I decided that I would make a ukulele for Sindi for Christmas this year. I noticed that my local woodworking store was selling kits, so I risked $80 and decided to try my luck at luthier work. I was fortunate to find a Youtube video someone had made who had put together a similar kit. The video was much better than the printed instructions. When I had it all assembled, I took it to John at Hidden Music, a local music store here. He strung and tuned it for me. He told me that I had done a good job in some critical areas of the construction and he pointed out some things I could have done better. It sounds great!
Here are some pictures and a few details on the process:
I started by making this little template that would hold the pieces in the right orientation when I began to glue them together.
You can't see them, but I glued thin support strips around the sides on the top and bottom of the edges to provide more gluing surface for the top and bottom of the ukulele. Lots of little clamps - thank goodness for Harbor Freight!
I then glued the supports under the top and bottom of the ukulele. The cross supports had to be trimmed later to sit perfectly in notches in the sides of the support strips I had glued to the sides earlier.
Keeping it traditional, I used hide glue. This is the modern stuff and does not have to be heated. It has a longer working time that yellow glue.
Once I glued the tops and bottoms on, I had to trim the flush to the sides with my small router.
This was the most time consuming bit - I had to cut the fret wire and place each section into the fret board. I then had to pound them in, level them, then smooth and bevel them with files and sand paper.
The fret board then was glued to the neck.
Gluing the neck assembly to the body.
The bridge and saddle are in.
I used tung oil on the body, neck, and fret board. I also used a wipe on polyurethane on the body to give it a glossy look.
John, the owner of Hidden Music, graciously showed me how to string and tune the ukulele. He taught me a lot in the 45 minutes I was there. I already have two more orders to make, so his advice will be very useful.
I bought a bag and a tuner and now am just waiting for Sindi to drive over to pick it up :)
