AHG (and sometimes U)

[chazmo]

Yes, water stones. Although on the 1000/4000 one it's made by Norton, so I'm not sure that really qualifies as "Japanese". But the 8000 one certainly is.

Probably made in my back yard, Chris. Worcester.

 

[AcornHouse]

Probably made in my back yard, Chris. Worcester.

My favorite sandy paper manufacturer.

 

[GAD]

Probably made in my back yard, Chris. Worcester.

How do you get to War-chest-er.

Woostah!

What?

 

[AcornHouse]

How do you get to War-chest-er.

Woostah!

What?

Growing up in MA, I, of course, knew how to pronounce it. After the family moved to Ohio, I saw all kinds of name pronunciation built into the towns. One of the worst offenders is Wooster, OH. Founding fathers heard the name but didn’t know/care how to spell it, is my thought.
(Another example going the other way is proudly trumpeted by the University I used to teach at. Located in Rio Grande, OH, the founders saw the name, but being in Ohio, thought it was pronounced similarly. Thus, the town, and University is pronounced “Rye-oh Grand”.)

 

[chazmo]

Woostah!

Actually, to most of the natives here it's "wistah," GAD. Don't ask me why.

 

[GAD]

Actually, to most of the natives here it's "wistah," GAD. Don't ask me why.

Having spent a lot of time in Mass, I’d say the reason is Mass.

 

[AcornHouse]

First half of the back is on. I did a little tweaking on the hot iron to match up what came off the form with what the actual sides ended up as, but there were a few tiny gaps here and there. Strong tape, and lots of it, takes care of those. And is a good reminder why masking tape or blue tape is completely not up to the task. That stuff has give.

Took me a couple of builds to figure that out, early on.

 

[AcornHouse]

Had a peek inside, checking for any untoward glue seepage from the binding and was amused to see it peeking through at the waist.

 

[AcornHouse]

Pleased with the back binding. It's always a little trickier that the top because it needs two butt joints on either end that are exposed and need to be as seamless as possible. I'm getting better but they aren't quite effortlessly perfect yet. Most, but not all, of the neck end will be hidden by the heel. On the soundboard there's only one seam, since the neck joint cuts through the other end.

The red of the bloodwood acts as a frame for the figured koa. Without it, the curls would just disappear into nothingness and draw the eye away.

 

[GGJaguar]

Without it, the curls would just disappear into nothingness and draw the eye away.

Kinda like an infinity pool.

 

[GAD]

Gorgeous

 

[AcornHouse]

Short video of the gramil and router plane in action. The top is getting a purfling strip along with the binding so it needs a double ledge. This is the second ledge being cut here.

 

[Stuball48]

Chris
Is your cutting blade "store bought" or do you hone your own cutters?

 

[AcornHouse]

Chris
Is your cutting blade "store bought" or do you hone your own cutters?

Both the gramil and router plane are all factory complete, but they've both gone through a few sharpenings. The most dangerous tool is a dull one.

 

[AcornHouse]

Double ledges complete.

 

[AcornHouse]

After a fun-filled morning of scraping and sanding, I reapplied some shellac all over, except where I'll be glueing the bridge and fingerboard.
Binding is complete.

 

[GAD]

After a fun-filled morning of scraping and sanding, I reapplied some shellac all over, except where I'll be glueing the bridge and fingerboard.
Binding is complete.

That’s interesting. That doesn’t result in uneven application after the bridge is installed?

 

[AcornHouse]

That’s interesting. That doesn’t result in uneven application after the bridge is installed?

I'll sand the top again when I'm ready to finalize the bridge position and mask it.

 

[AcornHouse]

While I was cutting the ebony for the Octo Mando bridge, I had an epiphany. I'd been thinking of using some of the curly Koa offcuts for the headplate, but I'd have to join them; even with the small size of the uke head they weren't quite wide enough. Plus I haven't yet got the knack of routing perfectly for the logo, and on a lighter wood like koa, its very hard to hide the gaps. (This is one of the places where CNC excels. Which I'm not equipped for.)
But, you know what wood is easy to hide gaps in? Ebony! That's why it's used on most factory headstocks. If you've ever seen an old Gibson headstock where there's been MOTS shrinkage, you've seen horrible gaps that even I could do better than. But ebony dust and super glue makes them invisible.
So I cut a thin piece of the leftover ebony that's more than big enough for the uke's headstock.
Then I had epiphany #2. Instead of using MOP for the logo, why not use the bloodwood!

 

[GGJaguar]

Then I had epiphany #2. Instead of using MOP for the logo, why not use the bloodwood!