Messing around with a couple of necks

I started tidying the shop to get some space for building a christmas gift to myself and my wife. But with half finished projects littering the place it's too damn easy to pick something up and continue building. 

Tonight my eyes fell upon the resos. The necks already had holes for the barrel bolts so how hard could it be just to drill for screws and tie everything together?

The first picture shows the fifth dry run. 

I had forgotten the level of engineering skills I have to fake to build these! How on earth do I choose, and then set, the proper neck angle?

I put a cone in and a cover plate on, then did some dodgy calculations. On my acoustics it's easy - I just bend the neck a bit when I glue the back on. The back always covers the heel and keeps the angle in place. The miniscule difference between the front and back edge on the upper bout is sort of masked by gouge marks and general asymmetries. 

But, back to the resos and tonights frustrations. It seems that an angle of two degrees is about right. I planed and pared away at the heels. The mahogany neck for the walnut reso was a bit brittle in the end grain so after shaping I let some CA glue soak in at the middle. I don't want that barrel bolt to come rushing out when I tighten the screw. 

The ash neck was easier, heavy and solid as a really solid thing. 

Here they are, neck angles and all. Took me 90 minutes. (I still need to clear the bench though.)

Scared man's router

Here's me trimming the overhanging bits of soundboard. Others prefer a flush cut bit in a router but I'm, ahem, past that. 

The truth is I don't dare to use a router, and they create un-manageable amounts of noise and dust. Not an option in an apartment workshop. Plus they're no fun to sharpen, chisels on the orher hand... Wait, what? This blog is about ukes? Sheesh. You people. 

And here's the box so far (what's important is that you can get a glimpse of the Argapa tool shrine - never mind the pesky uke).

Cutting a rosette

I have gained a bit of confidence, and an excellent tool. So I'm not as terrified of rosettes anymore. 

The cutter comes from the talented tool maker Micheal Connor in Australia. I can't say enough good things about it, or about Micheal. 

I scored two lines, flipping the cutter between them, then routed out the wood with a chisel shaped blade. Pics of the rosette later.