String holder

Hello again. Now I’m gonna wrap this one up and get it to a place where we can see whether or not I stil know what I am doing. So I retrieved a cone, a coverplate, a biscuit and some tuners from the stash, and then I realized I need to make a string holder. The punched key-holes in the cover plate are great if you want to shorten your strings quickly, but I have an old nailcutter for that. 

Fortunately I have some keys from and old pedal organ. One of them will do nicely. 

Before I cut it to length I scrape the underside to make it fit the coverplate.

After cutting it I try to shape the new end so it matches the original one, then I mark the position of the holes and drill for screws. 

This is the way it is attached. I will drill holes for the strings tomorrow. 

This post was made on my phone but the app I usually make them in has stopped working. So it might look a bit rough. 

Life sign from the workshop

Man alive the day job did a number on me and my time spent in the shop. Suddenly it was mud August and I had to start commuting to town and also some rather strange places abroad. 

I was surprised when I started on this uke by how many things I did remember when it came to techniques and methods, but I seem to have lost some of my touch when it comes to finishing. I have been struggling a bit with the French polishing, and I still need a few more coats before I can move on to buffing it out. 

That said, it does look rather nice wouldn’t you say. 

Starting finishing

Hell-o, now there will be a few posts showing the equivalent of paint drying. I started out with a few coats of shellac brushed on with a soft brush, then with that as a base I continued with the polishing process. 

(The book in the photo is a very good read but serves mostly as a prop to boost my credibility.)

French polishing is a wonderful process and at the same time a rather intimidating rabbit hole. I have developed a technique that I think works for me, but question it constantly. Mostly because of the amount of shellac, everything I’ve read measures the shellac in drops to be applied to the muneca, I tend to use a bit more. But as I said, it works.