What's happening in your shed?

My shop is still a work in progress pending the completion of our new house. Scratch that - the shop is finished, just have to wait for the rest to be done! In the meantime I'm mentally moving tools and workbench all around the shop to get the best flow and use of space...
 
I recently declared it to be banjo ukulele season in my shop (shed). Brewing a batch of 6. Still in early stages.

So I've got going 6 neck blanks going - 4 maple and 2 walnut. And 6 fretboard blanks -4 rosewood and 2 ebony.
In the photo you can see one neck blank and one fretboard that are a little further along then the others.
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And of course I am working on gluing up 144 (+ several spares) mitered blocks to make the 6 pots - various combinations of maple and walnut. While waiting for each glue up to dry I am doing some spring cleaning.... empty beer bottles into the recycling bin, one by one.
Here is another shamelessly staged photo showing the various elements that go into this step. (Yes, that's Titebond).
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And then there's the metal work. I am buying my j-hook hardware, but still have 5 more tone rings and 5 more tension hoops to roll, braze, and clean up. 5 more tailpieces to go as well. Hmmm... It will probably be "summer cleaning" while I am waiting for the nickel plating to be done.
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Hi Tobin,
Looks good, how are you making your rims? Sanding or turning on a lathe? Always interested how others do things.
Kind Regards
Dennis
 
It's been too cold to get much done in the shop, but finally today - a warm day. Felt good to get out and get some machines humming.

This winter I did get a portable dust collector made. It's kinda Frankenstein-ish, but it works great! I had a big shop-vac that I was using but the filter clogged up so fast it was useless. So, I tried a Dust Deputy cyclone with it but it's so small it really robbed my vac's power. So I downloaded some plans for a cyclone based on the vac's ratings and made this...
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Crazy looking, yeah. But it really sucks. ;) I made a plywood column that has the cyclone in the middle, a drawer to collect the dust at the bottom, and an upper chamber with a hepa filter. It's really fantastic. I added a muffler to the outlet side to quiet it down, cuz it was a screamer.
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I put a very flexible 12' hose on it and casters on the bottom, it easily wheels around the shop. I made quick adapters for all the tools, so it's easy to move and plug into whatever tool I'm using. And the drawer might seem small, but it only takes a minute to pull it and dump it on the mulch pile. A fraction of the dust makes it past the cyclone, so I will have to clean the filter now and then, but 99.something percent of the dust goes in the drawer. I'd say if you don't have a cyclone on your dust collector, it would be worth your time to make one. A free spreadsheet calculator and drawing generator are avail online. I'll post the link when I find it again.

I also just finished a magnetic fence for the band saws. I made it out of some blocks of glued-up mahogany, kind of plywood like, but 2" thick, and the plys running crossways. I found the blocks in an old warehouse. Been making jigs and stuff out of them. Anyway, the fence has two rare earth magnets set in the bottom, and two cams on the side to release the grip. Really surprising how strong the hold is, and with the cams, it easily moves around until you flip the cams up and it locks in place. This is just a shop made version of one you can buy. $7 bucks for the magnets, vs. $70 for the mag fence at the store.
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continued...
 
Hi Tobin,
Looks good, how are you making your rims? Sanding or turning on a lathe? Always interested how others do things.
Kind Regards
Dennis



Dennis,

I only make half rings to start, that way I can hog out material from the inside with a band saw. Then true up the four edges of two halves and glue them together to make a ring, then back to the bandsaw to hog the waste off the outside. Stack and glue the rings. I made a fixture for sawing the unglued halves (ID) as well as the completed rings (OD) that can be set at the proper distance from the blade. Really just two versions of a modified circle jig for bandsaw.
Then I mount the glued-up roughed-out pot on a fixture I made that lets me pattern sand it true and to size with a robo-sander and my drill press.
I don't own a lathe, but even if I did I MIGHT still do it this way - it is surprising how little sanding there is to be do after they come off the bandsaw jigs. And the base of the sanding fixture is indexed to match my drilling locations for j-hook hardware and such. I use the same fixture to cut the ledge for the tone ring - just use the bottom edge of the sanding drum and move the fixture closer to the drum. So I can get many operations done without repositioning the work, and this really helps with accuracy. Of course, the same would hold true for a lathe, I suppose.

How do you do it? It is definitely interesting to hear what others are doing!
 
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Also... Today I sawed up a sycamore log I picked up last summer when a tornado came thru the neighborhood. There was a ton of beautiful wood available, I wish I had a connection with a sawmill. Unfortunately the city claw came and took it all to the dump. Shame. I did wrangle one 5' log back to my house, and finally cut it open today.
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I love the character of the little flecks in sycamore. I sawed it into 1/2" boards. Will put it in the rafters and see what it looks like in a year. Tho I might try drying a few pieces in a makeshift kiln.?
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And... this past week a large limb blew out of my big maple tree in the back yard. (the insurance adjuster comes tomorrow to discuss the garage roof) I looked at the log and saw it had very funky markings on the end, so I chainsawed off a piece and quarter sawed it on the band saw, and this it what it looks like...
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Spaltus maximus! So I'm planning to saw this whole section, hopefully it will yield some useable boards.
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Continued...
 
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But wait, there's more.. (You guys can blame Allen for this core dump of thoughts :) )

Finally, I started on a tenor using the new mould I made this winter. My first tenor actually, and my first all hide glue build as well. Will try to post some pic of the progress as it happens.
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Gorgeous ukes,

Nothing going here, it's been to cold or wet. Everyday that's warm I get stuck at work....

All new forms and templates (form Waldron) just sitting there waiting for the weather. (or maybe a heater).
 
Gorgeous ukes,

Nothing going here, it's been to cold or wet. Everyday that's warm I get stuck at work....

All new forms and templates (form Waldron) just sitting there waiting for the weather. (or maybe a heater).

I hope the stars align for you soon. I got a nice headstock template from Waldron, nice guy to do business with. How do the forms look?
 
Kevin is a very helpful guy!

The templates are great. The forms I built myself (based on the templates). As soon as I finished, winter....
 
Dennis,

I only make half rings to start, that way I can hog out material from the inside with a band saw. Then true up the four edges of two halves and glue them together to make a ring, then back to the bandsaw to hog the waste off the outside. Stack and glue the rings. I made a fixture for sawing the unglued halves (ID) as well as the completed rings (OD) that can be set at the proper distance from the blade. Really just two versions of a modified circle jig for bandsaw.
Then I mount the glued-up roughed-out pot on a fixture I made that lets me pattern sand it true and to size with a robo-sander and my drill press.
I don't own a lathe, but even if I did I MIGHT still do it this way - it is surprising how little sanding there is to be do after they come off the bandsaw jigs. And the base of the sanding fixture is indexed to match my drilling locations for j-hook hardware and such. I use the same fixture to cut the ledge for the tone ring - just use the bottom edge of the sanding drum and move the fixture closer to the drum. So I can get many operations done without repositioning the work, and this really helps with accuracy. Of course, the same would hold true for a lathe, I suppose.

How do you do it? It is definitely interesting to hear what others are doing!

Pretty much the same as you actually, I also use the robo sander in the drill press method, though I'm not totally convinced of the accuracy of the finished product.
I have seen banjo makers turning rims on a metal lathe on utube, very interesting, so that may be the way I go if I can find a lathe for a reasonable price that is :rolleyes:
Kind Regards
Dennis
 
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I picked up this little baby the other day. Thanks to Chris H for all the information on this model of wide belt sander, guy knows his stuff. I have been getting along fine with my Jet 10-20 but the deal on this was very compelling. They guy bought it, plugged into his 4 inch small dust collector and was soon overwhelmed by dust. He shut it off and didn't run it after that, then died and I bought it from his son for $600. It came with almost $1000 worth of new sanding belts. Now if that beastly motor doesn't take out the electrical system in my shop I'll be in good shape.
 

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I'm getting back into building after a long break. Been working on a new mold for my "own" design for a soprano. Also waiting for a bunch of wood/tools/hardware to come in the mail, but just picked up two gorgeous 4x4+ blocks of Spanish Cedar at the post office today that I think will yield 12 necks each. :cool:
 
Birds eye maple tenor with special burl fretboard markers and boxed back
Blue/white spalted tamarind tenor with boxed ebony back.
Cuban Mahog tenor
Tassy blackwood with redwood top tenor
Tiger myrtle concert ( in a few weeks when im back in oz)

Now that one I just HAVE to see...
 
Nice Michael.. looks like that sander was made before they started putting the motor inside the base. Nice sander. My new sander is supposed to arrive today.
 
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I picked up this little baby the other day. Thanks to Chris H for all the information on this model of wide belt sander, guy knows his stuff. I have been getting along fine with my Jet 10-20 but the deal on this was very compelling. They guy bought it, plugged into his 4 inch small dust collector and was soon overwhelmed by dust. He shut it off and didn't run it after that, then died and I bought it from his son for $600. It came with almost $1000 worth of new sanding belts. Now if that beastly motor doesn't take out the electrical system in my shop I'll be in good shape.

Death- the ultimate deal bestower! Cool purchase for $600, when you die, can i buy it off your son for $150??
 
Thanks Beau.
It's actually based on the idea from a guitar builder named Bruce Dickey, who had the idea going back probably eight or nine years ago. This type of kerf (double-sided) has been used in woodworking for eons, and more recently Kevin Ryan created (and patented) a way to make linings like these with his laser. They actually will flex both directions, and even up and down. If you pre-taper your sides before bending like I do, they will follow all the way around without any issues.
These are just a prototype, as I'm working to get the web a bit thinner at the bottom of the cut, (currently .05") and will work to make the kerf spacing even closer to get them around a tighter radius. When I'm done...I should be able o use them on a soprano uke without issues. I hope.
If a stiffer rim is desired, one could still glue a veneer on to the outside face after they've been glued onto the sides.
 
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