Seven Heirlooms - Out comes the Rolling Pin Sander!

[Malc2098]

My family haven't been fortunate to inherit any heirlooms, not even those falling to bits like those you see on The Repair Shop. So, now I have four little grandchildren, I thought I'd make them each a concert sized ukulele with their name on some where for their parents to give them when they think fit. I've not finalised the details, but I've started on the timbers, as you've already seen while waiting for warmer weather to continue spraying the pair of Dreadnoughts.



I've glued the bookmatched halves of the backs, and bookmatched cut the sides from Devon grown Monterey Pine (Pinus Radiata). I've never used it before. It's already clogged up the drum sander with resinous dust, but it does look nice when sanded. As you can see, it's a fast grower, but those growing rings, especially when bookmatched, make very interesting patterns.

Two of the soundboards will be Alpine Spruce, and the other two of Cedar obtained from my supplier in Surrey. The necks will be of a Mahogany offcut from my stash, I think African. The fretboards will Ovangkol from a turning billet I bought years ago.

I'm not sure what embellishments to do yet, but maybe a Padauk/Maple veneer sandwich on the headstock with my usual Mother of Pearl logo.

I've yet to decide on binding and purfling. Pretty sure it won't be Purpleheart after all the fun I had with the Dreadnoughts.

So, while I'm waiting for the warmer weather, I'm preparing all of the component blanks and will start shaping in earnest after I've sprayed the guitars.

Anyone interested in buying one of my finished instruments, please drop me a line.

 

[Woodbloke]

Great idea Malc. I can recommend Satinwood on the instruments somewhere if it's at all suitable but don't even think about trying to plane it; scraping and sanding are the only options. Workshop Heaven sell it in lumps for conversion into veneers - Rob

 

[Malc2098]

Great idea Malc. I can recommend Satinwood on the instruments somewhere if it's at all suitable but don't even think about trying to plane it; scraping and sanding are the only options. Workshop Heaven sell it in lumps for conversion into veneers - Rob

Thanks, Rob. It has scaped beautifully, using my trusty supply of HD Stanley blades.

 

[AndyP]

Something to be cherished I am sure and you have the tools to personalise them to great effect.
As potential heirlooms perhaps a hard case to protect them?

 

[Malc2098]

Something to be cherished I am sure and you have the tools to personalise them to great effect.
As potential heirlooms perhaps a hard case to protect them?

I will try and source hard cases, but the prices have gone up quite a bit since the last time I bought some.

 

[AndyP]

Can’t they be made?

 

[NickM]

What a lovely project.

 

[Malc2098]

Can’t they be made?

I have no idea of their construction or materials. I have a lovely pair of tweed covered cases for last year's instruments, but they are discontinued. Most cases are now twice the price they were when I last bought them. Maybe I'll think about strong padded bags which are more affordable.

 

[Dr.Al]

I have no idea of their construction or materials. I have a lovely pair of tweed covered cases for last year's instruments, but they are discontinued. Most cases are now twice the price they were when I last bought them. Maybe I'll think about strong padded bags which are more affordable.

This might be of interest?

 

[Malc2098]

Thanks, Al. It's occurred to me that my kids will give their kids the instrument while they're probably still at school and quite young, so a strong padded case with shoulder straps would probably be better for them than a conventional hard case, and they are nowhere near as expensive as the hard cases.

 

[Lons]

A great idea, I'm sure they will be cherished. My daughter has already earmarked some of my carvings and I hope I'm far from the clutches of the Grim Reaper.

 

[Malc2098]

I posted this on another social media platform, but I remember members here writing a similar post about when people ask why a handmade piece of furniture costs so much.

People ask me sometimes why hand made instruments cost so much. The photo shows four piles of timbers of different species all performing different jobs with the four instruments I'm about to make. Each pile contains 8 pieces, 2 for the back, 2 for the top, 2 for the sides (I will add another 2 pieces of veneer to add to the sides), 1 for the neck and 1 for the fretboard.

Between the piles is a length of aluminium tubing that will reinforce the neck. There are two bundles of kerfed linings which help fix the tops and backs to their sides, and two bundles of Sycamore and Padauk strips which will form a sandwich along the length of the middle necks to resist the neck timber twisting.

The long piece of black Ebony will be made into the four bridges for the instruments.

The two pieces of Mahogany will be machined into the neck and tail pieces of each instrument and will be shaped to fit the inside curves of the rims.



I didn't buy these timbers at those sizes; I milled the to the sizes I need.

Factory made instruments use fewer and cheaper timbers and have more workers concentrating on individual parts of the build.
Solo instrument makers have developed and honed their skills over the whole of the build process and understand how different woods affect the eventual sound of the instrument.

And because a ukulele may be a quarter of the size of a a guitar, it doesn't mean that it takes a quarter of the skills or a quarter of the component parts to make it.

 

[Cabinetman]

Or a quarter of the time!
Excellent idea and one I’m sure they will love.
Ian

 

[thetyreman]

that's a nice idea, I never met my grandad so it would be nice to have something that he made for me, also with making instruments it's not just skill in making it, like high end furniture you're selecting the grain and making sure it looks good in every part of it, often from specialist wood suppliers not run of the mill off the shelf stuff, this is how it massively differs from say a standard fender, you can choose everything on it so it's actually closer to a custom shop model but with even higher attention to detail.

 

[AJB Temple]

I agree it's a lovely idea. I vaguely recall someone in Italy (Cremona) making violin hardshell cases out of papier mache and sheet paper a bit like tissue paper but tougher, re-enforced with very thin veneer strands or wood fibre, then lacquered. Looked good, very light and you would only need to make a mould once.

 

[thetyreman]

I agree it's a lovely idea. I vaguely recall someone in Italy (Cremona) making violin hardshell cases out of papier mache and sheet paper a bit like tissue paper but tougher, re-enforced with very thin veneer strands or wood fibre, then lacquered. Looked good, very light and you would only need to make a mould once.

that's a good idea actually for a guitar case as well, I need a case for a guitar I made and might steal it.

 

[Malc2098]

Having bookmatched the tops, I've matched, to my taste, the lighter Spruces to the lighter Monterey Pine and the darker Cedar to the more striking Monterey.





Not to everybody's taste, I realise, but I have to start somewhere, rather than randomly placing them together.

The rosettes will be plain Padauk to the soundhole, and the headstock veneers will be bookmatched Padauk with MoP inlays of logo and grandchild's name. So why no go the whole hog and have plain Padauk bindings?

(Still got about a week to go before finishing the Dreadnoughts!)

 

[Malc2098]

African Mahogany blanks sawn through their centres with Maple and Padauk reinforcements ready to be glued.




How do you like the knobbly bathmats? Clearance from Dunelm. Ideal for not dinging precious workpieces and any bits drop in between the nobbles for shaking out at end of working day.

 

[Malc2098]

Now the guitars are out of the workshop, I can clear the bench to make ready for the heirloom ukuleles build.



These will all be symmetrical.

Those bobbly bathmats were an absolute godsend for working with the nearly finished instruments.

Not sure what I start with next; it's been a year since I started an instrument.

 

[Malc2098]

I missed taking photos of gluing the neck blank laminations. Not sure you want to watch glue dry.

Anyway, now they're glued and par'd, time to cut the 13 degree angle to create the reverse scarf joint for the headstock.



The headstock blank then gets reduced to 9mm to accommodate 2mm of veneers, so that the string tuning post still has winding room.



Almost time to lower the CNC machine from the rafters. Got to do some work on it; I've upgraded to a new controller, which I'll commission first. Then I'm waiting for a ballscrew upgrade kit.

 

[AndyP]

Mass production now? Way to go

 

[duke]

Looks like you will be busy in the shop for a while. Watching with interest.

 

[Malc2098]

Time to true up the scarf joint surfaces.



Lay the smaller on top of the larger so the angled faces create a flattish surface.

Gently plane across the grain to achieve the surface level with the squared line.

Finish off with a sanding board,



The bottom one isn't glued, it's just held together with DST for the purpose of this photo. When it comes to gluing/clamping, I shall raise the headstock section a hair above the neck section and sand it back level.



The fretboard will cover the top join, and the headstock back veneer will cover the lower join.

 

[Malc2098]

Using the bandsaw 13 degree angle cutting jig to clamp the parts together.



It's easy to end up applying glue to the wrong surfaces. Happily I realised just in time. Honest!




Using the 13 degree offcut as part of the clamping system.





I could see glue squeeze-out evenly from the two visible surface joins. Hopefully there will be some at the other joins.

 

[Malc2098]

I forgot to tell you what the couple of thicknesses of masking tape were for.



They provide that tiny gap to let the headstock section be proud, so that I can sand it back exactly level with the neck section.

And the glue squeezed out just right.

 

[Dr.Al]

I forgot to telly what the couple of sicknesses of masking tape were for.

Autocorrect or voice recognition?

I haven't commented on your builds much for a while but I continue to read and be supremely impressed. Top work!

 

[Malc2098]

Autocorrect or voice recognition?

Yes!

 

[NickM]

Great work.

I'm surprised how thin the components look. I guess they're ukuleles which are small and also the fret board will add some thickness.

How thin are they?

 

[Malc2098]

Great work.

I'm surprised how thin the components look. I guess they're ukuleles which are small and also the fret board will add some thickness.

How thin are they?

The headstock is 9 mm, but 2mm of veneer will be added. The string post has a shaft of 12mm before the winding area.

The neck is 16mm thick at the heel end and will be 13mm at the headstock end. It will have a 9mm square aluminium reinforcing rod underneath the fretboard.

And the fretboard adds 4mm.

 

[Malc2098]

Four neck blanks ready for cutting off the heel laminations.



The angle, with the pencil line on, is where the back of the nut will come.

 

[Malc2098]

I recently acquired some Bocote, Mexican Rosewood I think it is also called. I resawed (have resawn? someone confirm the past tense perfect) it and exposed these beautiful yellow streaks. The sawdust was mainly yellow. Should make some striking looking fretboards.

 

[AndyP]

I think it should be resawn even though my spell checker disagrees.
There are better men than I around here to pass judgement though.

Will these be finished in time for the year end festivities Malc?

 

[Malc2098]

I think it should be resawn even though my spell checker disagrees.
There are better men than I around here to pass judgement though.

Will these be finished in time for the year end festivities Malc?

Thanks, Andy.

No. My projects take me through a year starting in about the end of summer to June/July the next year when outdoor temperatures are sufficient to spray nitrocellulose outdoor. I try not to spend all day in the worksop so that it's not like a job, and my wife and I have a social life.

This project year, I am also upgrading my CNC machine, so that will take out significant building time. I also try to make other projects on the CNC machine, as well as instrument components, thus delaying instrument builds.

 

[AndyP]

Of course I’ve been reading your builds for long enough that I should have realised .

 

[Phil]

Go-Malc-Go!

Always a pleasure to read your builds.

 

[Malc2098]

Details of the neck's laminations to be economical with the wood.



Big manufacturers make necks out of one piece of wood. I know each of mine are out one one piece, but they cut the whole shape out of one piece.

 

[duke]

Malc what type of glue are you using for the neck laminations?

 

[Malc2098]

Malc what type of glue are you using for the neck laminations?

I almost use Titebond Original throughout the build. But when making up binding and purfling and am using heat and steam, I'll use a polyurethane glue that's not affected by the heat and moisture.

 

[NickM]

I had the pleasure of seeing one of Malc's ukuleles in the flesh earlier today. All I can say is that the photos on the forum don't do them justice! Stunning!

 

[Malc2098]

It is quite possible that these offcuts look suspiciously like NickM's elliptical Sycamore dining table. And you'd be right! And as in all things, the photos of his table do no justice to the quality of his workmanship and the beautifully figured timber.



He has generously donated these offcuts to me, and I am sure I will be able to make at least two sets of concert ukulele backs and sides as well as two necks, with some spares of embellishments for other instruments with very little waste.



Can't wait to resew these to look inside.