StewMac Ukulele #2

Looks like a fun project – and at the end ot you get an ukulele!

-- Steve - Impatience is Expensive

Actually sounds good, I have zero musical talent and don’t really know how to play any instrument, but it is in my home when friends stop by that do. This kit is usually on sale for under $100 and does save you from having to bend the sides. I first built the Tenor, mid-size this one is the Concert Cutaway. An inspirational video of young girls building one.
https://youtu.be/q_yaSjYZqH8

-- Quando Omni Flunkus Moritati

Well done,
Seems like a good little kit
Regards
Anthm

-- There is no hope for any of us if we keep apologizing for telling the truth.

Nicely done Gary and good looking uke. Don’t shy away from bending sides. It’s way easier than it would seem with most woods. Your kit looks like Honduran mahogany. It’s almost as easy to bend as Indian rosewood. Easy to build any number/kinds of bending pipes, molds, etc. That’s assuming you’re catching the bug!

-- Darrel

I may have to try that I have looked at a few videos of the process, One with a propane torch inside a pipe, Id have to do that outside I think.

-- Quando Omni Flunkus Moritati

I may have to try that I have looked at a few videos of the process, One with a propane torch inside a pipe, Id have to do that outside I think.

- GaryCN

I use a 300 watt lightbulb in one of mine and a 500 watt halogen in another with dimmer controls for the heat. Many others use a barbeque lighter and just compress the coil to fit in a pipe and then use a dimmer control or router speed control to adjust heat. I also have a magnetic wood stove thermometer to tell me when I’m around 400F or so. Torch types work but are much more finicky in my experience.

-- Darrel

I would think a good heat gun is a possibility

-- Quando Omni Flunkus Moritati

I would think a good heat gun is a possibility

- GaryCN

Yeah, haven’t done it for sides, but using the lower setting, I bend purflings and bindings around the metal end with the heat gun in a vise at times. Similar experience to torches as far as controlling temperature and scorching if used in a pipe.

-- Darrel

Fun! Inspiring! Nice results!

-- Pax - Maryland

Nice job, and I love the Craftsman dead-weight having done that myself. After a few instruments I finally built a “Go-Bar Deck” for clamping braces, tops and bottoms. There are lots of plans on-line for this time-saver. Here is a link to my go-bar deck completed last October. https://www.lumberjocks.com/projects/411906.

Nice job, and I love the Craftsman dead-weight having done that myself. After a few instruments I finally built a “Go-Bar Deck” for clamping braces, tops and bottoms. There are lots of plans on-line for this time-saver. Here is a link to my go-bar deck completed last October. https://www.lumberjocks.com/projects/411906.

- HankLP

That is a great idea, do you add the compression bars after you have adjusted the height of the top. Looks similar to a manual veneer press.

-- Quando Omni Flunkus Moritati

Reused the plan to build a birdhouse for my guitarist friend.

-- Quando Omni Flunkus Moritati