Learning Ukulele 50 Sites Top 50 Ukulele Sites Argapa Ukuleles - one size louder: 12/1/08 - 1/1/09

Saturday, December 6, 2008

Bar frets



You should be able to see the bar frets clearly on this pic.

Finished! And high res pic!


So it's done! It could use a couple of layers of extra oil, and the frets need crowning (that means I need a new tool!), but I am really really proud.
It sounds awesome. Maybe I should find a way to post some soundclips.

Friday, December 5, 2008

Strung up

Here it is, next to my Brueko (which is to the right...)

Already it has a warmer, fuller voice than the Brueko. Less punch
though. I should let the strings settle, and more importantly, let the
oil finish dry completely.

Finish drying

I will try and post some high-res pics when it's done. Hope you get
some idea.

Applying finish

Look what the oil does to the wood. What a difference.

Almost there!

Can you believe it? Now where's that oil...

Glueing bridge

Lousy pic - sorry!
An old c-clamp was suitable as bridge clamp. Also the reamer through
headstock. I'm in a hurry as Jukka and a few others are coming by
tomorrow. It would be sweet if it was nearly done by then.

Must find the oil!

Frets

I'm ready to file the bar frets. Hopefully it will be ok, at least
they're all perfectly level from the start.

In the pic can also be seen the bridge (not glued yet) and the nut.
Both are bone - that was really hard to work with.

Thursday, December 4, 2008

Fretboard

The 0.5 mm blade for the table saw naturally had the teeth set so the
cut was 1.2 mm. So I took the 1 mm blade and went with bar frets. It
worked like å charm - the slotting jig, the fretting, the shaping of
the ends, and the glue-up. This is a pic of the dry run, without
clamping blocks.

Bridge tomorrow?

Wednesday, December 3, 2008

Boxed up!

Ok the back's on! It did slip around a bit though, so I'm not sure
what I'll see through the soundhole once I get the chance to look.
Could be a small mess in there.

I'm considering a jatoba fretboard. A dense and quite heavy wood of
almost the same colour as the rest.

It's coming together

Well yesterday was obviously the "it's gonna look like a ukulele soon"-
day of this build. I put the neck and back braces on, but forgot to
take pics. Now I'm getting ready to put the back on, then it's
fretboard time!