Extreme Closeups of the Cairns Ukulele Build

Talk about musical instrument construction, setup and repair.

Moderators: kiwigeo, Jeremy D

Post Reply
User avatar
Allen
Blackwood
Posts: 5252
Joined: Thu Oct 11, 2007 5:39 pm
Location: Cairns, Australia
Contact:

Extreme Closeups of the Cairns Ukulele Build

Post by Allen » Fri Oct 26, 2012 7:45 pm

Kevin, who was one of the Cairns Uke Build Class of 2012 works for James Cook Uni, and just so happens to have access to some electron microscopes. After the class he took some samples of all the components we used in building this years instrument so he could have a really good look at them.

He tells me that a microscope was rebuilt and needed to be tested out, so now was a perfect time to look at the samples. I find them to be totally amazing.
Brazilian-Mahogany-1.jpg
Brazilian-Mahogany-1.jpg (77.92 KiB) Viewed 14584 times
Brazilian Mahogany - Body and Neck
westernredcedar1.jpg
westernredcedar1.jpg (56.2 KiB) Viewed 14584 times
Western Red Cedar - Sound Board
coastalbanksia-3.jpg
coastalbanksia-3.jpg (81.7 KiB) Viewed 14584 times
Coastal Banksia - Peg Head Overlay
ironwood-2.jpg
ironwood-2.jpg (81.79 KiB) Viewed 14584 times
Ironwood - Fret Board and Bridge
bone-2.jpg
bone-2.jpg (83.22 KiB) Viewed 14584 times
Bone - Nut and Saddle
Allen R. McFarlen
https://www.brguitars.com
Facebook
Cairns, Australia

User avatar
Nick
Blackwood
Posts: 3641
Joined: Thu Feb 26, 2009 11:20 am
Location: Christchurch, New Zealand
Contact:

Re: Extreme Closeups of the Cairns Ukulele Build

Post by Nick » Fri Oct 26, 2012 8:24 pm

Great pics Allen, certainly makes you drop your jaw at the complex & minute detail nature does all the time that we can only dream to recreate!
Thanks for posting :D
"Jesus Loves You."
Nice to hear in church but not in a Mexican prison.

User avatar
Kim
Admin
Posts: 4376
Joined: Wed Sep 26, 2007 8:32 pm
Location: South of Perth WA

Re: Extreme Closeups of the Cairns Ukulele Build

Post by Kim » Fri Oct 26, 2012 8:58 pm

Terrible runout in the coastal banksia Allen but that cedar looks to be luvley stuff :)

The microbial world of lutherie is one we seldom see and indeed it is totally amazing.

Cheers

Kim

User avatar
woodrat
Blackwood
Posts: 1155
Joined: Tue Nov 25, 2008 6:31 am
Location: Hastings River, NSW.
Contact:

Re: Extreme Closeups of the Cairns Ukulele Build

Post by woodrat » Fri Oct 26, 2012 10:13 pm

Thank You Allen for posting.....They are amazing pictures!

John
"It's never too late to be what you might have been " - George Eliot

User avatar
matthew
Blackwood
Posts: 1190
Joined: Mon Oct 08, 2007 1:16 pm
Location: Sydney, Inner West
Contact:

Re: Extreme Closeups of the Cairns Ukulele Build

Post by matthew » Fri Oct 26, 2012 11:19 pm

nice pics.

You've got a bit of pore-filling ahead of you I see.

User avatar
charangohabsburg
Blackwood
Posts: 1818
Joined: Sat Oct 16, 2010 1:25 am
Location: Switzerland

Re: Extreme Closeups of the Cairns Ukulele Build

Post by charangohabsburg » Sat Oct 27, 2012 2:18 am

Very nice pictures Kevin, thank you Allen for posting them.
Kim wrote:Terrible runout in the coastal banksia Allen but that cedar looks to be luvley stuff :)
Kim, I think these are two different views: the Costal Blanksia picture shows how (in a tangential cut) tracheids find their way around two medullary rays (which of course could be called some kind of "locally limited runout"), while I reckon the red cedar picture shows some cell pitting in a radial cut where at this enormous magnification it is impossible to say if there is heaps of runout present or none at all.

@ Matthew: I can't see a single pore in the pictures above, wood cells are just that rough! ;)
Markus

To be stupid is like to be dead. Oneself will not be aware of it.
It's only the others who suffer.

Dave Stewart
Wandoo
Posts: 15
Joined: Sat Jul 30, 2011 12:45 am

Re: Extreme Closeups of the Cairns Ukulele Build

Post by Dave Stewart » Sat Oct 27, 2012 7:06 am

Is that before or after using the "tonerite". (Actually, that's a couple of closeups I'd LOVE to see!)
Dave
Milton, On. Canada

User avatar
J.F. Custom
Blackwood
Posts: 779
Joined: Fri May 01, 2009 9:13 pm
Location: Brisbane
Contact:

Re: Extreme Closeups of the Cairns Ukulele Build

Post by J.F. Custom » Sat Oct 27, 2012 9:31 am

Amazing stuff. 8)

Out of interest, were these 'rough sawn/unrefined' pieces, or finish sanded/scraped - but without a finish applied?

Jeremy.

User avatar
Dominic
Blackwood
Posts: 1098
Joined: Thu Jan 10, 2008 8:58 am
Location: Canberra

Re: Extreme Closeups of the Cairns Ukulele Build

Post by Dominic » Sat Oct 27, 2012 12:15 pm

Looks like you need to sharpen up your planes a bit.
You can bomb the world to pieces,
but you can't bomb the world to peace!

User avatar
Allen
Blackwood
Posts: 5252
Joined: Thu Oct 11, 2007 5:39 pm
Location: Cairns, Australia
Contact:

Re: Extreme Closeups of the Cairns Ukulele Build

Post by Allen » Sat Oct 27, 2012 5:57 pm

Sorry Guys, can't help you with anything other than what I told you. I'll try and get Kevin to chime in. I think he's joined the forum, but didn't know how to post the pictures himself.
Allen R. McFarlen
https://www.brguitars.com
Facebook
Cairns, Australia

lauburu
Blackwood
Posts: 229
Joined: Sun Oct 17, 2010 7:25 am
Location: Auckland NZ

Re: Extreme Closeups of the Cairns Ukulele Build

Post by lauburu » Sun Oct 28, 2012 5:20 am

Stunning work, Kevin. Thanks for showing us a different dimension. It helps to underscore why luthiery is so complex.
Thanks for posting the pics Allen.

Kev3
Blackwood
Posts: 117
Joined: Fri Oct 12, 2012 12:35 pm
Location: Townsville, Queensland

Re: Extreme Closeups of the Cairns Ukulele Build

Post by Kev3 » Sun Oct 28, 2012 10:23 am

Hi everyone,
.... and thanks to Allen for introducing me to the members of the forum. Given the fact that I'm only just about to embark on my first "solo" build, I haven't much to contribute here and certainly wouldn't class myself as a luthier ! But one of the many hats I wear at work is electron microscopist, and the results of that appear to be somewhat of interest. So, to try to answer some of the questions, comments.....
The images were taken of small off-cuts etc from the Cairns build run by Allen and Micheal mid this year. Most of the material had been thicknessed and cut to close to final dimension, so there was not much scientific rigour in what I kept to look at in terms of specific orientation to grain etc. Mostly what you see are broken / torn surfaces - at this scale even the sharpest blade will leave tool marks and will often smear the features like cell structure at surface (particularly things like the bone). Once chopped up to ca. a couple of mm they were mounted on a small sample platform for easier handling and then gold coated (how about that for a different kind of finish to tone wood!). After that I simply collected a few images that looked visually pleasing. So again no real plan to document them thoroughly.
Might be fun to do so in the future though, maybe compare planed surfaces to sandpaper, extremes of softwood to hardwood......
Anyway, the images were more for fun than anything else. But they put a different spin on photos of a build - and remind us that there are different scales at which to view the world, a tree tens of metres in height needs structural fibres and "plumbing" on the micron scale and bio-chem reactions at the molecular level to do its thing. Miracle it all works and holds up really.
Glad you liked the images. Maybe I'll add more in the future.

Kevin
...............
Kevin

User avatar
Localele
Moderator
Posts: 373
Joined: Tue Aug 12, 2008 6:54 am
Location: Corndale,NSW
Contact:

Re: Extreme Closeups of the Cairns Ukulele Build

Post by Localele » Sun Oct 28, 2012 11:29 am

Hi Kevin, It might be interesting to have a closeup of both the blade that did the finishing and the finish it left on the timber surface.
Don't take this too personally but of course with my ridiculously sharp tools it may not be possible to see the tool marks with the instruments you have on hand.
Cheers from Micheal.

Remember the "5P Rule".
Preparation Prevents Piss Poor Performance.

User avatar
charangohabsburg
Blackwood
Posts: 1818
Joined: Sat Oct 16, 2010 1:25 am
Location: Switzerland

Re: Extreme Closeups of the Cairns Ukulele Build

Post by charangohabsburg » Sun Oct 28, 2012 1:03 pm

Hi Kevin, I was about to ask the same as Micheal, but expecting something slightly different than he does...

It would be great if you could get the possibility to take some SEM photographs of a ridiculously sharp blade sharpened by Micheal, and a specimen of wood planed by him. It would be really revealing I think.
Markus

To be stupid is like to be dead. Oneself will not be aware of it.
It's only the others who suffer.

Kev3
Blackwood
Posts: 117
Joined: Fri Oct 12, 2012 12:35 pm
Location: Townsville, Queensland

Re: Extreme Closeups of the Cairns Ukulele Build

Post by Kev3 » Sun Oct 28, 2012 2:33 pm

Well now Micheal, I can do that. All I need is an example or two of your ridiculously sharp blades !
..... maybe still attached to the sound hole / rosette cutter ?
:wink:
...............
Kevin

Post Reply

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 132 guests