Build thread: baritone scale kiku

The Tru-Oil finish on the Redwood top has been a real thorn in my side. I considered just stopping mid-way through the process and going with an open-pore look, but the more I thought about it, the more I didn't like that look. The pore fill and oil finish on the Mahogany and Sycamore neck went great; it was much easier than the body. Giving the body time for the Tru-Oil to cure, it will probably be around the end of November before I attach the neck and bridge. I still need to add the Walnut heel cap.

After months of procrastination, the split-saddle bridge is finally glued in place. I think I was just afraid of messing things up, so I've spent the interval since I last did any major work on the kiku mainly working on woodturning projects, only piddling every couple of weeks or so on the kiku. But now the tuners are installed, the glue on the bridge curing, and I'll add the strings after a day or two.

tonyturley said:

After months of procrastination, the split-saddle bridge is finally glued in place. I think I was just afraid of messing things up, so I've spent the interval since I last did any major work on the kiku mainly working on woodturning projects, only piddling every couple of weeks or so on the kiku. But now the tuners are installed, the glue on the bridge curing, and I'll add the strings after a day or two.

View attachment 139443

Click to expand...

Well I have to say l think you have the sucker well pinned down...

tonyturley said:

After months of procrastination, the split-saddle bridge is finally glued in place. I think I was just afraid of messing things up, so I've spent the interval since I last did any major work on the kiku mainly working on woodturning projects, only piddling every couple of weeks or so on the kiku. But now the tuners are installed, the glue on the bridge curing, and I'll add the strings after a day or two.

Click to expand...

Where did you get those clamps?

jupiteruke said:

Where did you get those clamps?

Click to expand...

I ordered them from StewMac years ago.

I totally messed up the when I was laying out the string holes for the slotted head, and I had to flip the tuners around to keep them from
jutting off the end of the peghead on each side. So now, tightening and loosening strings is backwards from what it should be ... and it just looks wrong to me. It bugs me to no end that I made such a bone-headed mistake. I'm thinking of pulling the tuners, plugging the holes, and re-drilling. I need to make or obtain small Mahogany plugs if I do. I also made the slots a bit too narrow, so I'm going to have to sand a slight bevel on the inner edges to keep strings 2 & 5 from rubbing against the headstock. Glad this is a hobby for me; I'd starve if I had to try selling stuff with these kind of mistakes.The kiku does look good overall, but self-inflicted mistakes make me crazy. I know for certain this will be my last attempt at a slotted head instrument.

tonyturley said:

The kiku does look good overall, but self-inflicted mistakes make me crazy. I know for certain this will be my last attempt at a slotted head instrument.

Click to expand...

Yes, the self inflicted injury always hurts the most. It happens. Also known as part of the learning curve... I'm not looking at the boo-boo but it seems to me that plugging and redrilling is a good idea. Also keep in mind that you could cover any offending unsightlyness of the plugs with a veneer strip on each side which could even be an artistic flourish. You meant it to look like that. Headstocks are good candidates for veneering which can cover all manner of sins either intentional or not. Otherwise this thing is going to drive you crazy and you will hate the instrument and it is a good looking instrument.

The fix has begun. Here I'm turning dowels to plug the old tuner holes. Have to be extra gentle, as the grain is 90 degrees to the axis of rotation. The dowel still snapped along the grain right after I took this image, so I held the smaller pieces in a chuck on the machine and oh so gently finished the shaping with a piece of sandpaper backed by a flat piece of wood.

It's been a while . . . . my second attempt at turning a cross-grain Mahogany dowel didn't go so well. I finally gave up and just bought a 1/4" Mahogany dowel, but that means some end grain is visible in a few of the holes. I have the peghead slots sanded and I'm applying a few coats of finish before re-drilling. I bought a few 1/4" ID sintered bushings to make a new drilling jig. This will be my last slotted peghead; I've not been completely happy with any of the instruments I've built with that configuration.

Another last for me is Tru-Oil. I've had such inconsistent results using it. I've watched and studied countless videos of people finishing instruments with Tru-Oil, and it seems everyone has a different take on the "correct" method of application. I've tried pretty much all of those methods. My wife doesn't see the same finish flaws that I see, but from now on, my Tru-Oil will be limited to the bowls, urns, and such that I turn on my lathe.

This instrument has been a frequent source of frustration and consternation, part of the reason it has hung in my shop for so long as I've worked on other projects. I'm hoping to finally have the tuners installed correctly and the instrument out of my shop within the next couple of weeks.

That's looking to be a gorgeous uke. Well done so far.

frets alot said:

That's looking to be a gorgeous uke. Well done so far.

Click to expand...

Thanks

The construction journey on the kiku is complete; we have music. I completed the final details like end pin and side dots this afternoon, shaved the split saddles to height, and finished stringing less than an hour ago. Strings are D'Addario Pro-Arte NYL027 & NYL022 for the re-entrant E & A strings, and Savarez 545B, 544B, 543B, and 542B for the DGBE strings. No electronic pickup, just an ebony end pin. Speaking of, why is it so scary drilling a hole to be reamed for the end pin?

Like all nylon strings, I'm retuning about every 5 minutes. I guess it will be about a week before I can actually get through a song in tune. I'm a middling player, but I'll still enjoy putting this beauty through its paces. It's been a lot longer journey than I anticipated, as I hit a couple of construction snags that had me frustrated and wondering if I'd get to the finish line. This has been a far more complex project than I expected. I also tried a product new to me, Watco Satin Wax. I'm very much impressed with the soft sheen it imparted to the Tru-Oil finish.

This clears a spot in my workshop, so I'll take a couple days to breathe a sigh of relief before continuing on with another unfinished uke on my workbench.

Very nice finished product and I enjoyed the journey. Enjoy your new instrument.

I've enjoyed following this build, seeing photos, reading about both the progress and frustration with issues etc. When you started out, I didn't know what a kiku was. Your newest build looks stellar, and I wish you lots of joy playing and getting to know it. Congratulations!

I hope to follow more of your work, either in a dedicated build thread or reading about what's happening in your shed.