uke building

Ok, I mentioned last blog that I want to build a uke. Here are some pictures of the forms, side bender jig, and drum sander I'm working on.

Looks like the blog software put 'em in reverse order and won't let me move 'em around, grrrr.

I'm using the sander plans from Shop Notes magazine. It's powered by a v-belt from the arbor of a table saw and so it doesn't require it's own motor. Maybe down the line I'll convert it, I really prefer standalone tools so I'm not changing setups all the time. I don't have a dedicated dust collector and just swapping the shopvac from tool to tool is a pain in the butt.

The drum itself is probably the toughest part of the project. Using a circle cutting jig on a bandsaw sure helped. The glue up of the disks is a pain, I'm not quite done yet. I've got most of the other pieces cut out and ready to assemble and I'm waiting for the pillow block bearings to arrive at the h/w store since they didn't keep them in stock.

The Fox style bender was fun to make and looks cool. I can't wait to try it. I still need to make the cauls to pull the wood into the form, not sure how I want to fasten them just yet. Heat will come from a halogen bulb on a dimmer from an old lamp. I've got aluminum sheet to sandwhich my wood and the whole form is lined in several layers of aluminum foil to protect it.

The uke shape is just the cutout from inside the form but gives a better idea of the shape and shows some of the layout on top. I designed the shape on my PC using Visio, print it out and use spray adhesive to attach to the form. Then just cut it out at the bandsaw and use an oscillating drum sander to bring it to the line and smooth it out. I still need to hinge the form and make cauls for holding the uke body sides tight to the form while glueing head/tail blocks and kerfing.

Como, Aug 1, 6-8pm

Brian