First Build- Bunya and silky concert uke
First Build- Bunya and silky concert uke
Hi Everybody,
New to the forum. It's with some trepidation I'm posting some photos of my first build. Concert ukulele:
Bunya Top
Bunya Braces
Silky oak back, sides and headplate
Acacia (not sure exactly what type, came from Dad's place down the sth coast of NSW) neck
She-oak fretboard, bridge and binding (ditto Dad's place, old fallen tree)
Finished in tung oil and wax
I'd loved the process, made tonnes of mistakes, learned a great deal. The uke plays really nicely and sounds good.
I can see all the mistakes when I look at it though and consequently really motivated to build a better one.
So it starts I guess.....
Jim
New to the forum. It's with some trepidation I'm posting some photos of my first build. Concert ukulele:
Bunya Top
Bunya Braces
Silky oak back, sides and headplate
Acacia (not sure exactly what type, came from Dad's place down the sth coast of NSW) neck
She-oak fretboard, bridge and binding (ditto Dad's place, old fallen tree)
Finished in tung oil and wax
I'd loved the process, made tonnes of mistakes, learned a great deal. The uke plays really nicely and sounds good.
I can see all the mistakes when I look at it though and consequently really motivated to build a better one.
So it starts I guess.....
Jim
Re: First Build- Bunya and silky concert uke
Welcome to the forum Jim.
Your pics dont appear to have uploaded. Try again and let me know if you have further problems.
Cheers Martin (Mod)
Your pics dont appear to have uploaded. Try again and let me know if you have further problems.
Cheers Martin (Mod)
Jim wrote:Hi Everybody,
New to the forum. It's with some trepidation I'm posting some photos of my first build. Concert ukulele:
Bunya Top
Bunya Braces
Silky oak back, sides and headplate
Acacia (not sure exactly what type, came from Dad's place down the sth coast of NSW) neck
She-oak fretboard, bridge and binding (ditto Dad's place, old fallen tree)
Finished in tung oil and wax
I'd loved the process, made tonnes of mistakes, learned a great deal. The uke plays really nicely and sounds good.
I can see all the mistakes when I look at it though and consequently really motivated to build a better one.
So it starts I guess.....
Jim
Martin
Re: First Build- Bunya and silky concert uke
Jim you appear to have posted up links to photo bucket to the forum using the image upload. Try uploading the jpeg files directly to the forum.
Martin
Re: First Build- Bunya and silky concert uke
Sorry Martin,
Forgive my ignorance, can you tell me the easiest way to do this? Thanks for your help and welcome.
Jim
Forgive my ignorance, can you tell me the easiest way to do this? Thanks for your help and welcome.
Jim
Re: First Build- Bunya and silky concert uke
Think I figured it out, sorry for the delays
Re: First Build- Bunya and silky concert uke
Very nice Indeed wood choices look the part that's for sure great work ,john.
John ,of way too many things to do.
Re: First Build- Bunya and silky concert uke
Good effort.
Nice job on getting the bindings so neat. The Aussie woods look good together.
Well done for finishing it.
Cheers
R
Nice job on getting the bindings so neat. The Aussie woods look good together.
Well done for finishing it.
Cheers
R
Richard
Re: First Build- Bunya and silky concert uke
Thanks for the complements. Lots of room for improvement though I'm afraid. Found the binding really hard to do, something I'm hoping to get better at.
Re: First Build- Bunya and silky concert uke
It's your first build Jim....but as you say yourself, the more builds you do the better you get at it. Im on No 16 but still on a steep learning curveJim wrote:Thanks for the complements. Lots of room for improvement though I'm afraid. Found the binding really hard to do, something I'm hoping to get better at.
Martin
Re: First Build- Bunya and silky concert uke
Time is the trick the binding thing was it routing or bending ,I'v used an old soldering Iron for tight corners the back part near the handle it's cooler plenty of wetting down and I slide it back and forth I use maple a lot it's a breeze .
John ,of way too many things to do.
Re: First Build- Bunya and silky concert uke
A very good first effort Jim.
I'd say that you have picked some of the more difficult timbers to work with, so take heart that most everyone would struggle the first time around using them.
I just machined up a bunch of sheoak for bindings and they all crumbled on me as I was carrying them to the work bench. So off to the wood racks to pick out a different piece to try. Hopefully these ones will work when I go to bend them.
The thing that will make you a better builder is to be critical of your work, and strive to make even just one thing better the next time around......and just get stuck in and build. Far too many people are afraid of making a mistake and never produce anything. You're already in the small group of people who can say they've built an instrument from scratch.
Well done mate.
I'd say that you have picked some of the more difficult timbers to work with, so take heart that most everyone would struggle the first time around using them.
I just machined up a bunch of sheoak for bindings and they all crumbled on me as I was carrying them to the work bench. So off to the wood racks to pick out a different piece to try. Hopefully these ones will work when I go to bend them.
The thing that will make you a better builder is to be critical of your work, and strive to make even just one thing better the next time around......and just get stuck in and build. Far too many people are afraid of making a mistake and never produce anything. You're already in the small group of people who can say they've built an instrument from scratch.
Well done mate.
Re: First Build- Bunya and silky concert uke
Thanks for all the encouragement everybody. I must say it's addictive. I've got the next couple on the go already with some new and improved jigs and ideas to do things better.
- Mark McLean
- Blackwood
- Posts: 1096
- Joined: Thu Apr 10, 2008 2:03 pm
- Location: Sydney
Re: First Build- Bunya and silky concert uke
Nice work Jim.
Your reference to "new and improved jigs" made me smile. Now you are sounding like a real luthier. It is all about the home-made jigs!
Cheers
Mark
Your reference to "new and improved jigs" made me smile. Now you are sounding like a real luthier. It is all about the home-made jigs!
Cheers
Mark
Re: First Build- Bunya and silky concert uke
Well done Jim. Keep going, It becomes even more fun the more you make and the more you challenge yourself.
I started 35 years ago and still love it.
I started 35 years ago and still love it.
Re: First Build- Bunya and silky concert uke
Thanks everybody for the encouragement. Think I'm hooked now, I'm finding myself daydreaming about better ways to do things. Just built myself a fox bender and the next lot of builds are under way. Going to try tenor and soprano ukes this time.
Must say I'm inspired (awed...) by the quality of work you guys are doing..... something to shoot for...
Must say I'm inspired (awed...) by the quality of work you guys are doing..... something to shoot for...
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