greenscoe
Well-known member
Here’s another alternative shaped uke made by repurposing an acacia chopping board. I bought 2 of these maybe 3 years ago with the intention of creating ukes. The chopping boards were all made from at least 3 pieces: I sorted through the pile trying to find something close to quarter sawn wood (especially the centre section). Most of the wood to complete the box came from another small rectangular acacia board.
My small bandsaw isn’t capable of resawing these so a sawcut was made each side with my small table saw and the job completed with a handsaw.
The butt end and neck block end were made with fabricated sub-assemblies which were roughly shaped with the bandsaw and finished with rasp and sandpaper taking care to achieve symmetry and squareness.
The short sides were an easy bend on the iron. No mould or solera was needed. The neck end assembly was glued to the completed soundboard. When dry, the sides and butt end were added. The linings had already been glued to the tapered sides.
My radius disc was used to shape the partially completed box before fitting the curved back.
The neck was laminated from utile and tulipwood (yellow popular in US) with built up heel and scarfed head with wings. No tenon/dowel or bolt was needed for the neck joint on account of the back overlapping the heel. The head was made oversize complete with hole to mimic the handle of the chopping board.
The rosette and brown/black purfling/binding are ABS. There’s no binding on the back, recognising this is a chopping board.
The slightly longer uke is a tight fit in a conventional tenor hardcase.
The more observant will notice that the strumming area (12-14th frets) is beyond the end of the box, so the box will remain free from fingertip wear.
The uke sounds similar to my conventional ukes. It's loud and has lots of sustain. It's perhaps not quite as warm as my best tenors since it lacks a wider lower bout.
My small bandsaw isn’t capable of resawing these so a sawcut was made each side with my small table saw and the job completed with a handsaw.
The butt end and neck block end were made with fabricated sub-assemblies which were roughly shaped with the bandsaw and finished with rasp and sandpaper taking care to achieve symmetry and squareness.
The short sides were an easy bend on the iron. No mould or solera was needed. The neck end assembly was glued to the completed soundboard. When dry, the sides and butt end were added. The linings had already been glued to the tapered sides.
My radius disc was used to shape the partially completed box before fitting the curved back.
The neck was laminated from utile and tulipwood (yellow popular in US) with built up heel and scarfed head with wings. No tenon/dowel or bolt was needed for the neck joint on account of the back overlapping the heel. The head was made oversize complete with hole to mimic the handle of the chopping board.
The rosette and brown/black purfling/binding are ABS. There’s no binding on the back, recognising this is a chopping board.
The slightly longer uke is a tight fit in a conventional tenor hardcase.
The more observant will notice that the strumming area (12-14th frets) is beyond the end of the box, so the box will remain free from fingertip wear.
The uke sounds similar to my conventional ukes. It's loud and has lots of sustain. It's perhaps not quite as warm as my best tenors since it lacks a wider lower bout.