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10/3/2004 - Today brings me to the completion of my first tenor ukulele. Unlike the soprano size uke I built from a kit, this one was built entirely from scratch. Many valuable lessons were learned along the way and at the top of that list is being patient, don't be in a hurry and make sure to double and triple check measurements and calculations before comitting to a particular operation.
This particular ukulele began as just a practice session on bending sides using some scraps of walnut I had on hand. I made a side bender from the plans available on the Hana Lima 'Ia website. Before heading off to Nevada to do a gig I soaked the sides for about 30 minutes and using a heat blanket and steel compression sheets placed the sides over the bender and very quickly and impatiently completed the bending process. I only left them in the bender for about 30 minutes after turning off the heat blanket. I did get quite a bit of springback but I placed the sides in my mold before heading out the door. When I returned to the shop the next day I inspected the sides and there was no splintering and they looked just fine so that is when I decided to use some of the additional scraps for the top and back and just work through the entire building process.
Materials
The top, back, sides and peghead overlay are all from my walnut scrap pile. The top and back were from some pretty good figured stock but there were several small knots that had to be dressed up with epoxy. I learned early on in the process that I had over-braced the soundboard but since the sound box was already glued together there wasn't much I could do at that point. That is why this ukulele is what I consider a pretty basic model. I did not adorn it with any binding or perflings. The soundhole rosette and fret position marker dots are pau abalone. The rosette was already installed prior to assembling the soundbox and discovering the overbraced soundboard. The neck is made from a mahogany neck blank I purchased from the Ukulele Supply of Hawaii along with the rosette and marker dots. The tuning pegs are Grover style friction tuners but I don't recall the specific model number. The nut and saddle are black corian that I got off of Ebay and the bridge pins are made of ebony and were purchased from Grizzly Industrial. The neck and bridge are made of rosewood and were also purchased from Hana Lima 'Ia. The following pics show a few shots of the completed ukulele.
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This was my first attempt at applying a "French Polish" finish. This proved to be very frustrating. I used orange shellac flakes dissolved in denatured alchohol. Initially, I was using too much shellac and my muneca pad was way too wet and leaving streaks and swirls in the finish. I ended up using alchohol to completely remove the shellac at least twice and then I decided to try spraying shellac on using a commercial product called Bulls Eye. Things got even worse at that point and I had to use steel wool to remove the spray shellac leaving some of the previously hand applied shellac in tact. I started to get better results with a drier muneca but in reality the instrument could have used many more sessions/coats to obtain a true french polish finish. Again, that goes back to the "don't be in a hurry" lesson learned mentioned above.
The strings are still stretching and settling in but it is staying in tune enough at this point to get a feel for the sound quality. As expected from the heavy bracing on the soundboard the uke is not extemely loud. On the other hand, does not sound dead either. It has a bright sound and lacks any significant bottom end. You can hear a short sound clip of the uke by clicking HERE. Another lesson learned is in regards to double and triple checking measurements etc. before comitting to a particular operation. I did not check the distance from the zero fret to the 12th fret prior to laying out the bridge location. The result was gluing the bridge a little too far back toward the tail causing the intonation to be off a bit. It plays a little flat up the neck. I will let it settle in for a couple of weeks then decide how I want to proceed with fine tuning the intonation issue.
This has been a great experience and I plan to document the entire process on my next one in the near future.
3/13/2004 - I have been wanting to try my hand at making an ukulele, and eventually an acoustic guitar, for quite some time now. I turned to EBay to sell some old music gear I had lying around in order to purchase a few of the specialized tools I would need for instrument building. So far I have some of the basic tools such as a fret cutting saw and miter box, fretting hammer, fret cutter, some files and a dremel tool equipped with a router base and edge guide. I haven't yet made a side bending jig or purchased the heat blanket that is used with the jig. So to get started practicing some of the techniques I decided to start with a kit. This way I don't have to worry about bending sides right out of the gate. And by the way, I did purchase William Cumpiano's book titled "Guitarmaking Tradition and Technology" and a book by Dennis Gilbert titled "The Ukulele - How to Make This Traditional Hawaiian Instrument". If you plan to build acoustic instruments I highly recommend the Cumpiano book.
The kit I am using is $25 and comes from Grizzly Industrial. Grizzly is a well known manufacturer of woodworking tools and machinery. The first photo shows the components of the kit. However, this picture was taken after I had already installed a barrel bolt in the heel of the neck and installed perfling and Mother of Pearl (MOP) inlay around the soundhole. The weakest part of the kit is the fretboard. It is a very thin plywood material with thin veneer on the top and bottom and has brass frets. Since this project is about practicing and learning techniques I opted to purchase a rosewood fretboard, fretwire and MOP dot inlay from Hana Lima 'Ia. The fretboard arrived and was of excellent quality.
This is what I have accomplished to date. I installed a barrel bolt in the heel of the neck so I could attach the neck with glue and a cap screw. Overkill for this little soprano probably but I plan to build a tenor from scratch at some point and I want to get some practice on the bolt on process ahead of time. I installed bwb perfling and curved MOP strips around the soundhole. To accomplish this I had to come up with a way to plug the soundhole so I could rout the rosette channel with the dremel tool. I made a plexiglass base for the dremel tool and cut a circle out of 1/16" masonite that fit snuggly in the soundhole. Then I cut a piece of closet rod dowel the right length and attached it to the bottom inside of the uke with double stick tape. The masonite disc was then pushed into the soundhole, resting on top of the dowel rod, and flush with the top. I routed the channel and glued in the perfling and MOP. Next, I routed a ledge around the top for some ivoroid binding.
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Today I layed out the fretboard for slotting it for a 13.5" scale length. I used a dial indicator and a very sharp scribing tool to mark the locations on the fretboard. I setup the miter box I purchased from Stewart MacDonald and proceeded to cut the fret slots. I also ordered a Fret Press Arbor from Stew Mac but it is on backorder so I installed the fret wire by tapping it in the slots with a fret hammer. I used just a tad of glue on the fret tang to help hold them in place. Before installing the frets I did drill the holes for the MOP inlay dots at the drill press. I spent a few minutes with a scraper to get the binding flush with the ukulele top and sides. That is about it for now.
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3/27/2004 Update - This weekend I tinkered some more with my first ukulele kit. I tried my first ever attempts at inlay, besides the MOP marker dots and rosette which are controlled by either a drill bit or router bit. I marked the outline of the MOP Star with a sharp scribe. I used the dremel tool with a 3/32 spiral bit to rout out the center and did the points with a chisel. I will definately need some more practice on these.
I Sanded the neck and body parts and glued the neck to the body with Titebond glue. I then masked off the neck and body and glued the fretboard to the neck. I learned a valuable lesson on this process. When I dry fitted the fretboard the small clamps seemed to have enough clamping pressure to hold it tight to the neck. Well, after the Titebond was applied to both the neck and the fretboard, the clamps did not apply enough pressure to close the gap and draw the mating surfaces tight together. It wasn't until after the glue dried that I noticed there was problem. So I was forced to remove the fretboard. I placed an ordinary clothes iron on the frets and turned it on high and about 10 to 15 minutes later it was hot enough to use a thin hamburger spatula (good thing my wife wasn't home) to work between the neck and fretboard to dislodge them from one another. Thanks again to Dave Means for sharing his experience and knowledge with me. Unfortunately, I was so caught up in getting the fretboard removed that I didn't take any pics of the process. Oops! After I got the fretboard off I inspected it with my magnifiying head visor. I could see that some of the frets were not totaly seated properly. The heat from removing the fretboard also caused it to bow badly. Unfortunately, it was not salvageable. I do have a piece of maple that I can use for another fretboard. Won't be as pretty as the rosewood against the mahogany body but again, right now it is all about learning the techniques for me.
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5/16/2004 Update - With the drum sander complete I decided to work on the soprano kit again this weekend. I received my fret pressing arbor which was on back-order for a few months at Stew Mac. I used it for the first time installing frets in a new maple fretboard to replace the rosewood fretboard I removed from the ukulele when I was last working on it. The press worked great and the frets went in much more evenly and consistent than they did by hammering them in. This time I left two of the fretboard dots off and drilled a small hole in each to accept a small brad to keep the neck from shifting during glueup. This seemed to work quite well. I decided to try a zero fret this time just for the heck of it.
When the glue was dry I removed the clamps and checked the frets for level. There were some high spots so I used a diamond hone to file them down the best I could without removing too much fret wire. Then I started with 400 grit paper wrapped around a chalk board eraser and worked it the length of the fretboard. I repeated the process with 600, 800, 1200 and 1500 grit. I then finished working the frets and the fretboard with #0000 steel wool.
Next I used a nut seating file to create a grove for the nut to sit in and then used the plate glass from my sharpening system to sand the corian nut to fit the groove. Once the nut fit the groove I cut it to length, filed the string slots and glued it on with superglue. I finished the day by laying out the bridge position and covering that spot with tape to avoid getting any finish on it. I then put one coat of a tung oil/varnish mix. Next I will put several more coats of finish on before attaching the bridge and installing the tuners. Hopefully, this little uke will be making some sounds, any kind of sounds, good or bad very soon.
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Final Update - With the final coats of finish complete it was time to glue the bridge on and make the saddle. Since the top is so thin and didn't have a bridge patch I was afraid to drill any holes for inserting locating pins to keep the bridge in place during the glueup. So to make sure it didn't move I decided on the follwoing method. BTW, I had already layed out and marked the bridge position prior to applying a finish to the ukulele. I used a zero fret so I measured the scale length of 13.5" from the center of the zero fret to the center line of the saddle slot. This would allow for about 1/16" for compensation.
To install the bridge I first placed painters tape around the outside of the bridge area to protect the top and catch the glue that squeezes out. I then cut some small pieces of wood to surround the bridge. I set the bridge in place and then attached the wood pieces snuggly around the bridge using double stick tape. I also cut another piece of wood to use as a caul on top of the brige for the clamp to rest on. I used a board wide enough to reach both edges of the right and left bouts to make sure the clamp pressure didn't split the back plate. Titebond was then applied to both the top plate and the bridge and the bridge clamped in place using two clamps. I let the glue get a grip for a couple of minutes and then removed the wood blocking and cleaned up the glue mess. I let the bridge sit overnight and preceeded to make a saddle from white corian. I used a cheap set of no name strings that came with the kit to setup and check the action. The action was pretty high out of the gate so I removed the saddle and sanded on it to lower the action. I then put a set of concert gauge Aquila Nylguts on it and tuned it to pitch. The strings are stretching a bunch right now so I can't tell whether it is going to play in tune with itself or not. I can tell however, that it does not have much volume. Sort of plunky and lifeless. I wasn't expecting much in the way of sound and tone anyway.
This excercise was about experimenting and learning techniques used in building ukuleles. From that standpoint this has been a great experience and a fun project. Got to make a fretboard by hammering in the frets. That one had to be removed because it shifted during the glueup. Made another fretboard using a fret pressing arbor in the drill press which produced a much better result. Got to do a little inlay work and binding installation. I have one more of these kits that I am going to make for a family member and then it is off to start a mahogany tenor from scratch. Wish me luck on that one (LOL)
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3/28/2004 - I have a cheap Washburn OU-2 Concert ukulele that would not play in tune up the neck. The intonation was very poor and the notes would be sharp up the neck. The scale length is 14.75". Measuring from the nut to the front edge of the saddle was precisely 14.75". However, I have been told that to compensate for fretting up higher on the neck, where the action is a little higher, the distance needs to be a little further from the 12th fret to the saddle slot than the distance from the nut to the 12th fret. So to try and improve the intonation of the OU-2 I widended the saddle slot to a little over 1/8". I simply used double stick tape to attach two pieces of straight wood to the top of the uke. (If this would have been a vintage or custom uke I would have provided some protection of the soundboard. In this case I attached the dual stick tape right to the soundboard.) Using a 1/8" spiral bit I aligned the depth of cut to the bottom of the existing slot and set the guide fence on the router base to make sure I did not cut into the face of the slot closest to the soundhole side. I then ripped a piece of corian on the bandsaw and sanded the saddle to width using self stick sandpaper attached to 1/4" thick plate glass. I used the existing saddle as a guide for the height and lowered the saddle just a tad to improve the action and playibility. Then to lengthen the spot where the string leaves the saddle I filed a crown in the center of the saddle. This effectively added approximately 1/16" additonal scale length.
The results were favorable. I put a set of Aquila Nylguts on with the low G and, though not perfect, the intonation is much better than it was. This was a very easy and worthwhile modification.
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9/25/2005 - A couple of weeks ago I decided to build my second tenor ukulele to take to the 4th Annual Ukulele Guild of Hawaii Exhibition that will be held in November. I participated in an Ebay auction over a year ago and came away with one of the mahogany parts kits provided by Hana Lima 'Ia. Hana Lima 'Ia is a school for ukulele making located in Honolulu, Hawaii. They stock a full line of materials, parts, tools and assecories for building ukuleles. So I thought it was time to put the kit to use. Nothing is pre-shaped in this kit. The tops, backs and side are all bookmatched and cut to proper size. They do, however, require additional thicknessing to proper dimension. This was another opportunity to use the Thickness Sander I built last year and it worked just great.
I really wasn't sure how much time I would have available to work in the shop prior to leaving for Hawaii so I opted to build a basic long scale model to speed the process along. This one will have no binding, rosette or inlay of any kind. The fretboard will be flat even though I normally prefer to have a radius. I didn't take pictures of every stage of the process but I did get most of the sessions. I got so involved with the process of bending the sides that I forgot to take any pictures. I am surprised at how quickly it is coming along. Here are the pics.
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Without a rather involved modification to my band saw it can be very challenging to get good tight joints between the heel of the neck and the soundbox. Thanks go out to Dave Means of Glyph Custom Ukuleles for providing details of the very simple jig he came up with for preparing this joint. Above, you can see the neck and soundbox of a Grizzly soprano kit mounted to the jig and the results of the neck to body joint on the mahogany tenor. The jig consists of a simple fixture to keep the neck and body aligned while pulling a strip of sandpaper through the joint. The fixture is basically a piece of 3/4" MDF or flat plywood about 12" by 24" with a 2"-wide, 3/8"-deep channel routed lengthwise down the middle. The body is clamped upside down at one end of the fixture with its centerline aligned with the center of the channel. If you build with domed tops shims are placed under the ends of the body to hold it level, with the edge of the neck end 1/8" above the surface of the board. Use double-stick tape to attach the neck to a 2" by 10" piece of 1/2" Baltic ply that acts as a slider in the channel. Since the slider is 1/2" thick, it aligns the top surface of the neck (which is on the bottom, of course, as the neck is upside down) with the edge of the body. The heel end of the neck overhangs the slider a little. The sandpaper is pulled through the joint sideways with one hand, while controlling the pressure with the other. Everything stays aligned. Neck angle can be fine-tuned by inserting a shim under the peghead end of the slider. The sandpaper I used was a piece of the hook and loop paper I use on the drum of the thickness sander. It works great because it has the soft velcro material on the back side.
The mahogany tenor uke has a flat soundboard so I made the following modifications to the jig. I made my slider out of some ¼" plexi glass that I had lying around the shop. I routed my channel approximately 1/4" deep (plexi needs to be flush with top of plywood) stopping at 10". I scribed center lines on both sides of the plexi. This made it very easy to match the center line on the fretboard side of the neck. I clamped the soundbox along the center line on the plywood (in the area that didn't get routed out) with a couple of quick grip clamps. It takes a little while to get the joint tight but if you remove some of the material on the inside of the neck heel with a dremel tool (leave approx 3/16 to 1/4" on the sides and bottom edges. You can remove all of the material on the FB side if you want or just be patient and sand sand away.
Here are a couple more progress pics of the mahogany tenor. I am currently in the process of filling the grain in preparation of applying a laquer finish. I have also started construction of the bridge.
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Here are the final pics of the new Mahogany Tenor. I set it up with a low G set of Ko'olau Golds. My first impressions of the strings are not what I was hoping for. They seem a little dull to me and I guess I will need to experiment with some different strings to see what is best suited for this particular uke. It has a lower sort of warmer tone than my first walnut tenor. The low G is pretty boomy and somewhat over powering. Once I settle on a set of strings I will record a sound clip.
I don't particularly care for the looks of the Gotoh mini tuners sticking out the sides of the headstock like a guitar but I had purchased them at the same time I received the mahongany parts kit and figured I may as well use them on this uke. They work great. They make tuning a breeze. I will most likely use banjo type planetary tuners on my next tenor.
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If anyone has any questions about any of these projects feel free to EMAIL me.