More neck work and started thin parts

Progress in the last two days. I made the initial saw cuts on the mahogany neck for SN21 and cut the back and sides out of Canary wood. I've decided since I'm going to build new tooling for this project I might as well build more than one of these at the same time. I cut out the back & sides out of Brazilian Rose Wood for SN22. Found a piece of qtr-sawn cherry for the neck. This neck won't be laminated since it's a 1-3/8 thick qtr-sawn board. I had to glue two pieces together for the heel section. The plan for SN23 is the entire instrument save the soundboard is of Black Walnut.

Neck Work

Today I cut out a new neck side template out of 1/8" birch plywood using the laser. Then I cut out some material for the neck from some old sconce side tables that I built years ago but no longer need since the renovation. This is good stuff; 4/4 Honduran Mahogany. It was a little tricky because I had to dodge some screw holes that were drilled for assembly. Using the template, I managed to miss the holes or make sure they would be buried out of site when the neck is shaped. There are 4 layers of lamination to get a total of about 3" thick. Glued together using Titebond Original glue.

Time: 3.5 hours

Total time: 8.5 hours

Mould finished, Neck side template

Assembled, cut out and sanded the mould for the ukulele sides. Cut out a neck template but botched it. I’ll have to make another one.

Time: 3 hours 

Total time: 5 hours

New Ukulele Project SN21

Started a new project today. Serial Number 21. This will be a concert size ukulele with fret spacing based on the rule of 18. Spanish style construction. This one is for my own personal use so I don't plan on selling it. Today I laid-out the mold for the sides using the laser on some plywood leftover from the kitchen cabinet installation. This stuff was surplus shelf stock and not good for anything except rough tooling.

Time: 2 hours 

Total time: 2 hours

Side panels and new project

 Cut out and planed the side panels for the Cobh mandolin. Started with quarter sawn cherry for the sides, but had problems as the wood was knotty. Probably wold break in the bending process so I made a new set out of black walnut. Ready for bending.

Started a new project; I'm calling this one a Mandolele. An arch-top ukulele with a soprano scale, strung in fifths like a mandolin. Floating bridge with a separate tailpiece. Laser-cut the profiles.

Made these with the laser. Ukulele medalion holders for our Hawaii Cruise.

 

 

Neck rough-out

Finished the neck rough-out. Added the Black Walnut head veneer. Built a head drill jig for the tuner holes. Drilled the tuner holes and engraved the logo.