My latest project is a Stewmac Concert Ukulele kit made with laminated Mahogany back and sides and a solid Mahogany top. It’s been fun putting it together. My younger sister bought the kit and wants to put a colored stain on the body using Unicorn Spit. The finished product is a gift for our Great Niece Oakley, and I think she’s gonna love it.
I’ve not made an instrument with such a small body before. I had noticed there were several imperfections in the sides that presented like big cracks in the veneers. For that reason I added a layer of veneer to the inside. For no particular reason I used an unfinished Maple veneer. This of course thickened the sides slightly and made them much more sturdy. I hope this has another benefit of helping to amplify the sounds the top and back make once it is finished. I frankly do not know all the fun things about making a Ukulele sound good. I was a little surprised at how many notes I was getting as I was cutting and shaping the bracing. I used a 15′ radius dish for the back bracing and a 25′ radius dish for the front. While the kit itself doesn’t appear to put much into radiusing the front or back there is clearly a curve already imparted to the bracing included in the kit. I cut the sides into the radius as well and I had minimal imperfections in the resulting edges once the body was closed up. I did not bind the body joints as it is not specified in the kit plan. It could certainly be done but I opted to not because all I had was plastic binding material in stock and I felt it wouldn’t compliment the Mahogany. I also am not sure what colors are planned in the stain.
I did have some fun with some colored veneers. I hope she finds it someday and laughs. One annoying thing about this kit and the lack of binding on the sides is that the bracing had to end before it emerged all the way through the sides. And the wood they provided for the kerfing is pretty difficult to get to cut perfectly around the bracing. That’s my own craftsmanship issue. I made a glue and sawdust mixture to fill in the gaps but it is one thing I didn’t like about the finished product. I do think there is a good connection and mechanically I think it will be sound.
I found this neat case on Amazon. I think it’s really super cute. In this kit, the neck is anchored to the body using a pair of 1/4″ wooden dowels. I was happy the kit came with a traditional fretboard and medium fretwire. Cutting and finishing the frets is fun and ultimately I think it yielded good results. Once the finish is on the body, we’ll decide how to finish the rest, either with a french polish or a nitrocellulose lacquer and buffing.
It’s gonna be fun either way!