tulipwood concert ukulele build blog:
october 18 2021
i am starting a spruce and tulipwood concert ukulele for a friend. it may be a little bit fancy for me as she is really in to having a shell rosette and purflings. i always thought tulipwood was poplar and rather plain. this wood is figured with good tonal properties. after helping someone on line with some plans, i was sent the set. maybe some one recognizes this wood. (i have since learned that this is, dalbergia decipularis origin: south america. a true rosewood.
tulipwood is an exotic wood native to the tropical region of south america, mainly brazil. it is a hard and heavy wood, with a rather fine texture. the sapwood is a solid yellow color, while the heartwood color ranges from a pink to a darker red, with a straw colored background. tulipwood is excellent for wood turning, as well as knife handles, furniture, and cabinets. it is a lustrous wood, has excellent polishing qualities, and glues well.
i have never made a concert before, i once bought a complete set of martin ukulele forms at an auction so i was some what ready. i got a mold from john hall modified it and combined it with a work board for a spanish neck joint. in the background you will see i have a second mold that i will use if i ever do a bolt on.
i used an old record plane to joint the plates. i used my guitar plate jointing jig to clamp the plates together but it really was too big.
here is most of the tonewood i will use. a couple of years ago i accidently rift sawed large mahogany neck blank. i also had a nice plate of ebony, so i used two rift saw mahogany pieces and the ebony to mack a neck blank. i will need some thin wings for the head stock to get enough width.
i used my bandsaw to profile the top and the back.
i installed a paua abalone rosette with black fiber purflings. i used my bishop cochren router base to to cut a 1/16" + 1 mm channel. i carefully set the diameter of the rosette using a set of calipers. i am using a 1/16" bit. i cut to the inside line, make the diameter 1 mm larger and cut for the purfling. i use a bit of the shell to set the depth.
once routed i tested it and ultimately made it a smidge wider to deal with swelling from the glue.
once the glue set i leveled the fiber strips and cleaned out (well sort of cleaned out) the channel
then i just worked my way around breaking the abolone into the channel. i would start at one end jam as much as i could along the channel until the strip broke. i would use that pointy tool to push in the piece and once in, push back tight against the previous piece and repeat. i used thin ca to set the shell as i went. the spruce was sealed with the purfling and the glue i used to install the purfling.
level sanded.
used the same bit to cut out the sound hole. i set the bit depth a little more than my final top thickness. i sanded the back of the top until the sound hole dropped out.
online typing jobs without registration feesWorking from home can be a rewarding and flexible career choice, and online part-time job work at home promotion is a great option for those looking to promote products or services online. By following the tips and strategies outlined in this guide, you can set yourself up for success and build a thriving career in this exciting field.part time home based jobs for housewives
october 20 2021
stay at home mom part time jobsCreate a websitebest buy part time jobs
i got a little done yesterday and i may have a bit more time this afternoon.
i profiled, thicknessed and bent the sides for the rims.
my eyes are not what they once were, so instead of penciling in the profile lines i just taped on the template. really easy to follow, with careful placement of the waist, i ended up with perfectly book matched and profiled sides.
to keep the book match through sanding i marked it on the side of the sides. i sanded to .080" as that is the thickness of the blade i use to cut the heel slots. also a good thickness to bend. on a bolt on i might go as low as .070" for a ukulele.
i use a john hall ukulele side bender from [url=https://bluescreekguitars.com/product/ukulele-side-bending-machine/]blues creek guitars[/url]. at an [url=https://www.asiartisans.org/content/]asia[/url] auction i bought at a very good price a complete set of ukulele bending forms and molds that john hall donated.
i used just a sprits of water and paper towel, i starting with the waist at 225? i bent the waist most of the way, lower bout then upper bout and a tightening of the waist. i set the temp at 280? and let it set for 12 minutes.
after cooling i removed it from the side bender with very little spring back. what ever this wood is it is really easy to work with.
with both sides bent, i used the molds center lines to mark one of the sides. i cut close on the bandsaw and finished on my belt sander. with the one side trimmed i used it to mark the other side. i cut the second side a little long and touch fit on the belt sander until it fits in the mold.
with the sides trimmed i rough profiled the neck and used my special purpose sled to cut the slots.
i trimmed the heel side of the sides back 5 mm and fit it all into my new work board and mold.
october 23 2021
i have mostly been doing website maintenance the last few days, but i did get a bit of time on the rims and clean up the neck a bit.
before i get ahead of myself and glue the rims to the neck i decided to do a bit more work on it. i use a safe t planer for both the head stock and the taper of the neck. i shim up the nut side of the neck to give me the thickness. i have measurements for the 1st and 7th fret of 11 mm and 12.5 mm respectively. as shown in the first picture the distance between the 2 frets is 105 mm, the distance from the 1st fret to the end of the neck 200 mm. so i calculated the slope of the taper rise/run and determined a shim height needed when pivoting on the end of the neck by taking the 200 mm multiplied by the slope. so 2.88 mm. i glued the shim right on the 1st fret location.
then i planed away with the safe-t planer where i could until i had my desired thickness.
i also made a few passes on the head stock to get close. i need the veneer to do the final thickness. i left a thick area around the nut to give me options for the transitions between the neck and the head stock.
i made some wings for the headstock with some cutoff from the original neck blank.
i really hate routing out the end graft late in the building process, so i generally glue it to the tail block and then glue the sides to the tail block. if i am careful and get the end graph on square it is really easy to glue the sides to block one at a time and still have the rims square. pictures show it better.
first i use a machinist square to glue on the end graft square.
i use my belt sander to cleanly take off half of the end graft from each side. i scratch a line. make sure the top is down as it is square to the center line
one side then the other and done!
top part time jobs from homeConclusionpart time work from home jobs
next
|