International logistics

Sven, our busy manager of logistics and sales, has loaded his vehicle
with ukes number 15 and 16 for a hurried drop-off at the royal post.

When asked about the greatest challenges of his work, Sven smiles and
says (not without a boyish charm, but an iron will and a stern resolve
is obvious): "Getting these little masterpieces to their new home in
one [master]piece!"

Gotta hand it to the wondrous gang at Argapa - they combine
professionalism and a relaxed search for good times, at all times...

Alder uke strung up!

Ok, it's not ready ready, it needs some work on the finish and I need
some Aquila concert strings. But I needed to set it up in order to
make the nut and the saddle.

And guess what - it kicks the little square ass of my beloved number
one! I'll make a short vid in a while, just need to sort the kids.

Bridge clamped

Andy's small, minimalistic and extremely stylish bridge is clamped
with my small, minimalistic and extremely stylish bridge clamps.
They're from New York, even.

The uke is a few intense hours (and a couple of days worth of drying
time) from being done!

The MRSG in use

And here's a very suave young fellow using the block. Li took the pic.

I feel that with this simple sanding block my troubles are, if not
entirely gone, at least greatly reduced. And customers will have the
added satisfaction of knowing every uke was between my legs for an
hour during making.

Random progress

Well it certainly ain't boring, working on three or more ukes at a
time. As soon as some glue is setting on one, I can do stuff on
another. And it really helps to have different sorts on the bench -
the pineapple is very different from the rest, and the woods I use at
the moment are different too.

Alder carves extremely easy and won't splinter. Walnut sands easily
but is harder to carve; and cherry is somewhere in between. I'm really
curious about how alder takes the finish, I know the others will be
fine.

Sooo... a long weekend spent mostly in the shop has led to:
-Fretboard with bar frets on alder uke
-Sides cut and sanded on pineapple
-Bolt-on neck mounted on pineapple
-Neck mounted on fourth piccolo
-Early piccolos set up.

The frets on Andy's fretboard are the best I've done when it comes to
bar frets. It helps being a hobby builder and not having to depend on
ukes to pay the rent, bar frets wouldn't be an option if that was the
case.

Recollections of a fab sunday

So, what happened yesterday? Mab's pineapple got braced, lined and got
its top glued; Andy's fretboard got planed and slotted; Robert's
piccolo got a bone nut and string holes; and another piccolo started
to take shape. I think that it is for Simon.

...and back glued!

Yes. Time to go to bed.

Wait. Must eat first.

Bye

Preparing back, alder uke

Latest endeavour to raise quality in glueing process are these scrap
pieces put in place with CA glue. They might prevent slipping. I put
them on during a dry run, so fit is exact.

Back braces

First night in the shop for more than a week, work has been intense at
my office. Anyway, can you see the arching of the sides and braces? I
put the back braces in to make sure everything fits, and it helps
keeping the sides parallell. Glueing the back is easy this way.

Sanding sides

With my home made radius dish I make the dome shape for the back.
Squiggly pencil marks show where the low areas are. I'll be making the
back braces as soon as this is near perfect.

Working with my assistant

While I glue the solid linings in Andy's uke, Li does some sanding on
some scrap pieces. She then paints them gold and glues them together.

Alder ukulele mock up

Braces and bridge patch are in place, sides and neck just lying next
to the soundboard.

Alder neck carved

The neck for Andy's alder soprano is shaped with the tools visible in
the pic. Alder is a wonderful wood to work with, carves like butter.
The stripe is both for looks and for strength.

Those of you reading this, send a happy thought to Andy, he's gonna be
a father!

A mess that defies belief...

In it can be seen, barely and left to right:
- Fourth piccolo sides, with end block glued in.
- Thick piece of basswood bent to be sliced and used as solid linings.
- Alder sides for Andy's soprano, with blocks glued.
- Two almost ready piccolos. The one with the strings awaits final
sanding.
- Walnut sides for pineapple, blocks glued.
- Neck for pineapple, with maple stripe.
- Back and soundboard for pineapple, sanded to thickness in my sander.
- Alder neck with mahogany stripe.
- Soundboard and back of alder, sanded to thickness.
- Robert's piccolo with the back glued, ready for fret slotting with
the perspex jig.

I really ought to finish some of them.

Alder sides bent!

Ta-daa! Not cut to length yet, springback not at all bad. I'll let
them set in the form over night. Maybe they'll need some adjusting or
final setting on the bending iron. I'll put that to good use when I
bend the sides for the pineapple. I have no bending jig for those
(yet) so it will be done freehand on the iron.

Dark line on inside near waist is from a marker I foolishly used on
the foil to keep the side centered, it will be sanded and removed
Andy, I promise.

Bending alder sides, 4

First side in holding form, second under way!

Bending alder sides, 3

Lastly, the foil on the upper side is removed and the side is cooked
once more until dry. Hopefully springback will be minimal.

These posts are being made in real time, so you get the idea of how
long it takes me.

Alder - bends like butter, smells like a sauna! Wonderful!

Bending alder sides, 2

Waist first, then the bouts one at the time. Wood is wrapped in
aluminium foil to keep the moisture in. I apply some water a few
minutes before bending.

Bending alder sides, 1

First side in the bender.

Wood resawn for Andy and Markus

Finally got the alder (for Andy) and the wanut (for Markus) sorted. I
am really happy the way things turned out - the planks were even
better than I thought.

Now I sort of need a pineapple mold for Markus' ukulele... but I'll
fix the necks first I think. I already made a neck of walnut, but this
is darker and prettier so I'll just have to make a new one from the
same board.