Concert Ukulele Build

[ozziebluesman]

Here is my Concert Ukulele build on the workbench at present. Top is Bunya Pine, back and sides Indian Rosewood. Nothing special just following the plan to gain some more building experience. Plus they are fun to build and don't take all that long!

I have a secondhand bandsaw now. The best $85 I have ever sent!! I have achieved over the past three days what usually would take me three weekends. I'm a happy man.

Here is picture of the queensland maple neck blank cut out and the top back and sides.






This was the bending process carried out today. Love the Indian Rosewood to bend! Also a picture of a mould I built to do the job. I am going with the spanish heel neck assembly.





Thanks for looking.

Cheers

Alan

[Dave White]

Alan,

Cool - nice wood combination. It should sound great!!

[Allen]

That's a heck of a start there Alan. How thick did you end up going on the sides?

[ozziebluesman]

Thanks Dave and Allen for you interest!

Allen, the sides are a little less than 2mm.

The top is 2mm also and feels pretty thin to me! I will brace it up and see how the across the gain stiffness is then and then have a go at voicing it! All good fun!!

Cheers

Alan

[Kim]

Hey Alan,

What a big jump forward on 3 days, looks great. It is amazing just how helpful a bandsaw can be and the GMC looks just right for a Ksled Kerfing Jig

Cheers

Kim

[ozziebluesman]

Thanks Kim. Yep I've had a good read of your ksled tutorial and it is on the list of things I need!

Here are a few more progress pics. I built the neck today. Man that bandsaw makes quick work of things.



The neck is now roughed out.



This afternoon the neck was glued to the rims.



Thanks for looking.

Cheers

Al

[Localele]

Nice job Alan.The 2mm top is no worries.Not sure what plan you have but for my last sopranos I deleted the fan braces and just went with a longish bridge patch.The sound is louder and rings nicely.Early Mahogany Martins were braced that way.




As Crocodile Dundee would say "That's not a bandsaw THIS is a BANDSAW"





Cheers from Micheal.

[ozziebluesman]

Cheers Michael.

Yep I noticed you did away with the fan braces. Did you laminate the bridge patch and what thichness was yours? BTW i'm following the Scott Antes plan.

Thanks

Alan

[DarwinStrings]

I am enjoying all this Ukulele building and have now started thinking about making one for myself. What defines a "Concert Ukulele" Allen. Also how do you go with humidity in Townsville. I was recently given a Bandsaw, it's a 12" job, needs work, so far about $250 maybe $350 when I'm done. I can't wait to get it running to save having to drive 15kms to use a bandsaw.

That is the Exact same Bandsaw that I use to resaw any wood I collect locally Micheal, Except that my mates one has a new motor and yours looks like it is the original motor. A thing of beauty if you ask me. He was going to buy a bigger one that was up for auction here but the expense of digging a hole in his floor for the bottom wheel and then re-concreting convinced him that his Wadkin is big enough.

Jim

[ozziebluesman]

Thanks Jim for your interest!

Concert is a size. You have soprano the smallest, concert, tenor and bari. I think that's right if not someone will correct me. I prefer the bigger tone of a concert opposed to a soprano. The fingerboard is a little bigger also which helps playability. IMO!

Townsville has been termed the dry tropics. Monday it was dry at 40% and today it is 75%. Humidity here is high over the wet season but good over the dry. Charters Towers where our formite friend Taffy lives is drier again. Cairns and Darwin have high humidity levels as you well know. So I just plan my builds ahead and wait for the right day to glue up. I store a work in progress in a container under the bed in the main bedroom where the aircon is on every night.

Cheers

Alan

[Localele]

Alan ,The first plan is a Tenor and the Martin is a soprano.Even in my original builds I did away with the sound hole patch.The bridge patch is 2.5mm and follows the tapered shape on the plan.
Jim, The ukes range from Soprano with 13 inch scale length, Concert with a 15inch scale length, Tenor with a 17 inch scale length and Baritone with a 19 inch scale length.Some builders use slightly different measurements with the same reasons and claims of guitars with slight variations of volume and tone.
In the end they are all good fun.
Cheers from Micheal.

[hilo_kawika]

Micheal, you might want to re-visit the soundhole patch issue. I've seen literally dozens of Kamaka ukuleles with cracks at the soundhole edges because they had no patch...

aloha,

Dave Hurd
www.ukuleles.com

[Allen]

Would you also put a sound hole patch on a soprano uke David?

[PHANTOM]

looking good mate i love that indian rosewood, my wife cant stand the smell of it but i dont mind it. Anyway if she doesent like it she should stay out of the shed.

[Allen]

My wife too. She says it smells like dog crap.

[Bob Connor]

I agree with both your wives. It smells like dog terd.

[Hippety Hop]

Some of that carbon fibre fabric should make a good sound hole patch?

[hilo_kawika]

Yes, Allen, I put a soundhole patch in all ukulele sizes including sopranos. My goodnes, you've just put a great hole in a rather thin top, haven't you? Why shouldn't it crack when you have a change of weather?

Hip, you could use the graphite carbon, but I like to make a curved edge to the soundhole, so a little thickness makes it easier. Sharp edges aren't beloved of air movement...

aloha,

Dave Hurd
www.ukuleles.com

[ozziebluesman]

A little more progress!

Here is a pic of the the rims glued up to the neck.



The sound hole cut out.



The top and back braced. The top may need the two fan braces because it dosen't feel stiff enough to me? What do you all reckon?




Thanks for looking

Cheers

Alan

[Lillian]

Well that shots really gives perspective to the build. Thanks for the pictures Alan. It looks great.

[Allen]

Looking really good there Alan. It's coming together so quickly now.

In what direction do you think the sound board isn't stiff enough? Across the lower bout, or top to bottom?

BTW I took care of the double post.

[ozziebluesman]

Thanks Lillian for you comments.

Allen it's top to bottom, along the grain that worries me. This set of Bunya was never nice and stiff as I would have prefered. I have another uke set that is stiff from the same guitar top. I don't have the experience using wood either so now is the time to learn aye!

Thanks for fixing the double post. I received some error messages when trying to post last night. Haven't had trouble before posting?????

Cheers

Alan

[Allen]

I think a bunch of us that are building ukes right now are on a steep learning curve. But it seems to me that with such a small sound board and low tension, we can get away with a much more flexible soundboard.

I've been having trouble posting to the forum as well, and am getting error messages. I'm sure Bob will be sorting this out as soon as he gets a chance.

[jeffhigh]

Hi Allan,
What thickness have you gone to on that bunya top?
BTW great to see you are getting lots of use out of the bandsaw.
Jeff

[ozziebluesman]

Thanks Allen for your thoughts.

The top needs to be stiffened up. I thought maybe a rosewood seam patch maybe enough to do the trick. I also thought maybe two sound hole flat braces say 2mm by 5mm wide like we use you see on most guitar top designs would work too! The top has a good tap tone now even with the braces un-carved.

G'day Jeff! How are you doin! I believe you had a birthday recently. Happy Birthday mate!

The top is 2mm thick and less in a few places. I thicknessed the top by hand using a new old block plane I bought off eBay. Works a treat! The set was very loose from the start. I have another set from the same guitar top and it is stiff as and will be a great top.

Yep the bandsaw is the best tool I have bought. Saves so much time!

Cheers

Alan