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 7 Neck Preparations

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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 - 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 - Building a Ukulele Part 10 Applying the Shellac Finish

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The first ever - Riverside Ukuleles - tenor ukulele has been completed - to the point where the shellac finish to the body can be applied.  This will be a time consuming process.
Here it is after four coats:

 

Up to this point the shellac has been applied with a brush.

After six coats I will change to a soft pad, and it will be Karate Kid style - wax-on ....

And the front ................

 

The fretboard has had the mother of pearl (MOP) fretmarkers inlaid into the top, and the side markers inlaid  as well ....... remember those knitting needles ......

I think Ill give the fretboard a waxed finish after it is glued on - wait and see ........

Now this shellac-ing is sometimes referred to as French polish, but it seems that French polish was bees wax based, and that shellac was actually an English finish - whod - a - thought.

The process is going to take some time, so Ill spare you the wait .......

In the meantime, enjoy some Brittni Paiva ..

... and even if you dont live in Alaska .... Uke-on ............!!!!!!!
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