Best selling wood projects - Building a Ukulele Part 8 Neck Fretboard and Bridge

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Righteeeooho - here we go ho ................
The neck glue-up passed without incident, and it is now ready to accept the fretboard.

The scale on my tenor ukulele is 17 inches.  This determines the distance between the edge of the nut and the peak (break line) of the saddle.

With the soundboard temporarily in place, I can measure for the position of the bridge that carries the saddle.  I do this before gluing the top onto the body, so that I have some room to clamp the bridge during its glue-up fitting.  Too hard to do this after the top is fixed to the body.

There will probably be glue squeeze out during this, so I mask off the area around the bridge with tape. This also acts as a good locator for the position of the bridge which is bound to slide around a bit on the glue.

Once done, the soundboard and bridge can be set aside to dry while I mark out the fretboard.

The positioning of the frets is critical, and the good folks over at Stewart MacDonald have provided a free-use fret position calculator - mucho gratias my friends.

Armed with a printout of my 17 inch scale for 18 frets, I am good to go.
These have to be marked on the squared fretboard before tapering it, so that the fret positions are easily done with a try square. It is more accurate to use a marking knife for the fret marking, as it minimises the inaccuracies of pencil thickness.

The fret positions should all be marked from the edge of the nut, and not marked in increments from the previous fret mark.  Doing it the second way only multiplies any inaccuracy with every fret mark.
So, the ruler is clamped to the fretboard and all marks laid out before scribing them.  I have carefully ticked off all the fret marks as I go, to ensure I didnt miss any.

 
Ill cut them next, before tapering the fretboard to suit the neck that I have already built.

Now, the fretwires themselves have a very narrow seat, and so a very narrow-kerfed bladed saw is needed.  I tried several of my saws, before finding that my Veritas dovetail saw is just about perfect - narrow kerf, and very little set on the teeth.  It is a rip saw of course, designed for cutting dovetails along the grain, but serves very nicely as a crosscut saw in this instance.

 To help with the saw cuts and to keep them on track, I made up a little square saw guide.
Works a treat.


Got to wait a little, while glue dries.
Next time, Ill attach the top - and after that sets, Ill fix the fretboard.
Nearly finished - yippee ....................
Still got some time left for some strummin practice -
Uke group night tonight - FUN!

Love life and live .........................
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Best selling wood projects - Making A Boat Paddle Tenor Ukulele Part 8 Making and Fitting the Body Linings

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The Hall Table is finished and gone to a good home.
Soooo - back to the Uke.

The body of the ukulele is complete as far as the sides go, but it needs a neck block.

I have made the neck block from Australian Cedar for its lightness, strength and tonal qualities.

The neck block is over large - as this end of the uke is a weak point on a cutaway design.
The neck block is glued in place.

I have been refining the body and getting things ready for the application of the linings.  These hold the top and bottom in place when they are glued to the body sides.
I made the linings on the tablesaw from a piece of paulonia.

The kerfed timber was then cut into strips on the bandsaw.

The full story of making the linings can be found here:
http://thevillagewoodworker.blogspot.com.au/2012/06/building-ukulele-part-1-timber.html
I had made enough when I constructed my first ukulele, to have sufficient for a few more ukes.
The linings are held in place by clamps and pegs until the glue is dry.

 

This is done one side at a time, to allow the mould to support the body, and for it to project enough to apply the clamps.

Once  the top is done, the mould is flipped over and the process repeated for the bottom.

Inevitably there is excess glue that needs cleaning up, as well as any bumps from the linings that project above the edges.
This is easily attended to with a small block plane.
Enough for today.
Next time Ill look at the front and the back.
Happy shavings to all.





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Best selling wood projects - Plan 8 Book Case 1

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Like the books it’s designed to protect and display, a well made bookcase is a classic in its own right. At home in almost any room of the house, few pieces of furniture embody such a blend of form and function. This do-it-yourself version is no exception: as versatile as it is handsome, it will accommodate any reader’s prized collection in style
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Best selling wood projects - An Elegant Jelly Cabinet Construction Part 8 Back and Front

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Attaching the back panel was as simple as gluing the two stiles to the back edges of the carcass.  These are rebated to take the sliding back panel.
Ill leave the panel out for now so that I can have easy access to the inside of the cupboard.  It will slide in easily from the bottom at any time.

Making the Door Frame

The door frame will be morticed and tenoned.  I cut the mortices first, and once again the trusty Makita does the job.  By placing the two stiles side by side and projecting beyond the edge of the bench vice, I have a more stable platform for the router.

The fence runs against the side of the stile (actually the face - but you know what I mean), and it simply has to be swapped from one side to the other to cut both mortices.

Once all the mortices are cut - top and bottom - I clamp the stiles in place and mark out the tenons on the top and bottom rails.  I find that it is easier and more accurate to do it this way.

After marking out the tenons, I use a bench hook to hold the piece while I saw the shoulders of each.  The finished tenons are cleaned up with a shoulder plane.


Because the mortices were cut with the router, the ends of all of them have a rounded profile, the same as the router bit.

To make the tenons fit closely, I round over the end of the tenon that will abut the round end of the mortice.  Pare with a chisel first and then finish off with some cloth backed sandpaper.  This is a broken sander belt (never throw anything away)

 It is easier to round the tenon than to square the mortice.

These mortices are left open at the top for the top rail, and for the bottom of the bottom rail, to give me more glue area for the joint.

Neither of these will be seen in the finished cabinet, and I prefer the strength that the extra tenon area provides.

Here is the top rail - trial fitted.
Not too shabby at all.

Wish it was the same story with the bottom rail.  Boo Hoo !!!!
I got a bit carried away with the router when cutting the mortices.  They are too long and, as a consequence, the rail is now too narrow, and the top of the mortice peeks out from above the rail.

Heres my fix.
The rail width is not critical, and if I widen it just a tad - then the holes will disappear.  I dont have enough timber left to make another rail, so I have glued a ripping to the bottom of the rail, and will simply re-shape it to follow the tenon when it dries.  Like I said - never throw anything away.  Now, of course, the door will be a smidgen shorter.  Another reason to be glad I left it until last.

The bottom of this lower rail will be covered by a moulding - so the mistake will never be seen from the front, and even from below, a cockroach view will show only a clean edge.   It is a relief to get out of trouble so easily.

This necessary fix stopped me from finishing the door frame today.  And so I started to prepare the rosewood panel for the door.  I wont make the door until the frame is installed, so that once again it is a good fit.  No more mistakes I hope.

As you can see on the left, this panel has plenty of ripples from the power planer that dressed it at the mill.  I remove these with a bevel up plane. This one is a copy of the Stanley 62 - (made by Stanley from 1905 - 1942) - and was made by Lie Nielsen.

This piece of Australian Rosewood also had a nasty snipe on the end that had been left by the power planer as well.  It needed attention, and while I was at it I finished surfacing the whole panel.

OK, the end is in sight.  Maybe two more entries here at the Village Woodworker will see it through to completion.

Happy woodworking to all .....


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Best selling wood projects - A Saw Stool on Steriods!

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Those who have worked with me know how much I value traditional Saw Stools. I use them in the workshop and out on the job all the time. In fact I am lost without them! I usually have several sets, some low ones at around 21” high and some taller ones at 30” high.

I am not talking about those crappy folding metal and pine things, which wobble around and carry warning stickers saying you should not stand on then. I am referring to properly made traditional saw stools. Traditionally made from jarrah in Western Australia, these are rigid and can carry considerable loads. I have in use some that are well over 50 years old and which have worked hard all their lives. These type of saw stools were standard equipment for carpenters, joiners and cabinet makers for generations.

I had a big job to do recently, which involved working on site in Kalamunda for 3 weeks solid. I took a portable jarrah work bench with me, as there was a fair bit of bench work to do over those 3 weeks. Of course I also needed to use 2 pairs of low saw stools and 2 pairs of taller saw stools on site for that period as well.
While I worked on the job, I got thinking: How can I create a saw stool X workbench hybrid, which would be more portable than my portable work bench?

So I have played with the idea, and the result is a Saw Stool which looks like it has been on steroids:

View of the beast - a hybrid between a saw stool and a bench.

Here are the specifications:

Height: 880mm. The legs have a 10 degree splay to the ends and to the sides.
Length: 980 (plus tail vice outer cheek equals 1030mm overall.
Width: Pine 220mm, including jarrah front edge equals 260mm.
Tail vice: Maximum bite 240mm
· Minumum bite between dog holes: 240mm
· Maximum bite between dog holes: 1040mm.
Front vice: Maximum bite 140mm
· Minimum bite between dog holes: 110mm
· Maximum bite between dog holes: 390mm.

View with the Tail Vice extended.

A 25mm square Tuart guide rod maintains the orientation of the vice cheek with the single vice screw.

Almost whole thing is made from recycled salvage material :
· Pine top – from a 10” x 3” solid pine beam.
· Legs, rails, and other odds and sods – from some 3”x2” jarrah wall studs.
· “Breadboard ends” - from an old jarrah door sill. · Jaw cheeks of the front and tail vices – from a jarrah 8”x2” ceiling joist.
· Vice handles made from Peppermint (Agonis flexuosa) I milled years ago.
· Tail vice guide rod made from a piece of Tuart (Eucalyptus gomphocephala) leftover from the making of the Endeavour Replica.
· The tail vice screw and front vice are those imported ones from China or Taiwan, bought from my local woodworking shop. The front vice is the smaller of the two models available locally, and is pretty disappointing. Its guide rods and screw are not square to the metal vice front and rear, and are barely parallel. However the tail vice screw is a ripper. These metal components cost less than $100 in total. I put the additional bit of jarrah onto the front side of the pine to beef up the work area a bit and provide a more durable front edge to the work area. The only reason I used pine was to help keep down the weight!

Putting the beast to the test.

I had a job to do on a different site straight after I have made the beast, so had a good chance to road test it. I was not disappointed. It worked brilliantly.

This job involved removing a customers front entry joinery, then installing and modifying a beautiful old piece of art deco joinery obtained from a demolished building and adding two more art deco side light sashes either side. This involved lots of tricky hand work on site, where the beast proved to be invaluable.

The holding capacity of the dogs worked really well, and both vices worked well holding components as I made them.

The only change I will make will be to add a removable shelf underneath, sitting across the spreaders, as there is nowhere to put tools being used.

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Best selling wood projects - An Elegant Jelly Cabinet Construction Part 10 Amish Design for Contemporary Use

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Finishing the Door

Remember that hole in the door frame - caused by inattention. I had cut the mortice too deep and the tenon simply didnt fill it.  Turns out I had done it to both sides - so two fixes are needed.

Solution: Add more tenon.
It is about as elegant as I can be in this position.

And it worked fine - not conventional, but necessary.

One end done - now to do the other.  This time I thought I would cut the tenons first so that they wouldnt suffer the same skinny fate as before.
How hard could it be?

Guess who forgot to allow for the panel grooves.
Gnats with lobotomies dont make these kinds of mistakes.  A lesson in humility - AGAIN!
A frantic search of the workshop found  an offcut that will substitute as another rail. Saved!

The Australian Rosewood panel had to have its edges reduced to fit inside the groove in the frame.  I used a router with a dished bit and created a raised field in the middle of the rosewood.  This field sits at the same level as the frame, and the play of light and shadow between it and the frame is quite pleasing I think.
The groove needed some adjusting as well.  Good old side rebate plane to the rescue once more.  Long ago, before I acquired this plane, I could not have imagined how much use it would get.

Here is a trial fit:

Before assembling, I took the chance to break the inside edges of the frame with sandpaper - being careful not to round over any place where the edge formed a square joint.

When assembling, it is important to check for square. The easiest way is to measure diagonals to both sets of outside corners - luckily they were the same and the frame did not need racking.

Applying the Mouldings

 These had been made previously  and are to be fitted to both the top and the base.  When I tried them, they complemented the top very nicely, but looked too heavy for the base.  So the base mouldings were thinned down to a shadow of their former selves.

Fitting them is tricky.  Do them one corner at a time - and get it right before cutting the mitre on the other end. It always takes more of the moulding than your measurements will show.

I like to cut them over-long, and sneak back to the finished size in very thin increments.  You can never add length to an over-cut mitre.  Whats that old saying:

 "...... Damn, ........... Ive cut it twice - and its still too short!" 

 


I deliberately start with the bottom moulding - if Im going to make any errors that I have to learn from, it will be on the minor moulding, not the major one at the top.
 Trial fits are essential - especially in establishing the mitre. Sometimes 45 degrees will not work, and 46 is needed.
After lots of trial and error I clamp the front moulding, and and mark its position before adding glue.  It is amazing how slippery these can be with glue and clamps added, and the reference marks are then vital.
The others are done one at a time - there is nothing worse than gappy mitres that look like they need orthodontic help.

I only have enough soft-jawed clamps to keep any two mouldings in place, so while the second - at the base - is drying, I can make a start on the top.

Getting a grip on a sloping moulding can be difficult.  Here I use an offcut from the same profile, and reverse it to give a square surface for clamp adhesion.

The Finished Product

All rightee then ...........

Fit the feet ................................

............................    fit the door, clean up clamp marks and give everything a final sand.

I recently acquired a box of reproduction antique door handles from one of my woodworking associates, and one of these suits the door remarkably well.  Many thanks Bob.

Will it be a Jelly Cabinet?
No  ........................... not even a jam cupboard, or even a cabinet for preserves.
This is its heritage of course, as it hails from an Amish or Mennonite Furniture design - however here at Telview Hill, it will be used for storing board games and puzzles that we use with the grand children.

Now if the weather will only stay kind for a week or so Ill be able to attack the next project - repairing the gables .....

Joyful days and small mistakes .....................

................. and happy woodworking to all ............................
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Best selling wood projects - School Holidays Grandchildren and Woodwork

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Our grandkids came to stay for the last little while as their parents are both working.
Since LOML and I are retired, we score the munchkins every holidays.
Most regular things seem to come to a halt when the ankle biters arrive, but occasionally I get to take them to the shed for some woodworking time.

My eldest grandson is in high school, so a project that will challenge him and satisfy his creative muse will be different from that for the little-uns.

Ry had a crack at an end-grain cutting block for his mum for her kitchen, and Em had a go at making a simple box.

Here are some progress piccies.

Ry planing the edges of his creation.
Lie Nielsen Low angle jack plane.

Chamfering the edges with a low angle Millers Falls Block plane

Em - the essence of nailing concentration

I love working with my grandkids at the workshop.
They like it too.
Happy shavings to all
Tom
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