Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Andrew Donaldson on April 18, 2011 at 1:38am

i think ive sourced a box that is 11.5" which will do me perfectly.

thanks for the advice though, i appriciate it. i am hoping to make myself a range of ukes from different boxes. i am currently working on a design for a soprano uke it will be my first uke build and im quite excited to get started on it. just trying to source some nice would for the neck, i am trying to do it on a budget. so either recycled or found items. i think its going to be hard.

 

 

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Permalink Reply by ChickenboneJohn on April 18, 2011 at 1:50am

There's loads of wood to be had for the taking in skips...look for old furniture..chair and table legs are pretty good, also kitchen cabinet doors..I've had oak, maple, cherry, mahogany, beech and merbau. For a uke you'd get away with softwood, as long as its reasonably straight grained. I've made several guitars with softwood (hemlock) necks and they've been fine, so a uke will be no problem.

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Permalink Reply by Andrew Donaldson on April 18, 2011 at 1:55am

cheers for the info.

Theres a skip at the back of my house, i have some pine about do you think that would be good enough its pretty decent grade stuff.

 

i might have a look in the skip and see if theres any old beds or chairs.

thanks very much for all the help.

 

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Permalink Reply by Ted Kaczynski on April 18, 2011 at 2:13am

YO this shop here in town said to mention that they would ship any were for yall have a nice selction of boxes and really sweet lady to help yal  ph#601-824-2121

 

http://www.whisky-cigars.co.uk/empty-cigar-boxes-lucky-p-4084.html

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Permalink Reply by Brian Hunt on April 18, 2011 at 2:30am

For a simple neck, the fastest way I know to shape the back of the neck is with a large round over bit in my router table. I also use an oscilating sander for the areas around the head and the heel then finish by hand with sand paper and sanding blocks. This is a quick power tool way to shape a neck. Others have posted great ways to do it with hand tools. Don't forget that hand planes are a great way to make sure everything is flat. Fret boards, the face of the neck, etc., can all be leveled with a hand plane.

 

Brian Hunt.

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Permalink Reply by ChickenboneJohn on April 18, 2011 at 3:00am

Pine will be plenty strong enough for a uke neck, as long as it's well seasoned and reasonably straight grained and close-grained. There's very little tension on a uke neck, so stability rather than strength is the important thing. Also, it's soft so it's very easy work with hand tools. Obviously, a piece of hardwood will be better, but for a first time effort it should be OK. Glueing it up, especially with a lamination of hardwood down the centre will greatly help with both stability and strength, it's a matter of casting around and seeing what you can find and being a bit creative. 

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Permalink Reply by Chris Tinker on April 18, 2011 at 3:26am

Has anyone else tried this website? It hunts down cigar dealers in your local area - I'd suggest trying some of these?

 

http://cigars.co.uk/where-to-buy

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Permalink Reply by Hugh Brazier on April 18, 2011 at 3:43am

i'm also from the uk and it is pretty hard finding decent looking cigar boxes. Do cigar shops ever sell boxes theyre not using id really like a God of Fire or Cohiba box but the only ones i can find you have to import from America which is pretty expensive so if anyone has any ideas would really appreciate it.

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Permalink Reply by Chris Tinker on April 18, 2011 at 3:53am

I think most cigar shops would be happy to sell you a box. Some will give them to you as they only throw them out. There are some uk online cigar sellers who will sell you boxes too. You just have to be bold!

 

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Permalink Reply by Chris Tinker on April 18, 2011 at 3:54am

EG http://www.cgarsltd.co.uk/empty-cigar-boxes-lucky-p-7112.html

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Permalink Reply by Mark on April 18, 2011 at 6:29am

Excellent point well made.

There are many common objects out there that probably make better resonators than cigar boxes. There's definitely a lot of mileage in experimenting with tins.

Jef Long said:

I think a lot of us around here lose sight of the fact that when people were making cigar box guitars in the early days of the last century they were using cigar boxes because cigar boxes were plentiful, people throwing them away all the time, not necessarily because they were the holy grail of tone.. 

 

i recommend embracing the recycling element, grabbing a nearby container of any type and just go for it mate. ;)

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Permalink Reply by dogfinger steve on April 18, 2011 at 10:41am

hi andrew, i made a tenor guitar a while back and used an old chess and backgammon box (there's some pics on my page) that was fairly big and had a great tone and was very solidly built. picked up a couple more from car boots and charity shops since.

as for shaping necks i have a belt sander but i also use a 4 inch grinder (9 quid from boyes sale) with a flap disc in for taking most of the wood off then a normal sander to get the lines proper.

cheers, steve:0)

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