So, when we last left our ukulele – it had been screwed and reglued.
Here’s the top glued up – and while I waited for that to dry, I took a look at the neck.
My Shed
But – here’s a shot through the door of my shed – this is where I’m doing all the hard work to screw up this ukulele build.
The neck is not even
So, the first thingt I need to do with the neck is get the fingerboard trimmed to fit and square with the neck. Simple enough – I figured I’d just draw a line down the center of the neck, and the center of the fingerboard – line them up and Bob’s your uncle. But it looks like Uncle Cleetus cut this neck – the dovetail is not in the center of the neck – Argggg. So I had to take about 1/8″ off one side of the next to make it square with the dovetail (and ultimately the body).
So I marked the waste line, and started rasping the neck down. I have to match the profile as well – which is all kind of by eye and by feel.
The reglued top
So, for the top – I reglued the waste back in place from my spastic coping saw job – looks scary bad here.
But not quite so terrible once I got the sides rasped down to within sanding distance of the body. From here I used 80, 120, 220, and 320 grit sandpaper to sand down the sides and the top and back.
I used 3/4 and 1/2 ply with sandpaper glued in place for most of it – but for the curved bits I used some 3″ PVC pipe that I cut with my backsaw so I could hold a piece of sandpaper in place.
I worked pretty well for the curved bits – especially at the waist.
But mostly I used flat blocks to sand it down. Not many pictures of sanding – too much sawdust – which is my excuse for not taking pictures.
There was plenty of sawdust. And the top only looks kind of horrible now that it’s trimmed and sanded.
After sanding down to 320 grit, the next step for the body is to use a clear filler on the wood. This just fills the pores – which on his mahogany are huge – so when we get the final finish on it will be smooth. The sealer is about the consistency of the paste we ate in kindergarten – you brush it all – and then use a bondo squeegee to squeegee it across the grain – which removes most of it – but pushes it down into the pores (theoretically).
I let the first coat dry for a couple of hours – did another pass with the 320 – and then put on another coat of sealer. This should do it. I’ve left the body hanging up to dry – and when I get back it’s time to finish dealing with the neck.
Now I have to go practice
Kevo