Best selling wood projects - Making A Boat Paddle Tenor Ukulele Part 7 Neck Preparations

Best selling wood projects

Long time no uke .....
Where were we?
OK, the body shell sides are  ready and glued in place.
The neck block has to be made to accommodate the neck tenon.
I have chosen Australian cedar for this because of its lightness and strength.
The neck block has to be moulded to fit the shape of the top end of the body - it will also support both the top and back of the uke.

Cutting Out The Neck

I have made up the neck blank from three strips - two of sassafras and one of Australian rosewood.

 One end is cut to leave the middle piece of rosewood.  This will act as the tenon to anchor the neck and body together.

Here is the neck roughly laid out on the laminated blank.

The angle of the headstock to the neck is 15 degrees - easily measured with a protractor and angle gauge

After laying out the neck shape precisely, I cut it out on the bandsaw.

Here are the offcuts and the roughed out neck.  I keep the scraps - they will come in handy later.
All of the remaining shaping of the neck will be done by hand using rasps, spokeshaves and scrapers.

Ill move on to that next.
Happy shavings

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Best selling wood projects - Where Have You Been Watcha Bin Doin

Best selling wood projects

Holy macaroons Batman, doesnt the time fly when you are busy.
A short potted history for between my last post and this one -

• house painting - outside
• grandkids
• renovations and repairs to the main bedroom and walk in robe
• house painting - inside
• travel
• grandkids 
• house painting - outside
• re-building with my son, his garage
• travel
• grandkids
• house painting - outside
• uke
• singing
• travel
• Hastings Woodworkers Guild

Where was I up to with those projects....................
The ukulele hasnt moved from its last known location and condition - still on the "to get finished" list.

I have begun a hall table for our Guild exhibition in a month and will document it here.

Building a Hall Table - Part 1

My good friend Terry gave me a couple of slabs of camphor laurel that he no longer needed, and I decided that one of them would contain enough timber for a hall table.
I laid it out and cut it before I thought to take a picture.
Here is whats left of the slab - not very impressive is it?

Here is a hint of its lovely colour:

Heres what it dresses like to reveal the multi coloured grain

I cut out the legs and the side rails and glued them in using mortice and tenon joints:

Heres a close up of the joint showing the completed side rail tenon in its mortice as well as the mortice for the front rail:

Here are all four legs with both side rails glued in place:

The front and back rails will have a strengthening cross piece let into housings.  Here I am cutting them with a tenon saw before chiseling out the waste.

Here is the completed cross member sitting in its housing as a trial fit:

Finally with all pieces ready here is a trial fit of front and back rails before glue up:

After glue up Ill work on the table-top.
Happy shavings to all
Tom
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