Tonight I did some work on the tenor which is in progress. The first pic shows it clamped on the workboard. You can see the pickup I installed, a K&K twin spot. It's very neat and the cable won't rattle against anything. But I found it irksome to get the nuts tight enough and would not attempt to mount one of these on a completed uke, the back being off was crucial for me.
I build backwards, putting the braces in the body and not on the back. Here you can see me tracing the curvature on the radius dish.
With the Veritas apron plane clamped in the Zyliss vise I take the braces close to final shape. The braces are triangular in section, I sliced a longer rectangular profile into three pieces on the mini table saw. Grain direction is vertical.
Then some super fast sanding in the dish.
The braces are shaped with a carving knife and the miniature block plane (which is a lovely tool).
The notches in the linings are cut with a model maker's saw, I think it's an Exacto. I used one of these in England this summer and bought one when I got home. I've used a Japanese saw for this earlier but it's too aggressive. The notches are triangular to suit the braces.
Done. Would you look at those brass clamps? They're available online, I think I got mine from a webshop in New Jersey.
Also, in the foreground is my friend Tiny Plane, and its friend Wee Shavings.
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