rax

Fingerboard: Glued

I simply forgot about the camera when I’ve glued the fingerboard. A gap in the sequence… My apologies, I wasn’t really thinking too much about trying to document every step in the process. Like everybody else on the internets, I’ll say: “figure out a clamping position that won’t allow the sides (neck / fingerboard) to slide”. Umm.. that’s it.

Fingerboard: Fret-wired

First off: the fret wire is Made in Belarus. Just in case you wonder what they are doing over there. Second: I spent like a whole weekend afternoon for the first 3 frets: the fret marks where too thin and only scratching the surface, so I had to make them wider and deeper with another saw. And then to level the steel wire. Wiw.

Peg-holes: Drilled

On this project I found myself planning a lot for some steps while I did consider others as being more easy. Drilling the peg-holes should an easy one.

An indeed, it took about 10 minutes to actually drill those 4 holes …but soon I’ve realized that some aren’t …that straight, for one I couldn’t get a clean exit and for other a clean entry. Moreover, I’ve wrongly marked the spot (2-3mm) for another (G).

So far this project was fun: First, I’ve learned a lot along the way. And second, I’m proud of my mistakes: this is what makes a project unique :)

Next post will explain how the box gets attached to the neck. Or the other way around.

• almost there: grrr. more sanding needed, at least on the back.

• easier to check for symmetry.

• “squaring” …with the try square. okay?

• ready to drill the peg holes.

wisdom?

Short update on my cbu project since delivery arrived:

• Got the scarf joint glued.

• Rounded a little bit the corners where the head meets the neck (no pics yet).

• Sand. And then, I had to sand more. And even now, I’m not 100% satisfied.

Another picture with some of the deliverables and an upper view of the neck (as it was …2 weeks ago).

That’s the mahogany block I’ve started with: ~300 x 83 x 22mm. On the length I’ll have: 100mm for head, 175mm for fingerboard, 25mm extra (waste, or maybe join the neck with the body).

Because of the thickness, I had to use the scarf joint method:

(Worry not, that’s not the saw I’ve been using for the process.)

Basically, it’s “just” a cut at 15 degree angle. And …a picture is worth at least a thousand words:

With the fingerboard on top, it was obvious that on the next step I’ll have to trim the sides.

With the tenon saw it takes me about 15-20 minutes to remove a side. Yeah, it’s not the right saw for this kind of job, but hey: I’m doing my own cigar-box ukulele :)

Probably tonight I’m going to make it thinner (~10mm for head - nut, 15-17mm for heel), so there’s nothing glued yet.

Next:

• figure out the heel
• buy some glue and start gluing some stuff (like the scarf join and then the heel)
• sand the neck and then sand more
• buy those g d d m wooden pegheads (I won’t use the word vintage)
• I could go on with at least 50 more things that I’ll need to do (did you say: bridge?!?)

So far, I feel the whole project is going fine and without any major screw-ups. A little bit late and most likely I won’t be able to finish it till 10th of Sep. (when my 2 weeks holiday starts).

Random stuff I’ve been doing lately (more or less related):

• small accident with the bench plane that involved a lot of bleeding,
• got myself a beautiful external otitis (combination of: sea water, humidity, sleeping with my hair wet, ear sticks),
• build somkind of wooden tool that looks like a box and has a soviet design (I’ll post pictures this week),
• beat the hottest day ever (or, since the beginning of time, or since mankind started to keep records on temperature): 39.3*C BCN Center.

• started with a cut at 20cm

• had a defect on one side, but was easy to remove since the whole fingerboard was wider (7 cm) than my needs (5 cm).

• ended up with 20cm x 5cm x 9-10mm. Cut it then in half (about 4mm in thickness) with a hand saw (Yay! 2 soprano fingerboards!).

• unfortunately I’ve made a lot of saw marks and some new defects where introduced specially on edges.

• my first thought was to use a chisel (1.3mm) to kill those traces. Totally a Bad Idea.

• using a bench plane was the way to go and with some sanding I’ve got a usable back side.

• however: it still needs more sanding (started with 40, 80 and now with 120 to finish with 320) and I’ll have to cover those nasty holes with a mix of glue and wood dust (saw once a guy doing that on the internets. on youtubes afair) and hope that the fret cuts won’t be trough one.

• the front side is better

Random notes:

• doing both soprano fingerboards in the same time. easier to avoid mistakes.
• don’t hand-resaw if you don’t have proper tools (read saw) and patience.
• careful with the bench plane and saw. Can cut fingers. Wear gloves. If you need to use a cutter have your glasses on. In fact, wear them all the time. And gloves.

Next:

• neck geometry
• neck
• buy missing parts & accessories

Nothing fancy.

Except the handcrafted wood clamp.

In fact, that’s the first useful thing I ever made from 3 pieces of wood and 5 screws.

As for the workshop, I’ll use a really small room (4sqm) that I have on the terrace (it’s the roof of the building). The working space is even smaller that that… Plus is facing sun from 2pm till 7. Didn’t measure, but this days the temperature inside is around 40*C. For sure, not the best place to glue stuff :)

Next time I’ll show you how I hand-resaw that guitar fingerboard.

From top to bottom:

• Neck: mahogany (Africa) - 650x83x22mm
• Front (top replacement): rosewood (India) - 400x90x4mm
• Fingerboard: rosewood quality A (India) - 500x70x9mm

My plan is to use the mahogany neck for 2 builds and to re-saw the fingerboard for …4 ukes (2 concert/2 sopranos). Or at least I’ll have a replacement if I screw up something (most likely).

On the same picture, I have the bones for the saddle and nut, on the tools side, there’s a steel rule with marks at 0.5mm and the japanese saw for fretting the fingerboard. And other crazy cuts with its .2 mm blade.

Random thoughts about the cigar box hunt.

Found 2 usable ones after asking in about 10 shops.

The white one is too small and I’ll use it for something else. Not very happy with the other 2 because they both kinda:

• thin: 3.5 - 3.7 cm, a good box should have something between 5 - 6 cm. I’ll consider a piezo pickup amp to compensate.

• not solid wood but some kind of laminate: 2 very thin (~1mm) solid layers with something in between. Most likely, I’ll have to replace the bottom of the box -will be the top of the uke.

Anyway, the hunt is not over as some shops promised me to keep some boxes (instead of throwing them). Also, a source could get me a spanish cedar box (like the good ‘ol ones) but somewhere at the end of October. Maybe that will be cbu-#2 :)

By what I have so far, it’s going to be a soprano with a 350mm scale length and 12 frets.

Now to some wood and tools.

• read about how to make your cigar box ukulele on the internets
• nicely ask for a cigar box at the tobacco stores
• secure one
• find some good wood for the neck
• basic hand tools
• nut / bridge - saddle
• get friction pegs / strings / inlays
• strum