The Baron’s soprano in for service

My friend Robin is off to the UWC in the States, so he wanted me to polish up his soprano that I built so many years ago. 

I checked the frets to make sure they were all level. There was one or two that needed attention but no big issues. 



I checked by letting my tiny square straddle three frets at a time. A high fret will cause the square to rock. 



Then I taped the fretboard and made sure all were crowned properly and polished them. 



After cleaning the fretboard thoroughly with some naphta and scrapers I oiled it with linseed oil and restrung it. It barks as it should, one size löuder!

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.

It's sanding weekend, innit?!

Oh how I HATE my thickness sander. Does a terrible job at the moment. I'm going back to hand planes and scrapers.

Thickness sander - if you read this: you have one week to change that crappy attitude, or you're going back to being a lathe. I mean it.

Wanted: a diagnosis...

There might be something seriously wrong with me. I keep starting new projects when I really should finish some of the ones that are under way already. Like the three piccolos on the bench. Like Robin's soundboard. Or any of the ukuleles on the order list.

But what do I do? I renovate an old plane and start jointing and bookmatching some koa sets I got this summer. And who will get the three koa ukes I'll build? Me, Mange and Robin of course...

No sanding this weekend. Got stuck in Tbilisi because of fog over the airport. But on Saturday, I promise.

Robin's new soundboard

Halves are jointed and glued. This setup with string and wedges is really effective and, better still, easily stored. This is important when you're building at home, but I have seen really nice board and clamp systems. Maybe I'll build one of those some day.

Thickness sanding this weekend. It makes too much noise to do in the evenings. And I need to empty the dust collector.

Maybe I could make Robin do that for me?

Resurrection of number 8, pt 2.

I got busy with one of the sharpest knives, and after 20 minutes I had gotten rid of the cedar and the glue around the edges. Even the wood under the fretboard extension was easily removed.

And we found some very nice cedar for the new soundboard. From Rob C, even.

Resurrection of number 8, pt 1.

So tonight Robin came by with the broken soprano. I told him I'd take it in, but I wouldn't open the case. I didn't think I could stand looking at it.

Bad news: it was a lot more broken than I would imagine possible.

Good news 1: it was just the top, sides and back were intact.

Good news 2: I handled the encounter better than I thought I would. Lump in throat but no tears.

First Argapa casualty

Poor Robin. Poor little cedar top Argapa. Damn you, ice covered slippery Swedish ground.

We'll attempt to fix it. But first the customary 40 days of sorrow.

Session at the Baron's

Mange and Robin:

My soprano, Mange's cherry sop, and Robin's with the cedar top:

A couple of hours later, with the harps and some more beer cans:

Last night I got to see a couple of Argapas when me, Mange and Robin (BaronK of Youtube fame) got together to drink beer and jam a bit. You can see the result on Youtube, at

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mvBPiirLsU8

And this post is done from a computer, so it was possible to have more than one pic.

Maybe this works as well:

Yay, it seems to work! If only the font could work as well. Back to phone blogging after this experiment.

Setup and ready to go

Robin was by today, and we both agreed it needed a much higher string
action - his manner of playing is much more forceful than mine. So he
reluctantly left it and I've made a higher saddle and also a higher
nut with deeper slots.

So now, finally, it's gonna be his.

It's done.

The finish needs to cure a bit longer, but the ukulele is done. I am
very pleased with it, in the pic you can see the screen showing the
demo vid I put up on Youtube. With any luck it also appears to the
right on this page.

First coat of oil

This part of the process doesn't cease to amaze me. The first coat of
oil really makes the wood come alive with a rich dark set of nuances
and also brings out the shimmering streaks that give all kinds of
illusive effects.

And to share this magic moment with you lot, I give you the usual: a
pic of oil drying.

These last few days have taken this uke from half done to almost
finished, and I know Robin is impatiently awaiting the result of my
labors.

To the left in the picture you can see Thomas' soprano and compare the
raw wood with the oiled.

Robin! Look!

How come the busiest weekends are the most fruitful building-wise?
Today I suffered the ancient swedish (and most likely heathen) ritual
called "höststädning med bostadsrättsföreningen", and then managed
to play for a few hours with some pals before it was time to head home
to put the kids to bed. Not a free minute.

But..! After the smoke had cleared I still had managed to finish the
fretboard, glue it without it slipping away, AND get started on the
bridge.

I am really pleased with myself. Still fighting a week-old migraine-
ish headache and a workshop so cluttered I have to stand bent sideways
at the hip to reach the bench. But things could be a lot worse.

So could this uke. I have this feeling it's gonna turn out awesome.
Robin, you might have to host a glöggfest this winter. That could also
be a good time for the prémière of the Good Cop / Bad Cop ukulele
opera.

Fretboard sides tapered

For some insane reason this post refused to go onto the blog for quite some time. So here it is with the sides tapered. I did the taper with a low angle block plane.

And the bridge got done as well!

Slots!

Shiny spot at end is superglue. Caliper came off unharmed. Slots are
cut with modified miniature hacksaws, a wooden block clamped square
guides the blade.

This is a task that is hard to start, but it's fairly easy once you
get going.

Frets!

Poor, poor Robin..! No posting for a looong time. So tonight I'll
attempt some slot cutting. Still waiting for my new thinner saw blade,
so I'll make the slots with a hand saw. When I made my last tenor I
clamped this caliper to the board, it was hard work stopping it from
readjusting itself. So. This time I simply superglued it to the wood,
and I'm ready to measure and mark.

Hopefully I can get it off.

Fretboards planed

Next to a couple of ukuleles, my minuscule planer looks quite massive.
It's not, but did a fine job planing the fingerboards today. The long
one is rosewood and the shorter one is African walnut. Both are really
goodlooking and would go nicely on both the mahogany uke and Robin's
with the cedar top. But as I suspect Robin wants rosewood I've more or
less come to the conclusion that the more neutral look would balance
the fact that three woods are visible already (mahogany, cedar and the
ash stripe).

It's not a wild mixture really, and the rosewood is quite lively as
well, but, you know, enough is enough.

Robin; we're definitely going somewhere with this one.

(Also, check out ShapeWriter app for your new iPhone. It kicks butt
when you're writing in English. You have to copy and paste and stuff,
but it's faster than doing this with the typepad. Use free version.)