Australian/New Zealand Luthiers Forum

Hi

This is my second instrument, which went a lot better than the first, but was not without it's problems. Nearly all of it was put together with HHG apart from the fretboard and bindings; I really liked using it and didn't even use clamps for most of it, will definitely use it again. It is built to Allen's spec's he posted for bracing and soundboard thickness etc - thanks Allen.

It still needs to be set up properly, and looks like a new bridge will need to be made, so I can get a low enough action (not sure how thin I can go on the bridge). I made a mistake when I made the plans and calculated it with a 6mm fretboard when it should have been closer to 3mm I also cut the sound hole way too big and had to add a few rings to make it look right, that's why it has a bound soundhole I need to pay more attention to sanding as well, it looked perfect with out a finish, but in the sunlight it is obviously not good enough.

Sorry for the average photos - I am hopeless behind a camera.

Back and Sides - Native Olive
Top - Sitka Spruce
Fret Board - Blackwood
Bridge - Blackwood
Bindings - Silkyoak
Rosette - Silkyoak/QLD maple
Neck - Qld Maple with CF truss rod
Tuners - Grover
Finish - Tru-oil
Strings - D'Addario EJ87T Titanium


The next one will be better again hopefully.

Cheers

Col

Very nice Col, well done. Wayne

Looks good mate. Nice clean work.

Nice ukulele.

Very nice Ukulele. The silky oak binding looks great!

That's a beaut uke Col !!! & a healthy pea patch, both winners.

Gazm wrote:That's a beaut uke Col !!! & a healthy pea patch, both winners.

The peas have been going nuts this season, the early spring here in Brisbane must have helped/

Col

Looks good Col.

For the bridge, mine are no more than 7mm tall.

Great looking Uke Col. Congratulations.
How did you find the Native Olive to work with?
Cheers
Al

Nice work Col, I'm liking the Olive as an alternative 'blonde' timber. Nice, neat and tidy.

You are a bit hard on yourself Col !! that is a cracker instrument.
wood combos are great!! well crafted indeed. bring on the next one!!

Cheers,

Christian.

Thanks for the comments guys.

ozziebluesman wrote:Great looking Uke Col. Congratulations.
How did you find the Native Olive to work with?
Cheers
Al

It bent easily, but it went black as buggery and I had to soak it a couple of times in a bath of oxalic acid to get it right again - I think I may have used too much water when I bent it. It didn't clog the sandpaper too badly as others have suggested.

Allen wrote:Looks good Col.

For the bridge, mine are no more than 7mm tall.

Allen, when you say 7mm tall, does that mean you have around 3.5mm protruding from the saddle? Mine is probably protruding 3mm and I am worried about the break angle if I take it down any more. The action is really high at just under 3.5mm, so the bridge would be 2mm to get it right. I don't know why I glued it on in the first place, I should have made another.

No idea on how to get it off, I was thinking a hot putty knife, as it was glued with HHG. I thought about concentrating a hair dryer on it, but I don't want to affect the bracing and centre seam.

Cheers

Col

No, the bridge itself is 7mm tall. I leave 2mm of wood in the bottom of my saddle slot. But all my saddles are stopped ones, not cut through.

I shoot for between 9.5mm and 10mm from the top of the soundboard to bottom of strings. So I will end up with 2.5 - 3.0mm of saddle to play with. Should also give plenty of room down the track to lower the action if for some reason it's required.

colburge wrote:
It still needs to be set up properly, and looks like a new bridge will need to be made

Col

I meant saddle, not bridge, I keep mixing them up. Thanks for the further info as well Allen.


Col

Nice one Col, the next one only gets better mate.

Jim

If you don't require the old bridge, then one of the easiest ways of getting this one off is to plane it down so there is just a thin veneer of wood left glued to the top. Then with just a tiny bit of heat and spatula the rest will come off without any drama at all.

Allen wrote:If you don't require the old bridge, then one of the easiest ways of getting this one off is to plane it down so there is just a thin veneer of wood left glued to the top. Then with just a tiny bit of heat and spatula the rest will come off without any drama at all.

Thanks mate I will do that.

Col