Comment

Comment by Richey Kay on November 13, 2014 at 8:53am

Titebond may very well set in 30 minutes but the curing time is much longer, 24 hours is what they recommend. I wouldn't recommend stressing the joint for a while after gluing. Best to clamp at least overnight then leave the piece for a full day before exerting any force on it.

Comment by gary sheldon on November 13, 2014 at 7:28am

The jury is still out on my neck joint.  I glued it last night.  I took the clamp off after 9 hours and then tightened the screw.  The glue joint failed.  I reglued and clamped.  

I will keep it clamped for the 24 hour "no stress" period this time.  I am afraid I have too much stress there and will have to take the neck out, then refile the surface where the neck is glued to the top.  I have been trying to force a little more neck drop with tension on the heel.  Maybe a bad idea.  I'll see what happens tonight..  

Comment by Aaron Tobul on November 13, 2014 at 7:14am

Thanks Gary. That sounds like a lot of good advice. I'm still slowly working on my first uke. I'm still shaping the neck and heel with a lot of rasp and file work and seeing how you attach yours to the box is a help.

Comment by gary sheldon on November 12, 2014 at 1:27pm

Attaching heel:

  I made the heel and today I attached it.  The neck joint was probably adequate without it, but I wanted the added security.  

  Without this addition, all the neck joint stress was taken by the body top.  

  With the heel in place, the front of the box takes some of the stress, and with the extra long heel, I have some mechanical advantage to prevent fold back and hopefully retain my very slight neck drop.  This should also prevent the top from deforming due to string tension.

There is a 2"long machine screw going through the heel and into a small block behind the front of the box.  On the back of that block I have installed a T nut.

I glued the heel to the neck, but not to the body.  Theoretically I can still remove the bottom of the body by taking the screw out, removing 4 screws in the back, and dropping the back straight down.  I didn't glue the heel to the front of the box.There is quita a bit of strain on the neck/heel joint, so I will leave it clamped for 24 hours.  I used hide glue, so if it is not going to work, I can unglue the joint.

I am not going to plug the access hole for the screw.  I don't like to build anything that can't be taken apart.

The back of the heel is cut at about 88 degrees, so tightening the screw adds neck drop.

Photos

Comment by gary sheldon on November 9, 2014 at 12:39pm

My opinion on laying out tuners on uke headstocks:

I like the headstock to measure 2" across.  1 1/2" neck width + 2X 1/4" ears = 2".

A mistake I have made in the past is to not leave enough room for the player's hand when fretting the first fret.  Remember those frets are small.  So leave a little extra space between the nut and the first set of tuners.

It helps me to draw in where I think the strings will be.  I don't want the first tuners to interfere with the strings going to the 2nd set of tuners.  When drawing in the strings, remember to leave about 1/8" between the center of the tuner spindle and the outside surface, where the string will wrap.

To make things easier, I set the 2nd set of tuners slightly inboard of the 1st set. That gives the strings even more clearance.  

Remember to have enough space so that the tuner knobs will be able to turn ok.  Don't drill the holes too far inboard.

Leave some space between the nut and the end of the ears and cut the end of the ears diagonally or with a concave arc.  This helps with the first fret fingering problem mentioned before.  Also make sure you install the tuners with the adjustment knob above the shaft.

Drill from the top and clamp a piece of scrap to the bottom if possible to prevent blow out when the drill bit comes through.  Try to keep the drill perpendicular to the face of the headstock if using a hand drill.  

Hope this helps beginning uke builders.  I have made most of the mistakes that can be made positioning and drilling headstocks.

One more thing.  Use some wax or bar soap on those tiny screws in the back to prevent stripping the heads out.  I also use it when driving the flange in if it is too tight. 

I like to let the end run wild until I have the tuners in and everythink is satisfactory.  In fact it is one of the last things I do.   

If you drill in the wrong place, it is usually possible to plug the hole and redrill.

Comment by gary sheldon on November 7, 2014 at 7:51pm

Comments to Keith,

My opinion on your questions:

I agree with your comment about cigar box makers in general.  Their boxes are designed to contain cigars, not produce sound.  They range from awful to very good.  I am using Ashton boxes on my Tall Ship series.  I have had excellent luck with them in the past.  The top is thin plywood.  Not perfect, but very good. I have also had good results from some of the smaller Cohiba boxes which use a solid wood top.  A little too thick, but they still sound good.

I have had the sad experience of building an instrument and when it is finished and I play it, the sound is poor.  Usually, this is due to the top being made of MDF, not wood.  They are sometimes very clever at disguising the MDF with wood veneers top and bottom.  I have become better at recognizing MDF tops.  If the top is absolutely smooth, without a hint of wood grain, you can bet that it is MDF.  Also certain brands use MDF tops.  Lost City, for example.  It is VERY well disguised.

One suggestion I have is to not be afraid of using a rather large box for your body.  Another possibility is to build your own box, so you can choose your materials and dimensions.

I have been surprised at the tone and volume of the cheapest Chinese ukes, the Mahalo ($44.).  If you can make a CB uke with as good a sound as the Mahalo, you are doing very well.  I presume the Mahalo uses a ply top, but don't really know.

Another option is to use an existing cigar box and replace the top.  I have done that with good results.  I have used a good quality, thin Birch plywood top with good results.

I am mostly into good acoustic sound, but I do put disk piezos into all my builds, but seldom use them amplified.  I haven't used the rod piezos.

Of course,  the best top is solid Sitka Spruce if you want to go that route.  

So my answer is to choose your box carefully and if, in the end, the sound isn't what you want, change to another box.  Or build your own.

Personally I don't want to own an instrument that can't be played acoustically.

Hope this opinion helps you. 

Comment by Keith Stanford on November 7, 2014 at 5:25pm

Howdy folks,

I have built CBG's and plan on making my first couple of CBUkes this winter.

These questions might have already been asked, but since I am just now starting to follow this group, I thought I'd ask anyway.

QUESTIONS: Because Ukuleles don't have that BIG chamber-of-sound (body) that a guitar has, the ukes seem to rely more on the vibration of the sound-board (top of body) for their volume.

Ukulele makers therefore pay a lot of attention to finding the right board for the top of the body on their ukuleles....they need a lot of resonance.

It would be seem to me that the folks who make cigar boxes down in Nicaragua don't really care about using good wood for the top of their cigar boxes.

1. So when we make acoustic CBUkes, can we get as good a sound out of the Cigar Box as we get with a regular Ukulele?

2. Is it then recommended to make an electric CBUke instead of an acoustic one?

3. And if so, should we be using Disk Piezo or Rod Piezos?

Thanks ahead of time for your feed book, folks....

kieta

 

Comment by Scott aka Farmer Ted on November 7, 2014 at 2:54pm

I find the journey of discovery in building instruments to be as interesting as the end product...if not more. There are many new builders just starting out, some have gleaned info and tips from the veterans, and there are others in between.   Best of luck on your journey. 

Comment by gary sheldon on November 7, 2014 at 2:49pm

Scott.  I really appreciate the nice comment.  I wanted to document this build just because....  

And the documentation will help me in building the next 3 of the series.  

Some of this instrument is experimental.  The laminated Douglas Fir neck & the neck joint.  I will donate this instrument to the tall ship Matthew Turner and keep or sell the other 3 builds.  The wood from the necks was excess from the building of the ship.

I was also wondering if anyone was following my little story.

Comment by Scott aka Farmer Ted on November 7, 2014 at 2:40pm

Good to see progress pics. Not too often seen by most builders. And of course...all those details thatt seem to take forever. Keep it up.

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