A wee batch of wee ukes

I was gonna wait with the third one, but it wouldn't leave me alone. The two with the stripes are sanded and ready for fretting, the one on the left needs some sanding to catch up.

I'll finish them when I get back from Ouagadougou. Work trip, another embassy.

Safe-T-Planer, cont.

Crikey, I like it! The table turned out decent (after I cut away enough material for the height adjustment handle to rotate...), and even though the top speed was lower than the recommended the koa plates weren't ruined.

I will use it to reach a wee bit above final thickness and finish with scraper. Or thickness sander if it decides to behave.

Safe-T-Planer preparations

Since my thickness sanders went all funny I've started to think about my safe-t-planer that I bought a while back. A quick test during christmas went really bad, because the base board I threw together wasn't sturdy enough. So this is a new and hopefully permanent one, with these pieces on the bottom side to stiffen it. I'll put on a fence along the back edge on the top side, as the instruction videos show.

I'll also consider a lever to put pressure on the wood on both sides of the planer.

Are you paying attention?! I will be asking questions later.

Carving a cherry neck for Andy

Guided by little more pressure than its own weight, the super sharp single bevel Hock knife takes tiny shavings off the neck, blending the different curves into a single surface.

After half an hour of carving, I always feel elated. Like maybe a replica of my former and younger self, instead of like a shadow.

Andy in Switzerland, it is coming along. Slowly.

Bridge clamped on Robin's new top

Well, I'll finish the shellac with the bridge glued. I couldn't wait really.

And the damn cedar looks dinged and used already, it dents so easily during assembly. And assembling it the way I did this time involved a bit of brute force.

Almost resurrected

Ouch! This might be to much for Robin (as in "too hot to handle, too cool to touch"). Binding is glued, but I had to use this plain white because the other stuff I had home didn't work well with the glue at hand. I'll buy some better with the accelerator thing. But I like the look of it, like an old school guitar!

So I started the polishing process. Can you believe I promised binding, shellac, AND nail guards? I was either drunk, or Robin must have been very beautiful that night. Nail guards will be put on after a few coats of shellac, I don't want those to bond on bare wood in case I have to replace them.

As you see, I polish with a piece of masking tape where the bridge goes. Thanks Erich on UU for writing about your good experience of doing that. So far no glue from the tape had bled out, and it is easier getting a good finish around the bridge this way.

And thanks to that guy on the internet (I'm sure you know who I mean...) who gave me the idea of using an eraser in the muneca instead of a piece of wool.

I'm gonna let the shellac gas out a bit now.

Face transplant

Suddenly, it all went very quickly. Hopefully everything will line up as before.

Robin's soundboard braced

Finally. I re-used the brace closest to the neck, but made a new and slightly better for the middle one. Bridge plate has the same dimensions, but I have to evaluate the need for the single racer brace that was there originally. The cedar I use this time is stiffer and might not need it.

I think I'll have to rely on Robin's tinnitus, and just tell him it sounds exactly the same as before.

A moore worse kitchen?!

Walking somewhat proudly in the unpenetrable shadow of real ukulele builders, I gathered it was the proper thing to do.

To those of you who do get my drift, well... I didn't even make doors for the cabinets!