Australian/New Zealand Luthiers Forum

Some lovely work, particularly the tail inlay. Something to aim for!

Very nice - love the rosette

That looks great. I started on kits too. If you are on your own i think its a good way to begin. Building from scratch isn't that much more difficult but you generally end up buying a lot more tools. Gives you much more freedom to experiment and opportunities for your personal creativity..imho. The...

My second uke - a 14 Fret Fan Tenor ukulele based on Hana Lima'ia plans. King Billy soundboard, Tiger Myrtle back and sides and bindings, minneritchi (acacia) fretboard, Queensland maple neck. Tru Oil finish. Keeping on learning. I mucked up one fretboard (chipped while resizing marker holes) and on...

Looks great - really good to be able to follow along!

Good work - very nice looking instrument!

I have tried a similar method myself with shellac and have managed to get the best finish I have ever had or seen bar none. However, it always crazes after a few days or weeks and that sort of makes it impractical. I have re-done the micromesh, and it still crazed but took longer. Gave up in the en...

Thanks Kev. I’ve read about the use of pumice, but have yet to give it a shot. I’m also interested in non-spray finishes. There is a luthier in the US called Les Stansell (http://www.stansellguitars.com) who uses an interesting approach where shellac is used in flood coats to pore-fill as well as a ...

Thanks one and all - I should have thought of that!

Hi All I have decided to redo the binding on my current Tiger Myrtle / King Billy ukulele build as I am not happy with the result (gaps and inconsistent depth of channel) and made the mistake of shaping them before deciding that the gaps / variations were more than I was happy with, so adjusting the...

In deep pores using this method you are going to experience some serious sink back down the road as the lacquer continues to dry. And that process of drying / shrinking never stops with a solvent based lacquer. That's why when builders are serious about dead flat and high gloss finishes that last t...

Very clean looking instrument! Nice balance (in my inexperience eyes) between traditional and modern

kpcart wrote: ↑

Thu May 07, 2020 10:32 pm

on a Chinese ebay purchased heating bender,

Hi - do you have a link to the seller? I have been looking at these - you're happy with it?

ebhsbill wrote: ↑

Mon May 11, 2020 5:33 pm

I like the simplicity of the build with the jigs you have.

Thanks!

Just a quick observation; That T-Nut in the Solera where the Sound Hole is, should be on the other side of the Board. This is so the Nut digs into the Timber under compression. If you put too much tension on yours, it will pull out. MM Spot on - it most certainly did pull out - I will look at reloc...

Continuing to progress - sound board braced, neck shaped, ledge cut and glued, tail piece shaped, sides glued at neck and tail, tentalones cut and glued. Waiting for glue to set and then will clean up. Really enjoying working with hide glue - clean up with either warm wet cloth, or nicely with a sha...

Very nice!

Thanks all. I think a taper and heal cap sound like a plan. I’m not using an arched back and haven’t put together a radius dish at this time, so plane and sand.

With the neck block fitted and the sound board in place, it is clear that the sides are a couple of mm too deep for the neck. I could taper the sides, reduce the overall depth or build up the neck block. Suggestions or advice received gratefully

Graham McDonald wrote: ↑

Thu Apr 30, 2020 8:45 am

You are making allowance for the soundboard before gluing the neck and sides together ....

Most certainly, Graham - trial fit up at this stage - still to shape the neck and size and shape other internal blocks - just had to see what it looked like (and check the cutting of the neck slots)!

My second build, following a Stew Mac kit. This one is a kit from Australian Tonewoods, with Tiger Myrtle sides and back, and a King Billy soundboard. The fingerboard is Gidgee. Using (or attempting to use :D ) the Spanish method. The kit from Tim is brilliant and requires much more involvement than...

Finding your book very useful thanks. And yes, once we are past this, it would be great to actually meet some people who know what they are doing (or at least are further along the learning curve). The Canberra Woodcraft Guild has an instrument making special interest group that I will also get in t...

I have my copy - great to have a resource from a local craftsman - I ordered on line before realising I could have popped around to pick it up (before social distancing set in!)

Howdy - I’ve just completed a Stew Mac tenor kit, which I found very valuable as a first build learning experience and yielded a nice playable instrument. I have attached a couple of build photos, I have just ordered a kit from Tim Spittle which I am very excited about - a tenor with Tiger Myrtle ba...