Winter Build Off 2020 - Uke Space

[dwizum]

You can't see it but there's a uke bass body somewhere in this mess!

This was my jig for routing the mortise for the neck. I had cut the mortise in the top piece of mdf, then screwed the front piece to it at a right angle. Then I clamped it on to the face of the body and clamped the body and jig to the front of the bench. This way, the jig is held in alignment relative to the body and the whole thing is solidly against the bench so 8 can route. It worked great. I got a tiny spot of chipout in the redwood but it'll be behind the fretboard so I'm not worried.

The fit is perfect, tight enough to hold by friction. I may actually ditch the bolt and glue it in. I also routed the binding channels and then had to stop do take the kids to town, but I did a full mock up
first.

 

[Matt Liebenau]

Cool. I’d bet that top is going to be pretty schweet with finish on it!

 

[Beej]

Really nice work. I think you may place just below @rojo412 who wins more than loses...

 

[Jisch]

That looks amazing.

 

[dwizum]

Got a few minutes so I tweaked the binding fit and glued it on.

 

[dwizum]

I’d bet that top is going to be pretty schweet with finish on it!

I really can't wait, it is a really gorgeous piece of wood.

 

[dwizum]

Binding came out great. Few small gaps I filled with dust and glue.

While that filler was drying, I worked on the rosette.

I glued one piece in as a starting point, then laid it out trying to keep the grain and color of adjacent pieces the same to hide the seams. It went well, this was pretty good shell. There are maybe two seams that didn't have good continuity but it's better than I expected.

The gap at the top will be under the fretboard.

Afterwards j flipped it over and used a 1/4" roundover bit set just deep enough for the blades to hit the full depth of the back to trim the back to size and put a gentle camfer on it.

I also sanded the binding flush to the sides and finish sanded the neck, but no photos. More kids activities today, but I have tomorrow off, I'm hoping I can spend some time figuring out the bridge.

 

[Reedt2000]

no photos

 

[Beej]

The rosette looks great!

 

[littlebooner]

I really can't wait, it is a really gorgeous piece of wood.

The sides are beautiful too. Can't wait to see it finished!

 

[postalflunkie]

You know, you're making me want to switch everything over to do acoustic basses now.

 

[dwizum]

Just for you, the sanded neck and the cleaned up binding:

I had about 20 minutes this afternoon, so I glued the neck into the body. It was a tight enough fit, I just used a single clamp to hold it in place while the glue dries:

Then I drew up the bridge:

Then I cut it out and tried it out on a few different spots on the piece of ebony I have. The ebony is a rejected blank for a bass sized fretboard so there's plenty to choose from for a small part like this. I ended up going with an edge that has a stripe of sapwood on it. I planed it down to get it flat and true and cut that section out. Then i ran out of time.

 

[dwizum]

The rosette looks great!

Yeah it does, it really glows. I think it'll work great on this instrument. I think it would be out of place on a more traditional instrument, though, because it's so bright.

The sides are beautiful too. Can't wait to see it finished!

Yeah, honestly, these side pieces are nicer than the first ones I had picked out way back at the beginning. They're perfectly flatsawn and the grain is really nice.

You know, you're making me want to switch everything over to do acoustic basses now.

Tell me about it! I can't say it enough, this is really fun. It's a great "break" from solid body instruments. I am already planning out my next acoustics. I have maybe 6 or 7 board feet left from this batch of walnut, I could make plenty more back/side sets. And these necks are so small, it's easy to make up a blank from scraps. Just need to get some more tops.

 

[dwizum]

Time to make a bridge.

I used a simple plywood fence to cut the channel for the saddle. This was the same method as on my semi hollow fretless from last year.

First I drilled and countersunk some holes in the blank, outside the outline. Then I measured in from the edge of my router to the bit, and drew a line that distance away from the plywood fence. I aligned the bridge over this line such that the line passed along the front of the desired location for the channel and screwed the blank down to the plywood.

Then it was a matter of setting the big depth and routing the channel.

I'm using a really wide 1/4" saddle so I have room to play with intonation (i.e. if I switch to a different style of string). I used a straight-on photo of a Kala U-Bass to set the angle of the saddle the same as what they ship with, so I know I'm in the right ballpark.

However, the piezo I'm going to put in this thing is only 1/8" for a normal guitar saddle. So, after routing the 1/4" channel for the saddle, swapped to a 1/8" bit and dropped it down about 3/32" to make a channel for the piezo. I set that depth such that the top of the piezo clears the "shelf" by about 1/32" - this way, all the pressure from the saddle is on the piezo, but the piezo is held securely in place and can't tip or get misaligned.

After that, I cut a relief angle on the back of the blank, drilled and camfered the string holes, cut it to shape on the bandsaw, cleaned it up with a file, and finish sanded it.

I flared the sides a bit compared to the paper template because I decided the straight sides looked boring.

After that, I did a bunch more finish sanding on the body, and I cut the nut slot in the fretboard to get it all prepped.

Then transferred the center line from the neck down the body (I'm off by about 3/32", not to bad all things considered), and marked out the bridge location. Then I clamped the fretboard and saddle in place, and used a pin vice to drill tiny alignment holes in them. I put the holes in the saddle slot on the bridge and in fret slots and the nut slot on the fretboard. Then I wax up the little drill bits I use for those holes and put them in the holes as alignment pins. After that, it was time for a double-glue up!

View attachment 3675457

View attachment 3675458

 

[dwizum]

And it looks like I did something wrong with the last two attachments again, so let me re-try...

 

[Gary_M]

This is looking really killer!

 

[dwizum]

I had to get creative with a long clamp to clamp the little piece of binding on the end of the fretboard.

Once that was dry, I taped off the body and put some of stew mac's colortone fretboard oil on the fretboard.

I put two coats on and buffed it. I might put more on tomorrow.

 

[Reedt2000]

This thing looks awesome! I want one

 

[dwizum]

I snuck downstairs before leaving for my morning commute today, this is what 15 minutes of fretwork looks like:

This is only my third ebony fretboard. On my other two, I found that a "correct" fret slot width resulted in some back bow in the neck because of the ebony being so hard the frets act like wedges. Not a big deal on those necks as the truss rod could correct it, but there's no truss rod in this neck and I've set the relief statically. So, used a slightly wider saw on this board and I'm gluing the frets in. This also solves the problem of having to hammer frets on the fretboard extension over the body without destroying the body. It seems like the plan has worked, the frets are going in very easily. Tonight I'll check to make sure they all stayed put and hopefully I'll have time to get the rest of them in.

Having oiled the fretboard before doing this was nice, as thick super glue is easy to wipe off the finished surface without leaving any residue.

 

[dwizum]

Another 10 minutes after work yesterday to tap the other frets in, and 15 minutes this morning to level and crown them. Hoping I get another 15 tonight to polish them and then this thing is ready for some touch up sanding and a finish!

Speaking of finish, I was planning on using my typical choice, which is minwax quick drying oil based satin poly. However, when I went to finish that blanket ladder I mentioned earlier on, I noticed that my giant can of poly had been left cracked open and it was all hardened and thick. I ran down to the hardware store to get another can and they were all out. The closest they had was Minwax's wipe on poly. I figured, what the heck, why not give it a try - especially since I basically thin the normal stuff and wipe it on anyways. I was a little worried that it would be so thin, it would take a LOT of coats to build up, but I only put three coats on the blanket ladder and it turned out great. Nice soft glow and it appears plenty thick enough (of course, that's somewhat subjective). So I'm going to try it on this bass as well.