Stew Mac kit question

Pondoro

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I bought a Stew Mac Baritone kit. I knew that the supplied back is plywood. I'm planning to attempt a solid back (worst case I fail and use the supplied, laminated back).

I have a two piece bookmatched mahogany blank. Do I plane it first and then glue the two halves together or do I glue them together and plane?

If I plane first do I join the two halves while I brace the back, or do I glue them together and then brace the back?

Thanks!

I have built cigar box ukes so I am familiar with surfacing to a precise thickness.
 
You don't say how thick your wood is currently. I think most people glue the 2 halves together first (assuming they are now about 4 or 5 mm) then reduce to 3 mm or thereabouts. If your wood is currently much thicker than 5 mm, then you could plane it down a little before joining.

You can only brace the back when you are happy its at the correct thickness. Once its braced you cant remove material from the inside and being braced (with curved braces) sort of hinders removal of material from the outside too. The actual thickness of the back and how even it is isn't nearly as important as for the soundboard. Dont be tempted to make a flat back as it may look concave from day one or end up concave as the wood dries out.

I am a hobby builder. I now have a drum sander but made about 25 ukes without one, planing and scraping by hand. We all do things differently so dont be surprised if someone disagrees with what I have said!
 
You don't say how thick your wood is currently. I think most people glue the 2 halves together first (assuming they are now about 4 or 5 mm) then reduce to 3 mm or thereabouts. If your wood is currently much thicker than 5 mm, then you could plane it down a little before joining.

You can only brace the back when you are happy its at the correct thickness. Once its braced you cant remove material from the inside and being braced (with curved braces) sort of hinders removal of material from the outside too. The actual thickness of the back and how even it is isn't nearly as important as for the soundboard. Dont be tempted to make a flat back as it may look concave from day one or end up concave as the wood dries out.

I am a hobby builder. I now have a drum sander but made about 25 ukes without one, planing and scraping by hand. We all do things differently so dont be surprised if someone disagrees with what I have said!

Yeah, I knew that I couldn't thin it after I braced it. I just wondered if I join the very thin halves before bracing or during.
 
I have a two piece bookmatched mahogany blank. Do I plane it first and then glue the two halves together or do I glue them together and plane?

Glue first and then plane to thickness.

Otherwise, what if you plane to thickness and then make a small misalignment during the glue process? Or nick one of the edges you want to glue to make the center seam?
 
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