Yay, I finally got around to writing up this post. I could have done the following while waiting for the glue to dry or waiting for the new side to come in. But, like I said, this is my first build so I'll just stick to the order given in the instruction manual.
Here I transfered the lines from the template to the ukulele top. I wasn't paying attention and drew the lines for the lower back brace.
Adding the sound hole purfling was pretty easy. The strips fit nice and snug in the channel. I used a bit of tape to hold it down while I cut each plastic strip to size. I cut each strip individually on a piece of thin card board to protect the sound board.
My messy CA job. I just used "The Original Super Glue", well that is what it said on the little yellow tube.
The back braces were easy, just clamp and glue. I used spring clamps as shown in the instruction manual. However, the clamps on each end of the brace didn't seem to be enough as the center of the braces did not have good contact with the back board. I didn't have the proper clamps at the time so I placed a few 5lb weight lifting plates on a 1x2 inch furring strip across the center of the two braces.
I did the top bracing in parts. I started with the cross bars, then bridge plate, and finally the vertical braces (not sure what they are called, spine braces?, fan braces?).
I had to repeat what I did for the back braces for the top as the spring clamps were not enough.
I had to go out and buy a few deep throat C clamps to attach the bridge plate. I wish I had bought those earlier as I could have used them on the back and top cross braces instead of using weights.
Here are the vertical braces being clamped on. I am really glad I bought the deep throat clamps as it made clamping the middle brace easy.
Finally the braces are all glued in. Normally, all this would probably just take a few days. I had to take two weeks due to baby wanting attention and hunting down the deep throat clamps from the hardware stores. Home Depot and Lowes were either out or didn't carry any. I found the clamps at a local hardware store.
Next up will be fitting and gluing up the top to the sides.
Here I transfered the lines from the template to the ukulele top. I wasn't paying attention and drew the lines for the lower back brace.
Adding the sound hole purfling was pretty easy. The strips fit nice and snug in the channel. I used a bit of tape to hold it down while I cut each plastic strip to size. I cut each strip individually on a piece of thin card board to protect the sound board.
My messy CA job. I just used "The Original Super Glue", well that is what it said on the little yellow tube.
The back braces were easy, just clamp and glue. I used spring clamps as shown in the instruction manual. However, the clamps on each end of the brace didn't seem to be enough as the center of the braces did not have good contact with the back board. I didn't have the proper clamps at the time so I placed a few 5lb weight lifting plates on a 1x2 inch furring strip across the center of the two braces.
I did the top bracing in parts. I started with the cross bars, then bridge plate, and finally the vertical braces (not sure what they are called, spine braces?, fan braces?).
I had to repeat what I did for the back braces for the top as the spring clamps were not enough.
I had to go out and buy a few deep throat C clamps to attach the bridge plate. I wish I had bought those earlier as I could have used them on the back and top cross braces instead of using weights.
Here are the vertical braces being clamped on. I am really glad I bought the deep throat clamps as it made clamping the middle brace easy.
Finally the braces are all glued in. Normally, all this would probably just take a few days. I had to take two weeks due to baby wanting attention and hunting down the deep throat clamps from the hardware stores. Home Depot and Lowes were either out or didn't carry any. I found the clamps at a local hardware store.
Next up will be fitting and gluing up the top to the sides.
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