Aloha!
Today is the big day that you finally get to finish the ukulele! It should now have the finish on and hopefully, it looks really good. Now for the final steps. The first thing that you need to do is install the tuners.
After you have bought a kind that suits you, insert them into the holes so that the label can be read. It is important that you install them correctly so they spin the strings the correct way. You can hand tighten the tuners and adjust to your liking. Then you will have to screw them in to the headstock. If you want, you can pre drill a hole for the little screws before screwing them in.
Using torch tip cleaning files, make the holes in the nut for the strings to go through. Then from the front of the nut, measure 17 and 3/32" down the uke and mark where it ends. The end is where the front of the saddle will be. After you draw a center line, put a piece of masking tape that is bigger than the bridge down. Trace the outline of the bridge onto the tape so the nut will still line up with the point you made. Cut out that outline with a exacto knife and scrape off the finisher in that area you just cut out.
Secure the bridge in place with double stick tape. Mark the locations of the two outside strings and drill 1/16" holes into the soundboard. Insert 3/4" brads into the holes and then apply a thin layer of glue onto the bridge and soundboard. After you put the bridge on the soundboard , clamp it down. After ten minutes, take out the brads and re clamp for twenty four hours.
The height of the strings over the 12th fret will be 5/32". make a shim that is 5/32" for your straight edge to rest on. Using the straight edge, place one end at the bass string location on the saddle and the other end at the bass slot on the nut. The bottom of your straight edge will be the height of the saddle. Draw a line across the saddle where it will be trimmed. Sand off the excess material, but leave the line. Being careful, sand a light crown at the top of the saddle.
To find the string holes for the bridge, divide the distance of the outside holes by three to find the equal spacing between the two other holes. All four of the holes should be 5/16" from the saddle. Drill the last two holes by hand with a 1/16" bit.
Now feed the strings through the sound hole and into the bridge holes. Place a bead at one end of the string and tie in place with some overhand knots. Then, pull the strings so the bead sits under the bridge. The bass string goes on the lower left hand tuner from the right side and out the left side. The end of the string loops counterclockwise under the string and then back over. Wind the knob clockwise to tighten the string. Once all the strings have been put on, you are done with making your very own ukulele! Now the next step would be to learn how to play, but I think you can do that on your own time. Good luck!
(Word of the day: Hau' oli/Joy)
Mahalo!
Thursday, August 29, 2013
Sunday, August 25, 2013
Day #15
Aloha!
These next few days are probably the easiest days. You have fully assemble the ukulele except for the strings, tuners, bridge, and the nut and saddle. All you have to do is apply finishing coats on the ukulele. You can only apply two coats a day or you will ruin your ukulele and you need eight coats. Do not put finish on the fingerboard! Work in sections and after you finish a section, rub off the finisher immediately. See you in four days!
(Word of the day: Mauna/Mountian)
Mahalo!
These next few days are probably the easiest days. You have fully assemble the ukulele except for the strings, tuners, bridge, and the nut and saddle. All you have to do is apply finishing coats on the ukulele. You can only apply two coats a day or you will ruin your ukulele and you need eight coats. Do not put finish on the fingerboard! Work in sections and after you finish a section, rub off the finisher immediately. See you in four days!
(Word of the day: Mauna/Mountian)
Mahalo!
Saturday, August 24, 2013
Day #14
Aloha!
Today, we will be attaching the fretboard to the neck, shaping the headstock, making the tuner holes, and a few other things. If you want to, you can make a little design at the sound hole end of the fretboard to go around the sound hole. Temporarily hold the neck and fretboard together with double stick tape. Then, position the fretboard and center it on the neck. Use two pieces of masking tape and place it on the fretboard edges where it passes over the soundboard. Then, use a hand drill and use a bit that is 1/16" to drill into the fretboard at the 1st and 11th frets. Don't drill through the neck, only the fretboard. Lightly hit brads into two holes.
Cut notches into a caul to fit around the brads. Glue the neck and fretboard together and place the caul on top of the fretboard before you put the clamps on to not ruin the fretboard. After it has dried, remove the clamps and brads and install the two missing pieces of fret wire. Do not forget to bevel and trim the wire ends.
To glue the headstock veneer, you need to square the end of the veneer that will butt against the break angle. Sand the end to a 15 degree angle. Apply glue and clamp it around the entire headstock. Be sure to leave a gap of 3/16" between the headstock and the fretboard. The gap is the nut slot. Make sure that the bottom of the headstock is smooth and sand if needed. Then you can create a headstock design to be creative. It is a good idea to rough cut the design and then sand it down. Then, use a file to sand where the headstock and neck join.
Moving on to the heel of the ukulele, we need to glue the heel cap on. Just make a shape similar and a little bigger than the heel and glue it and clamp it on. After it dries, sand it down to fit the heel. Now, you will put on the final touches of the neck by sanding it down. It should be smooth and round all throughout the neck and the widest point is where the neck meets the fretboard.
The first two tuner holes will be 1 and 1/2" from the break angles. The last two will be 3 and 1/4" from the break. All four holes will be 7/16" from the side of the headstock. Mark these holes and drill out the holes with a 1/16" bit. Drill from the top surface to the back to have a cleaner look. Sand off any pencil marks on the headstock.
(Word of the day: Mea 'ai/Food)
Mahalo!
Today, we will be attaching the fretboard to the neck, shaping the headstock, making the tuner holes, and a few other things. If you want to, you can make a little design at the sound hole end of the fretboard to go around the sound hole. Temporarily hold the neck and fretboard together with double stick tape. Then, position the fretboard and center it on the neck. Use two pieces of masking tape and place it on the fretboard edges where it passes over the soundboard. Then, use a hand drill and use a bit that is 1/16" to drill into the fretboard at the 1st and 11th frets. Don't drill through the neck, only the fretboard. Lightly hit brads into two holes.
Cut notches into a caul to fit around the brads. Glue the neck and fretboard together and place the caul on top of the fretboard before you put the clamps on to not ruin the fretboard. After it has dried, remove the clamps and brads and install the two missing pieces of fret wire. Do not forget to bevel and trim the wire ends.
To glue the headstock veneer, you need to square the end of the veneer that will butt against the break angle. Sand the end to a 15 degree angle. Apply glue and clamp it around the entire headstock. Be sure to leave a gap of 3/16" between the headstock and the fretboard. The gap is the nut slot. Make sure that the bottom of the headstock is smooth and sand if needed. Then you can create a headstock design to be creative. It is a good idea to rough cut the design and then sand it down. Then, use a file to sand where the headstock and neck join.
Moving on to the heel of the ukulele, we need to glue the heel cap on. Just make a shape similar and a little bigger than the heel and glue it and clamp it on. After it dries, sand it down to fit the heel. Now, you will put on the final touches of the neck by sanding it down. It should be smooth and round all throughout the neck and the widest point is where the neck meets the fretboard.
The first two tuner holes will be 1 and 1/2" from the break angles. The last two will be 3 and 1/4" from the break. All four holes will be 7/16" from the side of the headstock. Mark these holes and drill out the holes with a 1/16" bit. Drill from the top surface to the back to have a cleaner look. Sand off any pencil marks on the headstock.
(Word of the day: Mea 'ai/Food)
Mahalo!
Friday, August 23, 2013
Day #13
Aloha!
Today is the day that the backboard gets attached to the rest of the uke. For it to be attached properly, we need to work on the rest of the uke first. Using a felt tip marker, cover the surface of the tentalones. Then sand them until all of the marker has disappeared. Then, sand from the high point of the tail block toward the heel block until the sides are clean. Now take the backboard and starting from the tail block, fit it onto the sides. Be sure to align the center line of the backboard with the rest of the ukulele. Once it is set, hold it in place with some clamps. Next, you need to measure the thickness of your tentalones and sides. Draw it on the inside of the backboard and use it to chisel the braces on the backboard.
Now, apply a thin layer of glue along the sides of the uke and brush the glue inward towards the tentalones. Place the backboard on and clamp it at the tail, then the heel. Once it is aligned, continue to clamp. After that has dried, use a jig saw to trim the soundboard and backboard so they are close to fitting the sides. Then go and sand them down until they are flush with the sides of the ukulele. It is best to do the sanding by hand as the sides are very thin and if you mess up, you might go right through it. Then, cut out the sound hole. You can either use a drill press mounted circle cutter, a key-hole blade, or a saber blade. After the hole is cut out, put sandpaper around a dowel and sand the edge.
After all of this is complete, begin to pencil light marks all of over the surface and sand the body using circular motions. Then sand the edge of the sound and backboards. As you sand the edges, progressively move to finer grits of sandpaper. As you get to the finer grits, you will have to sand parallel with the grain.
(Word of the day: Makani/Wind)
Mahalo!
Today is the day that the backboard gets attached to the rest of the uke. For it to be attached properly, we need to work on the rest of the uke first. Using a felt tip marker, cover the surface of the tentalones. Then sand them until all of the marker has disappeared. Then, sand from the high point of the tail block toward the heel block until the sides are clean. Now take the backboard and starting from the tail block, fit it onto the sides. Be sure to align the center line of the backboard with the rest of the ukulele. Once it is set, hold it in place with some clamps. Next, you need to measure the thickness of your tentalones and sides. Draw it on the inside of the backboard and use it to chisel the braces on the backboard.
Now, apply a thin layer of glue along the sides of the uke and brush the glue inward towards the tentalones. Place the backboard on and clamp it at the tail, then the heel. Once it is aligned, continue to clamp. After that has dried, use a jig saw to trim the soundboard and backboard so they are close to fitting the sides. Then go and sand them down until they are flush with the sides of the ukulele. It is best to do the sanding by hand as the sides are very thin and if you mess up, you might go right through it. Then, cut out the sound hole. You can either use a drill press mounted circle cutter, a key-hole blade, or a saber blade. After the hole is cut out, put sandpaper around a dowel and sand the edge.
After all of this is complete, begin to pencil light marks all of over the surface and sand the body using circular motions. Then sand the edge of the sound and backboards. As you sand the edges, progressively move to finer grits of sandpaper. As you get to the finer grits, you will have to sand parallel with the grain.
(Word of the day: Makani/Wind)
Mahalo!
Thursday, August 22, 2013
Day #12
Aloha!
So today, you get to assemble most of the ukulele! The first things you want to grab are your neck, soundboard, and sides. Clamp the soundboard and neck to your assembly jig. Adjust the waist blocks to lock into place. The sides should fit into the heel slots easily. If they don't sand them down until they fit nicely. Be careful when working with the sides because they'll break very easily. After they've been put in, inspect the butt joint of the tail ends and sand a little if it doesn't fit together.
Mask to the bottom ends together with long pieces of masking tape. Take your tail block and glue and clamp it to the tail end of the sides. Apply a bead of glue onto all of the flat edge of the sides. Take two veneer shims (1/4" wide and 3/4" long) and insert them into the heel slots against the heel block. Be sure to put them in the inside so they won't be visible when finished which should make a clean fit with the neck and sides.
Using clamps (spool clamps are preferred) work your way from the heel to the tail end and clamp the sides, one side at a time. Then let them dry for two hours. After they have dried you will install the tentalones into the uke. You can start from either end and work your way down the sides. The flat side should be glued to the sides (It's okay if the tentalones crack or break). It helps if you clamp the tentalones in place with pieces of plywood that can fit over the sides of the uke and down to the tentalones. When you reach a horizontal bar, cut the tentalone flush with the bar. After installing the rest of the tentalones, glue one tentalone block on top of the brace bar ends.
After your bottom tentalones have dried, you have to do the same thing at the top edge of your sides. Once you have glued them to the sides, a great clamp to use if PVC pipe clamps. Just take some PVC pipe and cut it into small circles. Then, cut a slot through one end of the circle and you have PVC clamps. If you can't make the clamps. then clothes pines will work too. Leave the clamps on for about an hour until the glue dries.
(Word of the day: Mokupuni/Island)
Mahalo!
So today, you get to assemble most of the ukulele! The first things you want to grab are your neck, soundboard, and sides. Clamp the soundboard and neck to your assembly jig. Adjust the waist blocks to lock into place. The sides should fit into the heel slots easily. If they don't sand them down until they fit nicely. Be careful when working with the sides because they'll break very easily. After they've been put in, inspect the butt joint of the tail ends and sand a little if it doesn't fit together.
Mask to the bottom ends together with long pieces of masking tape. Take your tail block and glue and clamp it to the tail end of the sides. Apply a bead of glue onto all of the flat edge of the sides. Take two veneer shims (1/4" wide and 3/4" long) and insert them into the heel slots against the heel block. Be sure to put them in the inside so they won't be visible when finished which should make a clean fit with the neck and sides.
Using clamps (spool clamps are preferred) work your way from the heel to the tail end and clamp the sides, one side at a time. Then let them dry for two hours. After they have dried you will install the tentalones into the uke. You can start from either end and work your way down the sides. The flat side should be glued to the sides (It's okay if the tentalones crack or break). It helps if you clamp the tentalones in place with pieces of plywood that can fit over the sides of the uke and down to the tentalones. When you reach a horizontal bar, cut the tentalone flush with the bar. After installing the rest of the tentalones, glue one tentalone block on top of the brace bar ends.
After your bottom tentalones have dried, you have to do the same thing at the top edge of your sides. Once you have glued them to the sides, a great clamp to use if PVC pipe clamps. Just take some PVC pipe and cut it into small circles. Then, cut a slot through one end of the circle and you have PVC clamps. If you can't make the clamps. then clothes pines will work too. Leave the clamps on for about an hour until the glue dries.
(Word of the day: Mokupuni/Island)
Mahalo!
Wednesday, August 21, 2013
Day #11
Aloha!
Hey everybody! For the next parts of building the ukulele, there were parts that I needed that I could not find in local stores and had to order online. I ordered a pre-cut fretboard, fret wire, tuners, strings, tentalones, bridge pins, marker dots, a bridge, and the nut and saddle. So unfortunately, I can't tell you how to make those but it is probably best if you see if you can find them in a store.
The first thing I did was install the marker dots on the fretboard. They are found on the 5th, 7th, 10th, and 12 frets. Drill the holes for the dots so that when put in , the dots stick out a little bit so they can be sanded down. Next, we need to install the fret wire. Putting the fret wire over the slots on the fretboard, cut each piece a quarter inch longer than needed. Putting glue on the fret tang, install into the fretboard and trim the fret wire with a wire cutter. Do not install fret wire on the first and eleventh frets because they will be used later to index the fretboard when you glue to the neck. Clamp the wire to the fretboard and let dry. Once its dry, bevel the edges.
(Word of the day: Hoku/Star)
Mahalo!
Hey everybody! For the next parts of building the ukulele, there were parts that I needed that I could not find in local stores and had to order online. I ordered a pre-cut fretboard, fret wire, tuners, strings, tentalones, bridge pins, marker dots, a bridge, and the nut and saddle. So unfortunately, I can't tell you how to make those but it is probably best if you see if you can find them in a store.
The first thing I did was install the marker dots on the fretboard. They are found on the 5th, 7th, 10th, and 12 frets. Drill the holes for the dots so that when put in , the dots stick out a little bit so they can be sanded down. Next, we need to install the fret wire. Putting the fret wire over the slots on the fretboard, cut each piece a quarter inch longer than needed. Putting glue on the fret tang, install into the fretboard and trim the fret wire with a wire cutter. Do not install fret wire on the first and eleventh frets because they will be used later to index the fretboard when you glue to the neck. Clamp the wire to the fretboard and let dry. Once its dry, bevel the edges.
(Word of the day: Hoku/Star)
Mahalo!
Tuesday, August 20, 2013
Day #10
Aloha!
So today, I also worked on the neck and soundboard and just about finished up the neck. I used sandpaper, clamps, a hammer, a dremmel, a chisel, a table saw, and a mitre box. The first thing that you have to do is get your side pieces. They should be thin pieces of wood that can be bent easily. Now what I did was I took three pieces of MDF wood which is 3/4" thick wood and I used the backboard as reference and cut out the outline of the backboard. From there, I glue the three pieces of wood on top of each other to form a mold for the sides of my ukulele. I clamped them together and let them dry.
After that, I took my soundboard and trimmed the braces to accommodate for the sides. Using your template, cut out the tail block which is 2 and 3/4" tall. Then trace a line on the top of it to match the curve of the bottom of the uke using your template and sand down the side of the tail block to make the curve. Next, you need to cut the neck table. You can use a bow saw or a regular saw to make the curve. The recess will be as deep as the thickness of your soundboard. After you measure down, draw the line to be cut out. It should make a shape similar to a half circle but including the recess.
Now we have to glue the soundboard to the neck. To do this we need to make sure that the soundboard fits tightly with the neck. Cut out the excess part of the top of the soundboard to fit the neck. Sand down the two until they fit together if needed and then glue them together. Use clamps to hold them together and let dry.
Now you are going to take the mold you made earlier and start to bend the sides. Before you can bend the sides you need to wet the wood. Then place your sides into the mold and start to slowly bend. Keep clamping parts to the mold as you go along and spray with water when needed. After you have the two sides clamped to the mold, let them dry out and when they are dry, you can take them out of the mold and they should be bent to what you need for the ukulele.
(Word of the day: Anuenue/Rainbow)
Mahalo!
So today, I also worked on the neck and soundboard and just about finished up the neck. I used sandpaper, clamps, a hammer, a dremmel, a chisel, a table saw, and a mitre box. The first thing that you have to do is get your side pieces. They should be thin pieces of wood that can be bent easily. Now what I did was I took three pieces of MDF wood which is 3/4" thick wood and I used the backboard as reference and cut out the outline of the backboard. From there, I glue the three pieces of wood on top of each other to form a mold for the sides of my ukulele. I clamped them together and let them dry.
After that, I took my soundboard and trimmed the braces to accommodate for the sides. Using your template, cut out the tail block which is 2 and 3/4" tall. Then trace a line on the top of it to match the curve of the bottom of the uke using your template and sand down the side of the tail block to make the curve. Next, you need to cut the neck table. You can use a bow saw or a regular saw to make the curve. The recess will be as deep as the thickness of your soundboard. After you measure down, draw the line to be cut out. It should make a shape similar to a half circle but including the recess.
Now we have to glue the soundboard to the neck. To do this we need to make sure that the soundboard fits tightly with the neck. Cut out the excess part of the top of the soundboard to fit the neck. Sand down the two until they fit together if needed and then glue them together. Use clamps to hold them together and let dry.
Now you are going to take the mold you made earlier and start to bend the sides. Before you can bend the sides you need to wet the wood. Then place your sides into the mold and start to slowly bend. Keep clamping parts to the mold as you go along and spray with water when needed. After you have the two sides clamped to the mold, let them dry out and when they are dry, you can take them out of the mold and they should be bent to what you need for the ukulele.
(Word of the day: Anuenue/Rainbow)
Mahalo!
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