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Concert Ukulele (The Acacia model neck is pi$$ed!)

This is where we don't want anything but evidence of your finest wood butchering in all its glorious, and photograph laden glory. Bring your finished products or WIP's, we love them all, so long as there's pictures, and plenty of 'em!

Re: Concert Ukulele (Tailblock purfled)

Postby NickM » 13 Apr 2021, 07:54

Presumably not too deep that you can’t sand it out?
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Re: Concert Ukulele (Tailblock purfled)

Postby Malc2098 » 13 Apr 2021, 09:05

NickM wrote:Presumably not too deep that you can’t sand it out?


I've sanded it as far as I dare. It shall now be called a 'tobacco sunrise'. :) (With apologies to Fender)
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Re: Concert Ukulele (Tailblock purfled)

Postby novocaine » 13 Apr 2021, 09:52

I rather like it. :shock:
Carbon fibre is just corduroy for cars.
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Re: Concert Ukulele (Tailblock purfled)

Postby NickM » 13 Apr 2021, 10:49

Malc2098 wrote:
NickM wrote:Presumably not too deep that you can’t sand it out?


I've sanded it as far as I dare. It shall now be called a 'tobacco sunrise'. :) (With apologies to Fender)


With finish on it, I expect it will look great.
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Re: Concert Ukulele (Bridging Time)

Postby Malc2098 » 13 Apr 2021, 12:08

Thanks, Gents.

The next main job will be to glue the top to the sides. So the go-bar deck has been raised by the thickness of the body and mould in preparation for the gluing.

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I think this is the other way round to a guitar, which in my limited experience are back first. I suppose it may be because the sound hole is for too small to get any of my clamps through to glue the bridge to the soundboard.

So before that, having an orthogonal projection of the bridge, I prepare two pieces of rosewood for shaping and drilling.

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Re: Concert Ukulele (Take it to the Bridge)

Postby Malc2098 » 15 Apr 2021, 18:02

Having got the bridge marked out on blue tape on the dark rosewood, I created the asymmetric groove you can see in the orthogonal projection drawing by doing two passes with a 2mm 2 flute cutter and then one pass with one side of a vee cutter on the router table.

Next task was to create the four string holes at an angle from the back to the groove. I set it up in the drill vice and tilted it to create the angle, drill size being 1.5mm.

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Next I had to find a reliable way to rout the groove for the saddle which compensates the intonation for the different thickness of strings by being angled laterally.

I set up a jig which places the router just a little higher than the thickness of the bridges which had a gap wider than bridges.

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I put a bridge in the gap and twisted it and wedged it in place while still twisted.

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I checked that the geometry had worked and it would rout a groove along the drawn lines.

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I set the jig secure on the workbench and set to.

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Bridge No 1 grooved.

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Time for my next cock up! :cry:

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Re: Concert Ukulele (Take it to the Bridge)

Postby novocaine » 15 Apr 2021, 18:12

intonation is overrated. :lol:
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Re: Concert Ukulele (Take it to the Bridge)

Postby DaveL » 15 Apr 2021, 18:49

Well hopefully you have a few more bits of rose wood, with the practice you had making the first one the second will be better and quicker.
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Re: Concert Ukulele (Take it to the Bridge)

Postby Malc2098 » 16 Apr 2021, 13:27

Thanks, Gents.

The last time I ordered from my Spanish supplier, I included two rosewood guitar blanks. It turns out I can get four ukulele blanks out of each of them.

So I suppose it's time to set up a short production run ready for the next couple of ukes as well.
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Re: Concert Ukulele (Take it to the Bridge)

Postby Malc2098 » 16 Apr 2021, 18:25

Ok. Bridges - Take two.

That's better! Used the same process, but concentrated more this time.

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The saddles are 6mmx2mm bone.

That's roughly where it will sit on the instrument body.

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Time to glue the tops to the sides, so I can dry fit tightly the necks to the part bodies, so I can find the scale length to accurately fit the bridges, before the backs are glued on.

So here goes.

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Re: Concert Ukulele (Top stuck down)

Postby Malc2098 » 17 Apr 2021, 13:15

I've taken them out of the moulds.

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Everything appears to have stuck down OK, but it shows another big mistake. The soundhole braces' grain should be perpendicular to the soundboard grain.

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Never ceases to amaze me how much goes in to the inside of an instrument.

I trimmed off the edges of the top.....

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...and established an approximate scale length.

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They're beginning to look like proper instruments.
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Re: Concert Ukulele (Purist luthiers, look away now!)

Postby Malc2098 » 18 Apr 2021, 16:22

Well, I did what the plans told me and bought some brass M6 threaded inserts, but for some reason, I ended up with slotted ones. Trying it out on a piece of scrap wood, this is what happened.

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So, I reverted to my Plan B, the Ikea variant.

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What, might you ask, have furniture fittings got to do with ukuleles? Well, I'm following the industry. While there are still factories making guitars etc with glued dovetail or mortise and tenon neck joints, the amount of time saved by an industry making thousands of these a year means that bolted necks are now commonplace.

So, a hole here.....

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....and a hole there....

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...means I can bolt my necks on.

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Tada.

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With a nice heel to body join line.

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And no glue on my hands. (although I did have to file down the barrel nuts to fit in the tenons)

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Re: Concert Ukulele (Purist luthiers, look away now!)

Postby Andyp » 18 Apr 2021, 16:48

Well this far from purist luthier will certainly not look away.
Excellent stuff.
I do not think therefore I do not am.

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Re: Concert Ukulele (Purist luthiers, look away now!)

Postby DaveL » 18 Apr 2021, 17:09

Ok so I think you tried to use the brass insert the wrong way round. The end with the slot and tapered external thread should be the end going into the hole, the slot is ment to help cut the thread into the wood.
However the cross dowel looks a good alternative.
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Re: Concert Ukulele (Purist luthiers, look away now!)

Postby novocaine » 18 Apr 2021, 17:20

Very nice.
I posted about threaded inserts on the other place and the real way to install them with a lock nut.
Your approach is much nore robust.
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Re: Concert Ukulele (Purist luthiers, look away now!)

Postby NickM » 18 Apr 2021, 17:44

Looks a very sensible solution to me. It’s really taking shape.
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Re: Concert Ukulele (Purist luthiers, look away now!)

Postby Malc2098 » 22 Apr 2021, 17:54

Before I can glue the back on, or 'close the box' as they say, I have to make sure I can screw up and unscrew the bolt that holds the neck in. But to do that, all I have is a 50mm diameter soundhole and only another 30mm to the bolt hole.

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I've had all the combinations of allen keys, hex bits, bit holders, mini-sockets, flexi-drives and after a quick run to B&Q for a right angle attachment and I think I've managed it at last.

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The bit shaft is 1/4" I think and is too big to fit a 6mm socket, so I've had to shim it round with tape to fit a 7MM socket.

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I could probably grind up to 6mm off the end of the socket shaft to make it a bit easier still to get the combination through the soundhole.

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It's a bit like trying to hoover the hall carpet through the letterbox!!
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Re: Concert Ukulele (Purist luthiers, look away now!)

Postby novocaine » 22 Apr 2021, 19:43

Modern lutes and mandolins have a hole in the other end for this. They put a strap button over it.
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Re: Concert Ukulele (Purist luthiers, look away now!)

Postby Malc2098 » 22 Apr 2021, 20:06

That was plan B! :D
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Re: Concert Ukulele (Closing the box.)

Postby Malc2098 » 23 Apr 2021, 15:05

Plan B might still come to fruition, but I've still got to find somewhere to make a 300mm long 4mm hex key.

In the meantime, the go-bars are working overtime, especially on the sapele instrument.

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Having only just in time remembered the instrument labels.

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Re: Concert Ukulele (Closing the box.)

Postby Andyp » 23 Apr 2021, 16:09

Malc, surely you can obtain 4mm hex rod and bend it yourself to make a key.
I do not think therefore I do not am.

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Re: Concert Ukulele (Closing the box.)

Postby Malc2098 » 23 Apr 2021, 16:19

Andyp wrote:Malc, surely you can obtain 4mm hex rod and bend it yourself to make a key.



I'll give it a go, Andy, but 4mm over 300mm is likely to twist I would have thought. In fact, there are long allen keys out there, so I'll try and find a cheap one. I did find a good value source of ebony end pins, so I'll look for a long allen key, too.
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Re: Concert Ukulele (Closing the box.)

Postby Andyp » 23 Apr 2021, 16:44

This might be an incredibly stupid thing for me to say, does it matter if it twists during bending. So long as one end fits in the bolt and the other ends pokes through the sound hole.
I do not think therefore I do not am.

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Re: Concert Ukulele (Closing the box.)

Postby Malc2098 » 23 Apr 2021, 16:46

Andyp wrote:This might be an incredibly stupid thing to say, does it matter if it twists during bending. So long as one end fits in the bolt and the other ends pokes through the sound hole.


It could be me being daft thinking I couldn't tighten the bolt enough if the tool twists.
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Re: Concert Ukulele (Closing the box.)

Postby Andyp » 23 Apr 2021, 17:01

Oh I see, if it twists during bending it may be weakened and twist some more when tightening the bolt.

Beyond be.
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