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Acoustic Soprano Ukulele Build
PLANS AVAILABLE
PLANS AVAILABLE
Ok, so its Christmas 2013 and this project is a long time coming! Been toying with the idea of a 14" scale Uke for a while and finally got a little time spare to make a start.
No proper drawing as yet, but, i have enough done to make a start and the drawing will come together alongside the build.
First, what to make it from? Had a look in my wood store and found some smaller sheets of mahogany around one inch thick- fine for most parts of the uke, just struts and fretboard to find. Got some redwood, nice straight and close grained so that will be used for the struts and bracing. Fretboard and bridge may be Ebony-not decided yet.
The neck is made from two pieces, glued together to make the size required (see photos).Small pieces will be added to get the headstock width.
I managed to get all the parts out of a piece about two feet long by six inches wide. I used the bandsaw to cut the thickness down to just less than quarter inch and this allowed two spare ribs, (just in case)! These were then planed to thickness. About 1/8" for ribs and the same for front and back. The front will be further reduced.
Front and back are book matched timber and the two halves of each are glued on a flat surface with a sheet of paper underneath to stop them sticking down. This can be peeled/scraped off when the glue sets. I used a sheet of chipboard to lay them on and panel pins to clamp the halves together.
No proper drawing as yet, but, i have enough done to make a start and the drawing will come together alongside the build.
First, what to make it from? Had a look in my wood store and found some smaller sheets of mahogany around one inch thick- fine for most parts of the uke, just struts and fretboard to find. Got some redwood, nice straight and close grained so that will be used for the struts and bracing. Fretboard and bridge may be Ebony-not decided yet.
The neck is made from two pieces, glued together to make the size required (see photos).Small pieces will be added to get the headstock width.
I managed to get all the parts out of a piece about two feet long by six inches wide. I used the bandsaw to cut the thickness down to just less than quarter inch and this allowed two spare ribs, (just in case)! These were then planed to thickness. About 1/8" for ribs and the same for front and back. The front will be further reduced.
Front and back are book matched timber and the two halves of each are glued on a flat surface with a sheet of paper underneath to stop them sticking down. This can be peeled/scraped off when the glue sets. I used a sheet of chipboard to lay them on and panel pins to clamp the halves together.
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Ok, so its mid January and i have managed to bend the sides to shape on my home made bending iron and fit them into the mould. The slight scorching on the wood can easily be sanded out. The sides are a bit thicker to allow a little sanding and scraping (about 3mm). Started marking and cutting the sound hole and a simple three ply inlayed rosette for decoration. Also tidied up the neck blank and added some offcut wood to widen the headstock. Have been busy on a couple of other projects so progress is slow at the moment..
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Burbinga! nice timber for the fretboard and bridge!
Marking the fret positions
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Slots cut
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Rough shaping the neck
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Shaping the tenon
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Ready for the fret board
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Gluing the fretboard in place
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Making the channel for the rosette
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Rosette in three strips of wood
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Rough cutting for the headstock veneer
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Side dots fitted
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Cutting the shape for the headstock veneer
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Clamping and gluing in place
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Marking the bridge timber
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Neck block fitting
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Sound hole cut and sanded
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Clamping the bracing
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Bracing in position
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Fitting the kerfed linings
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Back in place
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Lining up the bits
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Feb 2015, and progress quite rapid now. Will be finished by the end of the month at this rate!
Fixing the top in place
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Routing the binding rebate
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Rebate cutter
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Fixing the Maple binding
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White pearl marker dots
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Fitting the frets
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Cutting the fret wire
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Job Done
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Body all bound up
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Neck Tenon cut
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All joined up
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Measuring the bridge position
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Tuning machines fitted
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Neck Glued in.
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End of February 2015 and she is ready to go. Very nice project and can be made with very basic tools and facilities. Probably a nice first acoustic build for the less experienced builder and very rewarding.
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The Finished Uke with a Danish oil finish. A humble little 14" Scale Ukulele with a beautiful sweet tone. All Mahogany with Burbinga bridge and fretboard
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