Making a piccolo bridge

I make my one piece piccolo bridges from a length of bridge blank profile. I've made about a meter of profile two times and only have enough left for one more after this one.

In the first pic I dial in the height. I'm happy to say that this value is quite consistent now, after loads and loads of piccolos. Jigs, solera and skillz.

In the second pic I shape the compensated saddle part. With an expensive Japanese gouge. This is the feature most people mention when scrutinizing my piccolos and I believe it's crucial for intonation.

In the last pic it's more or less done, save for some scraping and maybe sanding.

Using the fretting pliers

With an extra caul I should be able to fret a piccolo neck.

The fret is cut to length and the ends are shaped.

The middle pic [is bad but] shows the pliers as I'm about to press the fret in.

And it works! I need to work a bit on the technique, but who doesn't.

Splitting a spruce log

Armed with a riving froe and a helpful brother, I set out to split a log from an old barn. The barn was from the 19th century and fell down near a mate of mine.

Splitting was hard work, but the wood is perfect.

Ripping wood for mr Monteleone

Why keep good news secret? Patsy has asked me to build a mahogany and spruce uke in my piccolo size. And I managed to find a scrap piece of my highly valued 1960's mahogany, the same plank as my own soprano and a few others are made from.

The piece is about the right size.

I planed the edges and scored deeply with a marking gauge. 

Then, with my Pax rip saw, I started to cut from the corners. 

And look, three pieces from a 14 mm board. That's better than I could hope for with my bandsaw at this time - it's wobbly and the driving belt just broke. 

Buy a Pax rip saw, join the 19th century (it's a bit lonely here).

Out of proportion

Small stuff is built with small tools. Check out the miniature block plane I got from my favourite dealer Lee Valley. It's a mini version of their excellent block planes, and it's possible to give away as a funny but wee conversation piece.

But let me tell you, it works perfectly. This morning I used it to shave the tops of the back braces of this piccolo.

Building ukes has been more or less on hold for two weeks. We've been busy building a storage wall in our bedroom. Maybe that wall will find its way into the background in one of these posts.

And good news, I got a very interesting question from one of my supporters - a custom piccolo. Stay, as they say, tuned.