Australian/New Zealand Luthiers Forum

Hi Jeremy. Thanks for the response. I'm sure I'll be happy with the unit, when it arrives. Yeah, Wayne; I too had wondered at the extra height of this vice, when compared to my existing, more regular vice. My workbench is a little higher than normal, so this could become an issue. There does seem to...

Hi all. I had a careful look at the specs of the Stewmac vice, and at the photograph of the vice at Carbatec, and came to the following conclusions: The Stewmac vice has a wheel, to which can be added (i.e. that comes with) a plastic handle that can be attached to the wheel, and (supposedly) allows ...

Wow Trent! This is really lovely. So many things to look at and admire; and so many ideas to think about when I next make a pretty parlour guitar. Just looking at the rosette sets my mind on a number of trains of thought, all of which are novel. And the thought of making a feature of the stacking of...

Hi again Ben (and Rodney).

Just for the record, I had a look at the Cremona Tools website in Italy, and can confirm that the Alex plane that you bought, Rodney, is in fact made by Qiangsheng.

Regards,

Frank.

Hi Ben. I've used Luban / Qangsheng / Woodriver (American distributor) planes, chisels and other products for perhaps the last 10 years, and I find them to be of excellent quality. They are all made by the same manufacturer in China but distributed under different names in different locations. I too...

Hoi Martin (and Dave; I'm concerned that we seem to be hijacking your original simple post. Sorry!) Yes, you're right and I'm wrong - although it's more a case of me knowing what I meant, rather than what I said! My apologies. Trying to put things another way, I'm saying that for a flamenco guitar, ...

Hi Martin. Thanks for your response. Perhaps I was not sufficiently clear. I most specifically DON'T want any vibration to be transmitted down the sides and to the back. I want it to die at the edges of the soundboard. This certainly isn't energy efficient, in terms of ensuring that all the vibratio...

Hi Dave. I'm about to make a flamenco guitar using Monterey Cypress. A few years ago, these trees were chopped down from where they'd been shading a football field for half a century, and I managed to score a few lengths. I've noted over the years that people do use this for flamenco guitars, but I'...

Hi Jim. If you look at the recent "Gallery" postings, you will see that I've recently posted some photographs of an 8-stringed tenor ukulele that I made last year. This started out as a 4-stringed instrument, but I decided, once I'd already braced it and glued the body together, and added the neck, ...

Hi Trent. Thanks for your comment. Above everything else, I'm retired, have no kids left at home, and no daily commitments. That helps greatly. I find the ukuleles to be relatively straightforward to make. I've heard people say that the work is almost the same as making a guitar - just smaller - but...

Hi Pete. Thanks very much for your reply. I appreciate your taking the time to comment. Nope; I'm sorry. It was a spontaneous thing. Someone (a building contractor, I guess) had just chopped a tree down on an "empty" block, in preparation to building a new house, and into circa 500 mm slabs (ready f...

These are photographs of the last of six ukuleles that I've recently built. This ukulele is made of two separate forms of Maple - Bird's-eye for the back and sides, and and figured Maple for the neck. I know that Bird's-eye Maple used to be popular in the 1970's for things like head-boards on beds, ...

Here are photographs of the fifth of six ukuleles that I've recently made. I made the soundboard from the wood of a tree that had just been cut down in front of my son's house in Upwey, here in Victoria. The freshly cut wood looked absolutely gorgeous - a bright orangey-peach - and I decided that I ...

This is the fourth of of six sets of photographs that I'm posting, with regard to a number of ukuleles I've made recently. Some forum members (with an interest in such things!) might recall that I asked a question regarding the advisability of "changing horses in mid-stream", and turning a standard ...

This is the third of six ukuleles that I made toward the end of last year. I have a good supply of highly figured Blackwood (from a farmer in Colac) and so I thought I'd use it up in a number of instruments (ukuleles and guitars) for both bodies and necks. This one has the following attributes: Soun...

Hello again, forum members. This is the second of six ukuleles I'm posting on the forum. The soundboard is of a species of spruce - but I've forgotten which; The back and sides are off-cuts of a particularly stripy slab of Sassafrass that I'm keeping for a few guitars; The fingerboard is of Blackwoo...

Hi forum members. Some time around the middle of last year, I came onto the forum and asked a number of questions regarding the construction of tenor ukuleles. A number of you were very kind, and freely gave me all the information I needed. Because I'm just a hobbyist, and often get lazy, it took me...

Ahhh.

The mist clears, and everything makes perfect sense.

Thanks for the explanation.

Frank.

Hi Allen. I've just about finished an 8-string tenor ukulele, and had thought to attach the strings to the bridge using four bridge-pins - two strings per pin, and subtly notching the saddle to force the correct string spacing. I see on you (beautiful) instrument that you have eight holes, in four p...

Hello all, and thank you for your thoughtful, considered answers and opinions regarding my question. It's a real privilege to be able to access the thoughts of others - many known and acknowledged experts - and have them turn their attention to an issue. I'm very grateful. Jeremy's cautions are abso...

Hoi! I'm the bloke who perhaps two months ago posted a picture or two showing stuff I was making, and in this were a number of guitars and ukuleles (five ukuleles, to be exact). I'm getting close to finishing the ukuleles, and have decided - for the sake of variety, and to stem boredom - that I shou...

OK; I'll bite! My (small) bench is so full of stuff (like the baritone ukulele side-bender and control box for the silicone blanket, that I've just made - see "Ukulele side bender"), that there's presently no space for doing anything much on it. Thus, I've taken all the stuff I'm working on, and am ...

Hi Andrew. Yes, we seem only to be muddying the water. Sorry. I resanded the cocobolo in the place where the brace was to go, and cleaned and reglued the brace that sheared off, with Titebond. I wiped the area where the brace was to be reglued with acetone (on the basis that I just couldn't see how ...

HI DEMONX. THANKS FOR THE REPLY, AND FOR STUFF WORTH THINKING ABOUT. MY BRIEF RESPONSES ARE IN CAPITALS (SORRY FOLKS, I'M NOT "SHOUTING"; JUST TRYING TO BE CLEAR WITHIN THE BODY OF SOMEONE ELSE'S MESSAGE) Frank: I very rarely use acetone or similar to clean wood prior to glue up, I prefer a fresh sa...

Hi all. This isn't going to help anyone, in terms of supplying a definitive answer to the question, but rather it's a note to say that I sympathize, and share your pain! I've been trying to glue spruce braces onto a Cocobolo back. Because I've heard that this can be a problem, I asked an experienced...