AHG (and sometimes U)

[AcornHouse]

I thought I should start a separate thread with the uke build to keep a little separation. I'll do the same with the slope shoulder dread. This will be a soprano ukulele that a former student is having built for his wife who is a music teacher in the Nashville area (and is ALSO a former student.) This one has a hard deadline for her birthday on April.

I took advantage of the rare sunny day with temps around 50⁰ to go out to the workshop and mill some bloodwood binding strips and get the pattern finalized in plywood.

Nica doing quality control, of course.

 

[AcornHouse]

Checking the layout.

 

[GGJaguar]

Checking the layout.

Insert 2 long braces into corresponding slots "G". Insert 3 short braces into corresponding slots "F".

 

[Nuuska]

 

[AcornHouse]

Whelp, that sucks. Went to fire up my homemade bending iron to get the rosette rings bent and it appears to be cold and dead.
It's a BBQ electric starter element in a galvanized steel pipe wired to a rheostat. Nothing fancy, just plug in, turn it on, and wait for it to heat up.
But not today.

I'll have to explore options.

 

[GGJaguar]

Went to fire up my homemade bending iron to get the rosette rings bent and it appears to be cold and dead.

I hope your Plan B works so you're up and running again.

 

[AcornHouse]

Whelp, that sucks. Went to fire up my homemade bending iron to get the rosette rings bent and it appears to be cold and dead.
It's a BBQ electric starter element in a galvanized steel pipe wired to a rheostat. Nothing fancy, just plug in, turn it on, and wait for it to heat up.
But not today.

I'll have to explore options.

Hmmm. I wonder if it might have something to do with the wire nuts coming off and the plug not connected to everything.

 

[GAD]

Well, at least it didn't catch fire, so that's a plus.

 

[AcornHouse]

Got everything reconnected and buttoned up. Got the familiar *buzzzzzzzz* as I turned it on, and then it started to get warm.



I need to thickness the bloodwood a little thinner. This piece, which was the first cut and has a little taper, started to crack on the thicker end, but did much better on the thin end.
I'd have preferred it thicker, but, there it is. There's not a whole lot of real estate on a soprano uke anyway, so perhaps that's for the best.
Certainly not as easy bending as walnut.

 

[Stuball48]

You would make a great farmer - you make so with what you have when the need arises.
That is some serious bending!

 

[AcornHouse]

You would make a great farmer - you make so with what you have when the need arises.
That is some serious bending!

 

[AcornHouse]

Thicknessed the other tapered strip down to 1.75mm and ripped it in half. Was able to get a tight enough radius for the rosette. (Soundhole on these ukes is only 1-3/4".) The tape is holding it in shape while it cools and dries. Otherwise it would open back up to a much bigger radius. Once it sets it'll be fine.
I'll use some combination of white and black purfling strips on either side of it.

I'd asked the husband what her favorite color was, hence the blood wood trim.

 

[Stuball48]

I love red but hers being "blood red" makes my flesh crawl.

 

[AcornHouse]

I love red but hers being "blood red" makes my flesh crawl.

Her favorite color is red; bloodwood is just the common name for the wood. It's also known as Satine, if that helps.

 

[Stuball48]

Now, digesting a little better.

 

[AcornHouse]

Rosette in. Normally I'd use Titebond or fish glue, but it was such a tight fit I knew they'd start swelling the wood and I'd be struggling to get everything back in. So it was time to break out the CA glue and let it wick down and through all the strips. It managed to seep through the pores to the underside so it should be a good penetration.

I'll let it fully cure overnight before sanding it flush.

 

[AcornHouse]

Got it sanded down tonight after all.

 

[Stuball48]

Plain and simple - beautiful work.

 

[AcornHouse]

Plain and simple - beautiful work.

The top is the star of the show here. Plus, with only a 2" approx. diameter, there's not a whole lot of real estate to work with. The width of the rosette is only 1/4". Anything wider would be out of place on such a small instrument.

 

[Stuball48]

At the top of rosette--12:00--is that a special knot or angle cuts to match up, perfectly or neither?