Learning Ukulele 50 Sites Top 50 Ukulele Sites Argapa Ukuleles - one size louder: 10/1/08 - 11/1/08

Thursday, October 30, 2008

Planed wood

So I tried the planer on the top halves. It worked perfectly, a crisp
shining surface. I must try to avoid sanding. The machine was easy to
use, relatively quiet and it's made for really small dimensions. As
for scale - the pieces in the pic are 80 mm wide.

Saturday, October 25, 2008

A very nice plane

The 'Little Victor' plane from Lee Valley Tools has proven itself to
be a really good buy. It is easy to use and gives a super result.

Resawing mahogany

Who said you need a motor on the bandsaw? Found an old saw for 4€,
did a crap job at sharpening it - and I'm on my way! This was just a
small piece enough for a (or just maybe two) bookmatched top, it's
been around since the 1960s when my dad bought it.

More updates will follow, if the dayjob allows.

Thursday, October 23, 2008

Fretboard jig



And a little jig for slotting fretboards. An unholy alliance of MDF and really old honduran mahogany...

I bought a couple of different blades, I plan to try bar frets as well as fretwire.

Power tools



And here you can see the extremely small german machines I expect so much of. A table saw and a thickness plane for small dimensions. Remember, these are to be used in my apartment. Bigger things will still be made at my dad's workshop where my full size equipment is checked in.

I must fit them with some old vacuum cleaner for dust and shavings.

Tool parade


Nice tools are hung on the outside, so they'll be seen. And I also tried to take into consideration which ones will be used most often.

The only problem so far - how do I make nice holders for the Ibex finger planes?

Workshop report 2



...and here you can see it with the cabinet open. An extra pair of swinging "doors" provide capacity.

This has taken me so many hours. Most of the tools have custom made holders and hooks. And on the tabletop you can see a jig like one of the many Pete Howlett shows in his excellent instructional videos on youtube. If you haven't seen them, close this window and go directly to youtube!

Workshop report 1


Well since the iPhone has such a nasty camera I took some photos with a real one, so these are posted from the computer. I feel like such a novice.

But anyway, on the pic you can see the small ultra compact workshop for building ukuleles that I now have in the basement. Workbench with drawer from Clas Ohlson, cheapo wooden cabinet from IKEA.

Wednesday, October 15, 2008

Workshop nearly done

I am so sorry for not updating for such a long time. Building has been
on hold as we try to complete the shop in the newly expanded
apartment. It will however be worth the wait, and if I have any
readers left I promise to give you some exciting but low-res pics of
the Soprano project!