunky toy as I was expecting.

Looks really good.

Actually you have built a high end ukulele that you would have paid many hundreds of dollars for. Hope you enjoyed the process. Now when are you going to start the next one?
 
Now when are you going to start the next one?

Lol. Actually...tonight I finished reinstalling the binding on my second. It's a $25 ebay tenor kit that came with an assembled body of Zebrawood plywood. I carefully removed the binding and then removed and replaced the top. I used some Lutz spruce that was too small for a guitar. I reinstalled the binding tonight. I also dug through my stash of guitar wood and picked some nice black walnut. I'll start on a solid walnut uke after this Zebrawood one is finished.

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It's surprisingly good. Very sweet, musical, good volume, and a lot of sustain. Not at all like a dead plunky toy as I was expecting.

Well done.... a very good outcome, congratulations!
 
That's a great result, klr! It looks a fine instrument.

John Colter
 
Thanks, guys.

And thanks for the bracing pattern, bazuku.
 
So far I have bought four Stewmac ukulele kits. The bride plate did not match the printed plans on 2 of the 4 kits (baritone and concert).

I contacted Stewmac when I noticed the baritone bridge plate was significantly smaller than what is shown in the pattern. They offered suggestions on how to use the parts as-is, and also offered to ship me some wood. Instead, I fabricated a new bridge plate from spruce I had on-hand.

I'm glad I found this thread in time to change the bracing on my concert build in-progress (see link in my sig below).

Thank you bazuku for the bracing pattern.
 
Great job documenting your builds. Photography is excellent. Perhaps you should start a new thread on your projects. Always interesting. Especially the trials and tribulations.
 
Great job documenting your builds. Photography is excellent. Perhaps you should start a new thread on your projects. Always interesting. Especially the trials and tribulations.

I agree. I'd be interested in hearing about the finish you used on the soprano.
 
I'm glad I found this thread in time to change the bracing on my concert build in-progress

A few points to consider for anyone wanting to try this style of bracing and an elliptical bridge plate. None of these ideas are original, they have been gleaned from various sources.

If you use a wide spread and angle for the two fans, consider fashioning a 'belly buster' centre brace as future insurance should you get undesired bellying as the instrument ages. This is wise if you like paring down (scalloping) the braces finely. See footnote if you are unsure or curious. To be able to implement this, the central finger brace needs to 'step onto' the bridge by less than half the plate width, otherwise, the belly buster will have insufficient glued area to attach securely to the bridge plate.

Elliptical bridge plates gain one of their advantages by having less mass for a given length than their rectangular counterparts. Another advantage is that they present a single point at their ends and are less likely to contribute to soundboard grain line splitting. To utilise this feature they should be cut longer but not much wider than the bridge. I can think of no reason to make them any thicker than ~ 2mm (spruce).

FN: 'Belly buster' type braces are simply central accessory braces, usually used in the repair of steel stringed guitars where the centre bracing has sagged under high string tension. In this usage (for ukulele) it is used as insurance against the failure of overly light bracing, which while sounding lively, can't be guaranteed to not eventually belly-up excessively.
In an anticipatory role it can be precisely fashioned, but not installed, before the box is glued up. This makes retro-fitting through the sound hole relatively easy (but fiddly) using magnets for alignment. Be sure to mark the serial number of the instrument onto the brace for future identification.
If this sounds like a hassle, or too much effort for too little gain, use a narrower spread, or go with a three fan pattern.
 
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