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!