Day 3.
We started the day by pulling the top from the go-bar deck and sanding the sound hole reinforcer and the bridge plate down to a small thickness. After that we cut the soundhole with the flywheel cutter. Total moment of truth. The good news is we didn’t fornicate up the sound hole. It turned out great!
Next up were the transverse braces. First they get thrown on the shallow dish and dished out to arch the top slightly. The soundhole reinforcer gets marked, notched, and chiseled so the braces sit flush against the sound board. From there it’s glue and clamp the braces onto the top. We then glued the center strip on the back. While those dried, we got neck blanks ready.
Mike uses Honduran Mahogany for his necks. High quality wood, I might add. He starts with a 4×3 chunk and cuts it into 4 pieces for, oddly enough, 4 necks. After cutting them on the bandsaw, they are jointed to make the faces parallel. Back to the bandsaw to cut the scarf joint.
After that the end is trimmed twice to get 2 blocks to be used for the heel. He has a swank jig (3 actually) for gluing up the headstocks and heels at the same time. While that glue dries, it was time to plane and scallop the transverse braces.
Planing was not so bad as not much needs to be planed before you go after it with a chisel. The chisel, however, took a bit more coordination and skill than I have, but slowly I increased my competence. Once the transverse braces were shaped it was time to cut and glue the fan braces. The fan braces went on similar to the transverse braces with the exception that the braces were ground out on one side to make room for the bridge plate.
Then it was time to work on the back. We sanded the back strip down then arched the braces. There are 2 back braces, one between the waist and one between the lower bout. Glue and clamp them and then it’s off to shape and scallop the fan braces. Things seem to move fast at this stage…
Once the fan braces are scalloped, it’s time for any touch ups, glue squeeze out cleanups, etc. Then it’s time to glue and clamp the top to the sides. We started with the head block, first with a small clamp to center, then 2 larger cam clamps to actually secure the whole of the top of the head block. Then the same with the tail block. After that it was simply a matter of following the curvature of the body without distorting the sides or top. While I can see some definite potential for some serious fornicating merde up, it went quite smoothly and easily. I admit, having someone who knows what they’re doing helps immensely.
While I waited for the top to dry, I shaped and scalloped the back braces. Once the top was dry, we unclamped it and threw it on the router table and trimmed the top down to size with a flush cut bit. I accidently let it get away from me near the top and check out some of the top. Fortunately for me it didn’t dig in or tear out into the body, so I was saved much heartache. Next time I know to bloody hang on tighter!
Mike then drew the taper in the sides to give the bottom of the uke its shape. Once done, he sanded it down with the edge sander.
Then it’s off to the deep dish and sand the sides where the bottom meets to level them. Then Mike used the random orbital to sand the top and smooth the sides out. When the sides are bent, the curl in the koa “facets” for lack of a better term. Smoothing the wood out ensures a nice feel, but mechanically more important, it gives a clean edge for the binding cutter to follow. Finally, we glued the lining on for the back to attach and cut the headstock down to a straight and even thickness.
It’s bed time. I’ll try to get Day 4 posted tomorrow, although I haven’t written any notes yet, either. The body got finished today and and the neck rough shaped. More later. Hasta!
