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Okay. Now that's a challenge I could get behind...

1) "You can't make a ukulele with a pocket knife they say." Is this an actual quote from someone that we could ridicule if we succeed in the task??

2) I admire the work of the presenter on the Instructable website, but there are lots of ways he could simplify his task and reduce his cost and tool requirements:

     a) dumpster dive for a piece of pre-finished wood already shaped for a neck. (chair-back slat, molding scrap, etc.)

     b) use a cigar box (or other) for a resonator

     c) steal twine off the neighbor's Weed Eater for the strings

     d) assemble all with wood screws stolen from the hasp holding the lock that protects the neighbor's Weed Eater.

     e) re-think headstock and use carved tuning pins or else use recycled bolts or screws.

3) How about a competition? No rules, just let everybody see how minimal they can get and still play a C, F, and G7 chord. Winner is lowest cost and fewest tools. (Theft is considered zero cost--disregarding jail time and/or community service requirements.)  Decision of the judge(s) is final.

What say ye, Titch & Wayfinder??

Replying to 1 it is anathema to the aloha spirit that drives ukulele makers to ridicule the makers of foolish statements for sometimes they inspire us to think outside the box.
Being of Dutch descent I am reminded how a woman told her dutch husband that it was more likely that he could turn back the tide than do the dishes, which is how the dykes got built.
The rest of what you have written sounds great, though I am a little disturbed by the concept of taking from others as being a Clown I try to spread joy. Dumpster diving - I'll be there beside you if I'm not in there first. Thrift shopping - I practically wrote the song, but I tend to draw the line at preemptive strikes on things that others are currently keeping in their sheds.
I actually upset some of the salvation army store people by insisting on paying what things are worth, rather than the ridiculous low prices they put on them. I even go back sometimes to pay extra when i do a bit of research on how much things are worth.

I take your point about sharing profits with the thrift-store folks.

For example, I paid $.99 for a tacky double-shot tequila glass that is now a $7.00 guitar slide. I suppose I could drop an extra $6.01 into their cash bucket on the next trip. Rusty cookie tins become instruments--although I'm not sure how to estimate the markup on an individual component after it's included in the larger build..

Our innocent (?) little hobby has a lot of potential for "up-cycling" stuff that others see as useless clutter. Paying the profits back where they'll do some good might soothe one's conscience for indulging in such an obvious waste of time.

Pretty cool although I think claiming to use "just a pocket knife" is a stretch. He used not one but 2 multi tools and various other tools like steel rulers and files. Also store bought tuning machines (a wise move but still kind of cheating imo) I do love the idea of making a head out of a plastic bottle, that is a very handy tip. I don't know if I'll ever get around to it but making a playable instrument with only found, reclaimed items and a "traditional" pocket folder knife as your only tool would be very much in line with the roots of these instruments.( Extra points for building it by candle light!) I think that at the very least would give one a higher appreciation for our modern conveniences and may awaken craftsman skills we were not aware of.

There's a video on here somewhere of a feller making banjo heads out of "Type 1" plastic found in soda bottles. He staples them down, covers them with a retaining ring, and then tightens them with a hair dryer. I gotta' try it real soon now.

Recommend outdoors or with excellent ventilation since nobody knows what fumes the plastic may give off.

Jim Morris has done a few heat shrunk soda bottle banjos though I thought he just used tacks like I do. 

The terminology is different but I think the PET we have is the same as the Type 1 bottles you have.

Yup, it's pete1 plastic from 2 liter soda bottles and sometimes I just staple it down. I've found larger pieces that sheet cakes from the grocery come in and hope to make a full size banjo with one of those soon. Roy Durrence has suggested scuffing the plastic with sand paper to give a more opaque look.

Cheezes 

Tough crowd.The knife I bought was a dud - I got a better cheaper one from Kmart later that would have cut the "multitools" to one, I could have used the awl unsharpened, or used the sandpaper to sharpen it too.

Perhaps next time I just estimate where the frets should go using harmonics and my ear. 12th fret half way 5th fret quarter way and 7th fret a third of the way. After that the rest should be a doddle to do by eye an ear.

surprised you didn't take me to task over using a smart phone.

Yep. Attaining "purity" is harder than it looks--and everybody's idea of propriety varies.

I'd already abandoned the idea of using my Victorinox "Swiss Army" knife because it wouldn't be fair and, besides, it won't hold a good woodworking edge (too much chrome in the blades).

I've got a 2-blade Case penknife (a gift--free to me) that I can sharpen with a sharpening stone that I found on the ground near my home. I'll miss the awl, but I believe I can make a 1/4"-ish hole for wooden tuning pins using the smaller blade if I'm patient enough and the wood is soft enough.

Putting on frets without glue had me stumped, but there's a Music Education group in Australia that makes fretboards by wrapping a single piece of thick twine round and round the neck. That might work, but then I'll have to (steal/borrow/appropriate/find) a good bit of weed-whacker twine for both frets and strings.

Measuring the frets should be possible using Pythagorean/Euclidian methods. That's why "The Rule of 18ths" is so important. It uses math that's been around for over 2000 years--instead of logarithms, which are much more recent.

Please notice that all of this is just brave talk. I've done no actual construction. It appears that any real attempt at this would be U-G-L-Y, but I'm only looking to get it to work once before I throw it all in the stove for heat.

They used to used thin strips of rawhide for frets.  Soak them then tie them on tight and let em dry.  They shrink tight to the neck and are hard enough for frets.  And movable if needed.

Good idea. I've got rawhide scraps & the practice is authentic back to at least the 16th century.

For those who don't want to use Tandy Leather supplies, I believe the Foxfire Book, Vol.III recommends the hides of Groundhogs--although that may be for banjo heads.

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