Packed up

I'll be away for a while and have evacuated the shop. Dad's building a boat and needs the space.

Soprano project this far

Ok the forms are done. And on top of my miniature table saw is a jig for cutting fret slots on the finger boards. And in the mail is a new custom ordered heating blanket that turns out cheaper than the one I bought for the tenors.

Wood supply

I was considering taking the kids to the lumber yard tomorrow. But when I checked the stash I found some that needs using first. But if the kids insist...

Holding form

So, bending form and holding form are almost ready. I'm actually considering a different neck joint on my sopranos - the concept of a soundbox closed up and separate from the neck is quite appealing.

Bird robot 2

Benefits of a band saw: second bird robot took 10 minutes while the first took an hour.

Bending form 4

...and it's clad with steel. An old paint bucket got a nice afterlife.

Bending form 3

What a little cutie. Hope I can find a steel slat to cover it with.

Bending form 2

Almost done. I like the soprano already - even the jigs are so much smaller.

Bending form 1

This is of course the bending form taking shape. I'll make the sides in two pieces like everyone else this time.

Soprano, start

Getting ready for takeoff. I made a narrow body shape in order to use a few machines I don't even own yet. You'll see when I get them. Also, I like them small.

Another tool post!

So I got a band saw, a fairly good one from what I can tell so far. On it can be seen a piece of ash that I sliced. Maybe a bookmatched back.

2 hours later...

Normally I wouldn't want this much wood to fall out of the ukulele. But I'm optimistic. Tapping the top now seems to produce a different and louder sound. Maybe there's a real tool for doing this?

Post mortem

Well I'm back and I finally have decided that my only option is to thin the bracing to get a better tone out of 002. On the pic is the microplane I'll use.