Building A Ukulele
 

I am in the planning stages of building a ukulele. My daughter and I built one of StewMac's tenor kits last summer. We had a lot of fun and it sounds better than the concert size I have. It is also more comfortable than my concert size. I want to build another one, from scratch. I'm an experienced woodworker but have never built an instrument.

My uke will have a mahogany back and sides and a spruce top. I have maple I will use as a neck. A few questions to start with, and I'm sure I will have more. I have some figured hard dense wood that I want to use as a fretboard. It is a MM or two thinner than the fretboards on my other ukes. If used it i would need to lower the height of the nut and saddle to get the action I like. Would that make a difference for sound?

For bending the sides, I'm planning a pineaple shape, so the only sharp bends will be at the neck and bridge ends of the body. Is it possible just to soak them for several hours and clamp them in a form? They're thinner than what is used for a guitar - .09" finished thickness. I can also use a hot pipe.

Here's a plan that I drew up in CAD that might help you if you need critical measurements.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1-sj...ew?usp=sharing

https://i.imgur.com/hMRxNv9.jpg

Your board thickness can be accomodated when you do your set up, but it should be OK in any case.

thank you. that will help a lot. My plan was to take my measurements from the one I built using the Stewmac kit.

not noticeable

soak..... no.

steam?

possibly.

My 1st experience in side bending was using a steam wallpaper stripper and then clamps. it worked well with walnut, which does bend more easily than mahogany.

If you have access to the hot pipe, then go for that.

Change the neck angle to accommodate the difference. Keep the same bridge/saddle dimensions. Nut slots are based on fret height.

My mahogany Martins have sides of 75 to 80 mils whether it's a soprano uke or a D size. Heat is a guaranteed method for bending. Soaking only; I don't know. You can try but if it doesn't "give" under hand pressure stop and use heat.

thanks. I do. I have some copper pipe and will make one. Do I need a form to clamp the sides in after they're bent? I imagine I'll need to overbend to account for spring back.

I've played and listened to live uke quite a bit. When I decided to build one, I used cedar for the top. The difference (and my preference) was so obvious it was no contest.

I have two. The concert size I got as a gift. I think it's made of mahogany, but it has some plastic parts on it. The other is a tenor. It was a kit but it's made of walnut, or at least a walnut veneer. I like the sound of it much better, but that may also be because it's larger than the concert. It is certainly more comfortable to play.

yup!

always a mould