What's happening in your shed?

Tukanu · Apr 25, 2020

ukantor said:
Hey Tony T. The Torano cigar boxes that I've seen are built like a piece of furniture. Much too heavy for my purposes. Try a La Paz, solid wood but light as a feather - well, a very large wet feather.

John Colter
View attachment 126640

You are correct, but I love the graphics, the size, and the cedar, so I disassemble them and run the pieces thru a thickness sander.

tonyturley · Apr 25, 2020

Tukanu said:
You are correct, but I love the graphics, the size, and the cedar, so I disassemble them and run the pieces thru a thickness sander.

Speaking of which, I took the plunge and ordered a new Jet 1020 Plus today. My Shopsmith drum sanding setup is manual feed only, the height adjustment is 1950s crude, and getting consistent sanding has been next to impossible. It's better than having no sander, but the CoE (Chief-of-Everything) actually suggested I get something that will serve me better in my instrument building. So David, how do you get the finger joints apart on one of those Torano boxes?

Titchtheclown · Apr 27, 2020

Not much to do but hang around the house.

captain-janeway · Apr 27, 2020

lol Titch. One of my local moped gangs, the Landsquids, will love it.

tonyturley · Apr 28, 2020

After much searching since I made the above post, I ended up purchasing two large boxes on eBay this morning. One is a 1960 "Awful Bills" Redwood box that measures just under 12" x 8" x 3". It will become a tenor CBU. The second is a Don Tomas Spanish Cedar box that measures 12" x 8" x 4". It will become a baritone CBU. My wife asked yesterday what I'm going to do with all of these cigar box ukes. Play them, I guess. My little office/music room is getting a bit crowded, though. When these projects are completed I'll have 5 cigar box ukes. As much as I'm enjoying my shop time and modifying these boxes, it might be time to put on the brakes.

Timbuck · Apr 28, 2020

tonyturley said:
Speaking of which, I took the plunge and ordered a new Jet 1020 Plus today. My Shopsmith drum sanding setup is manual feed only, the height adjustment is 1950s crude, and getting consistent sanding has been next to impossible. It's better than having no sander, but the CoE (Chief-of-Everything) actually suggested I get something that will serve me better in my instrument building. So David, how do you get the finger joints apart on one of those Torano boxes?

Note ..the new design drum sander is Jet 10-20 BT. ...BT stands for Bench Top I believe. Beware of 10-20 plus, that’s the old design.

Tukanu · Apr 28, 2020

tonyturley said:
. So David, how do you get the finger joints apart on one of those Torano boxes?

Tony, the Torano do not have finger joints. I use a putty knife heated on a blow torch to heat the glue in the joints. It is s slow process. There will be burn marks, but it doesn't matter since I run the pieces thru a thickness sander. Also, a hot clothes iron will do the same job....but you will need your wife's permission.

tonyturley · Apr 28, 2020

Timbuck said:
Note ..the new design drum sander is Jet 10-20 BT. ...BT stands for Bench Top I believe. Beware of 10-20 plus, that’s the old design.

I was mistaken. Mine is the newer version.

Tukanu said:
Tony, the Torano do not have finger joints. I use a putty knife heated on a blow torch to heat the glue in the joints. It is s slow process. There will be burn marks, but it doesn't matter since I run the pieces thru a thickness sander. Also, a hot clothes iron will do the same job....but you will need your wife's permission.

I have an old Top Flite sealing iron from my days building model airplanes, and even after all these years, it still works perfectly. It also has a much smaller sole than a clothes iron, and has a curve on the leading edge. Should work great if I need to get apart a box.

captain-janeway · Apr 29, 2020

tonyturley said:
After much searching since I made the above post, I ended up purchasing two large boxes on eBay this morning. One is a 1960 "Awful Bills" Redwood box that measures just under 12" x 8" x 3". It will become a tenor CBU. The second is a Don Tomas Spanish Cedar box that measures 12" x 8" x 4". It will become a baritone CBU. My wife asked yesterday what I'm going to do with all of these cigar box ukes. Play them, I guess. My little office/music room is getting a bit crowded, though. When these projects are completed I'll have 5 cigar box ukes. As much as I'm enjoying my shop time and modifying these boxes, it might be time to put on the brakes.

Lol. I have a bunch of cookie tin ukes and banjoukes made from Remo drums. Some of them play well, I should just fine some away. I just like building them

tonyturley · Apr 29, 2020

The finish on the soprano ukulele is dry to the touch, and the masking has been removed. I'm going to let the instrument hang on the drying rack for another week or so to give the finish time to cure more fully before installing the strings. Another of these 1886 boxes is in the queue to be built as a concert scale.

Tukanu · Apr 29, 2020

Congrats...it turned nice.

sequoia · Apr 29, 2020

My new shop! It is a bit cramped I admit.

Fullscreen capture 4292020 111338 AM.jpg

tonyturley · Apr 29, 2020

Tukanu said:
Congrats...it turned nice.

Thanks David. Fun little project. Too bad Davis didn't make (or have made) their boxes in a bit larger size. I like those graphics, and they'd look great in a tenor or even baritone size. I do have a couple of other boxes on the way that I hope will provide what I'm after.

Beau Hannam Ukuleles · Apr 30, 2020

Getting necks ready for orders.

tonyturley · Apr 30, 2020

Beau Hannam Ukuleles said:
Getting necks ready for orders.

That's a lot of work. I assume you have a set process for cutting all those tenons to ensure repeatability?

Beau Hannam Ukuleles · Apr 30, 2020

tonyturley said:
That's a lot of work. I assume you have a set process for cutting all those tenons to ensure repeatability?

I cut the 5 degree cheek/heel cuts on teh table saw, then do the rest on the bandsaw and by hand. i'm doing a video on neck fitting which goes into it all.

captain-janeway · Apr 30, 2020

tonyturley said:
The finish on the soprano ukulele is dry to the touch, and the masking has been removed. I'm going to let the instrument hang on the drying rack for another week or so to give the finish time to cure more fully before installing the strings. Another of these 1886 boxes is in the queue to be built as a concert scale.

View attachment 126744

It's beautiful. I really like the finish. Give it some better strings though. Aquilas are a step up from these. I got those strings on a cheapy uke once, and they were all cut off pretty quick.

Sam.R.B · Apr 30, 2020

Wow, I don't know how you stay sane with that projects going on. As someone who intends to go into the luthiery business full time, is this normal for you? And how much flexibility on the completion date is considered professional?

tonyturley · Apr 30, 2020

Beau Hannam Ukuleles said:
I cut the 5 degree cheek/heel cuts on teh table saw, then do the rest on the bandsaw and by hand. i'm doing a video on neck fitting which goes into it all.

Thanks for the explanation and images, Beau. I'll be watching for your video.

captain-janeway said:
It's beautiful. I really like the finish. Give it some better strings though. Aquilas are a step up from these. I got those strings on a cheapy uke once, and they were all cut off pretty quick.

Thanks. Yeah, the cheapie strings came with the neck, which was from mgbguitars.com.

I started another another Davis 1886 cigar box ukulele today. This one will be a concert scale, compared to the soprano I just finished. I have several more planned to complete by the time Summer is finished.

The new project has a bit of an eco twist. The neck blank you see is a sandwich of Red Alder slabs with a Granadillo accent piece in the middle. The Red Alder came from pieces of trim I saved when we remodeled one of our rooms about 15 years ago. I’ve had the wood stacked overhead in my garage all that time, waiting for a suitable project. Did all the layout markings and glued the heel & tail blocks + bridge plate today. Gonna start on the neck tomorrow.

tonyturley · May 3, 2020

I now have 3 cigar box ukes in progress: the concert shown above, and two more boxes arrived over the past two days. The Awful Bills Redwood box is going to be a tenor, and the Don Tomas Spanish Cedar box is going to be a baritone. The soprano CBU also built from a Davis 1886 box is hanging to give the Tru-Oil more curing time while I wait for my strings to arrive.

I learned just how hard it is to run a completed box through a table saw. I'm replacing the plywood backs on both of the larger boxes with real tonewood. The Awful Bills box was my first attempt, and slicing off the back went without a hitch. The big Tomas box was a near disaster. No matter how I tried, or worked with or without a carrier sled, I could not get the back trimmed straight. I had to do this because I had a small tear-out when I was heating the plywood back and using a putty knife to cut through the softened glue. If I had to do it over I would have left the back on and sliced it off the same way as I did the middle box's back. So I have a bit of planing to do before I can glue the new Cedar soundboard to the big box. Live and learn.

What's happening in your shed?

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