Fireball Ukulele

About to close up the boxes

admin — Sat, 21 Apr 2012 03:22:01 +0000

The backs are just about ready to go on. I still need to add a rim of the kerfing to the top part of the sides. Just finished getting the tops trimmed and the sound hole cut out.

Side bending

admin — Thu, 22 Mar 2012 20:34:40 +0000

Here is a video of the side bending process. The noise you hear is the electric heat gun. I sped up the playback of the video 2X, so what took 5 minutes is shown in 2.5 minutes.

African cherry sides for Erik's uke

Adding extra heel and matching grain

admin — Thu, 22 Mar 2012 02:56:37 +0000

The sides on Ian’s uke are going to be a bit wider than the others I am building. I had prepared all of the neck blanks to accommodate 2 inch high sides, these will be about 2.25″ so I needed and extra half inch of material to work with. I sanded a level spot on the original heal, then added a block of wood which was cut from the same wood as the neck. Using the same wood means that I could find the same grain and match it to the grain in the heel. This is how it looks.

Starting assembly of Peter’s uke

admin — Thu, 22 Mar 2012 02:32:14 +0000

I am kind of glazing over the process of bending the sides. I’ll show that on some of the next ones. The sides are soaked in warm water and then bent over a steel pipe heating with an electric heat gun set on low. I put them in these simple drying forms which helps me see if the sides are symmetrical. After they have dried I mark the trim lines, and then cut off the overhang.

Building the machine that builds the machines

admin — Sun, 18 Mar 2012 16:10:06 +0000

I am to the point in the ukulele construction process where I start gluing things together. From this point on, I need to keep the neck and top in perfect alignment and flat. I have built individual strongback tables to build each one on, they are easy portable, even with clamps applied, so I can build and glue where there is good light and space, and then move them to an out-of-the-way place to let the glue dry.

Bottom side of strongback

Top side of strongback

Strongback table with ukulele top and neck

The first step is to sand the face of the top, then place it smooth face down on the strongback and tape it down aligned with the red centerline. Then I remove some of the neck surface where the glue joint is located, the same thickness of the top wood, about 1.5mm. This keeps the fretboard surface flush with the top.

After this glueup dries, it will be time to bend the sides and start glueing in the linings and bracings.

Building the fretboards

admin — Wed, 07 Mar 2012 03:09:28 +0000

Fretboards are probably the one part you need to pay attention and get everything right. With 10 fretboards to build, I had to figure out an effective process to make each cut, and not cut too much. I guess a lot of woodworking is like chess, you have to know what you are doing ten steps ahead and plan for it. First I got all of my blanks created, 1.875″ wide, 8.375″ long, 13 mm thick. Then I sized my miter box base to the same width so the blank would fit snuggly and be easy to hold in place by hand. I transferred all of the fret positions from a pattern to the blanks with a fine pencil mark, then used a fret slot saw to cut my slots. After all the slots were done I trimmed the tapered edges off each side (full width at the body but narrower at the headstock end).

I wanted the same pattern used on the headstock to be used on the front of the fretboard as a decorative transition to the soundboard. I created the curved cuts using a 4 inch hole saw chucked in the drill press. This gave me nice uniform curves. Then I replaced the hole saw with a sanding cylinder chucked in the drill press. I used this to taper the curved cuts and create a really nice bevel on the transition.

Gluing up the tops and bottoms

admin — Wed, 07 Mar 2012 02:40:18 +0000

For the tops and bottoms of the ukulele’s I am using bookmatched panels that I had resawn from various woods. Some of the wood I am using was from project scraps, I had a lot of really nice cherry from a bed frame project. But I did purchase a few larger boards of quartersawn quality which will yield many tops bottoms and sides.

I waited to find the most effective method for gluing up the bookmatched panels, using my quick clamps was really clumbsy and so I looked for a safer way. What I did was to find a piece of plywood larger than the panels. I added two screws on one side of the plywood to act as a backstop. I put a piece of tape to protect from gluing the piece to the clamp. Then I added two more screws to the other side, close enough to allow tiny wooden wedges to be slid between the screw and the wood. The amount of pressure created by these tiny clamps is enough to get a really nice joint (I have zero scientific data to back that up, I’ll let you know in 10 years if the joints held.)

Then, to keep the panels from popping out, I put weights on them the keep them flat on the plywood clamp.

Ukulele headstock details

admin — Fri, 24 Feb 2012 16:04:17 +0000

A lot of time has past since posting last, I took some time to make my workshop a bit more efficient by adding a door so I do not have to lift the garage door every time I go in/out. I also took some time to learn more about proper sharpening of my chisels and scrapers and planes. There is an art to sharpening blades, one of the most important skills is patience. I still have a lot to learn but I have improved and feel like my blade tools are the most valuable tools in the process while making my workspace safer.

The necks have now been refined to the point where only the final sanding remains to be done. I drilled out the holes where the tuning pegs (geared tuning machines) will be installed. I did a final thickness of 11mm for the headstock, the final sanding may make that be 10mm by the end. I will wait to do that step after the neck, fretboard and body are assembled together.

For the next step in the process I will begin assembling the fronts by gluing up the bookmatched wood. And while those are clamped up and drying I will begin making each of the fretboards. (A new shipment of fretwire is slated for delivery today).

Carving out the necks

admin — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 02:23:29 +0000

Shaping the necks is a sculptural process. From within a solid (or glued up) block of square edged wood comes a graceful and artistic object. At the end of this stage, the shape of the neck is very close to it’s final form. The neck profile is left thicker so that the rough surface can be further refined by fine filing and smoothing with scrapers and sandpaper.

Each neck is beginning to take on balance as well, and holding it in the playing position (left hand) you can feel how the instrument will cradle in your hand. The shaping from this point on will consist of reducing the neck profile until it “feels” like it would be comfortable to play. As I am refining the shape, I will put a fretboard on top and position my fingers in a few easy and a few hard chord shapes.

Plus one

admin — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 02:24:23 +0000

Cherry back and sides, mahogany neck, spruce top, walnut fretboard.