A few quick uke questions

[blazemite]

I am building a uke from Tasmanian blackwood, it's nicely figured and is around 2.2 mm thick on the front and back, the sides however are also the same thickness, so my question is how thick should a uke side be ? I don't really have the means of thicknessing it very accurately as my workshop has a tight budget and I havnt bought a thicknesser yet.

Alternatively I could use a peice of mahogany veneer I have laying around, it's 1 mm, this would look nice as it is a mahogany neck aswell but I am worried it would break easily.

Question 2
the proposed neck I am using is from a mahogany brace stock, it is big enough to accomadate the neck and all of the internal bracing. Can this be used for a neck? I figure a uke neck doesn't have that much tension so it wouldn't matter either way.

Question 3
how do you recomend an angled headstock on the uke, is the 2 peice method in cumpiano and natelsons book a bit of overkill for a uke?

Question 4
for a roughly 2.2 mm uke how heavily should it be braced ? I am taking my mesurements from a cheapish laminate uke which appears to have no bracing? Should I very lightly brace?

[jeffhigh]

I presume you are building a Soprano size ukulele?
2.2mm is too thick for back top and sides.
It will not be responsive as a top and will be too hard to bend as sides.
Rather than copying a cheap uke as a pattern use a plan such as the grellier one which is free
http://www.grellier.fr/plans.php?lang=en
this will answer a lot of your questions.
Yes the headstock needs to be sloped to get adequate string break angle over the nut.
One piece or scarf joint both work well.

[Allen]

For sides I make all mine 1.8 mm thick as I build with a Spanish Heel and that is what fits into the slot that my table saw cuts. They also bend oh so easy that thin.

You haven't said what size of uke you are building. For a top out of mahogany on a soprano I'd be looking at something down around 1.6 mm - 1.8 mm. For Blackwood I've not done a soprano. But Concerts can go from 1.5 to 1.7 mm. Western Red Cedar could be as thick as 2.2 mm. That was the size on the Soprano Pineapple ukes we built with Rick Turner at the Cairns Uke Festival last year and they sound great.

Remember that bridge patches and bracing are going to affect the stiffness of the soundboard. For a soprano and concert you don't need fan bracing. Just a bridge patch will do. Transverse braces in the region of 6X6 mm will put you in good stead.

Necks are great made from Mahogany. A standard head stock angle as in a guitar is what you are looking for. Mine are 14 degrees for a paddle head and 8 degrees for a slot head. Use a stacked heel to save wood. Scarf joint the head stock and glue on ears. Peg head veneer and back strap will make it rock solid.

[matthew]

that must be one of the most value-packed posts i've read in a while Allen. good on you.

I almost feel like making a Uke now.

Almost.