Andyjr1515

I'm assuming this is the Ghost Acousti-sonic and Hexpander?  Are you planning/do you have enough depth to stack them?  Makes quite a difference to the real-estate they take up if you can (and I think from memory that it takes a 2-connector multi-wire cable out of the equation). 

Very nicely done

If the link works, it's this:

https://www.amazon.com.au/Winsor-Newton-Calligraphy-Bottle-Indian/dp/B004GS3ZYA/ref=sr_1_13?crid=36UC2WYASYBNM&keywords=Red%2BPermanent%2BCalligraphy%2BInk&qid=1695149180&sprefix=red%2Bpermanent%2Bcalligraphy%2Bink%2Caps%2C232&sr=8-13&th=1

Shout if the link doesn't work and I'll tell you the Amazon.com.au search words to use

35 minutes ago, Akula said:

As for calligraphy ink, is something like this what you're thinking?

No - it's not that.  I'll see if I can track down the right stuff on an Australian website.

36 minutes ago, mistermikev said:

well that's nice to hear even if it isn't true.

Trust me, my comments are not flattery...that's a bass that would stop the traffic  

That really is coming along very nicely indeed!

With stains - and particularly reds - the colour will be massively affected by the underlying wood colour @Akula

The best cherry red I managed (for the shade I was looking for) was using red calligraphy ink but that was on mahogany.  I used it too with a figured maple top and that was splendid too but a quite different shade - much redder and less of the blue tinge.  If you do try it out on some scrap, make  sure you go for calligraphy ink - it is designed for documents that need to be legible after hundreds of years...and so won't fade in the same way that some standard pen inks might.

Canon cameras are notoriously poor at capturing reds, but these two shots are pretty close to how they came out:

The one on mahogany:

And on figured maple:

To my eye, the mahogany one is blue-tinted red and the maple one is closer to a red red.

Then again, there's cherry red and there's cherry red so neither of the above might be anywhere near what you define as cherry red

By the way, ref fading of some inks, I see both of these relatively regularly - both were made pre-2016 and both hang on walls next to windows when they are not being played...and they both still pretty much look like this colour-wise.

...and this has to be one of the best bass-of-the-week winners for years!!   Those photos are superb. 

Absolutely flippin' excellent.  I knew they would love it 

5 hours ago, ADFinlayson said:

The cool thing about the dish is it makes the perfect caul for the back which remains under clamping pressure while the top is getting glued down, so it will stay like this over night

Good tip.  Consider it stolen! 

The first one looks splendid.  Nice touch on No 2 also with that splash - it's those little things that make all the difference.  Very cool!

5 hours ago, ADFinlayson said:

Wow that thing is small

It is indeed!

For the mortise, I part drilled and then finished off with chisel and mallet:

Against normal practice, it actually fit quite well!

For the soundhole decoration I used the Dremel radius cutter.  I started with a 1mm cutter for the first purfling ring, cleaning it up with a scraper:

And then drilled a second hole for a second offset ring, and then a third hole in the middle of those two and used a 3mm bit for a rebate in between the two purfling rings for some abelone decoration.  Bit more cleaning up to do once everything has set solid, but you get the idea:

35 minutes ago, Bizman62 said:

Like the soprano ukulele someone recently built for his mom, your eyes made tricks believing it's a guitar until it sat on his palm.

Yup - even this tenor is just a tad smaller than my LAG       :

26 minutes ago, Bizman62 said:

While discussing the matter I also brought up the solid lining

Interestingly, quite a few ukes - and mandolins too - use solid linings.  No idea what difference it makes to strength or sound but it does usually mean more bending to be done which is why I usually stick to kerfed 

This morning, I cut and fitted the neck and tail mahogany blocks and fitted the kerfed lining:

In the photos it's hard to get a true feel of just how dinky this is! 

I'll be using the same radius dishes I use for the full-size ones - 25 feet rad for the top and 15 feet for the back.  And I have the top and back thicknessed...just got to decide on/get hold of some decent bracing woods and I can start on those two   

Guitar looks great, by the way 

On 9/14/2023 at 10:14 PM, Dward13 said:

Got a new shop helper: SuperMax 16-32 Drum Sander.

I've had a Delta X5 sander since 2004, but it's been a constant pain as it was a very bad design.

Funny Story: I used the Delta sander for a couple years then these gears that raise and lower the deck broke.

At the time Delta was merging with some other company and wasn't supplying parts.

It took like 3 years to get the parts.

By that time I was not going to use it anyway so it just sat.

After moving I managed to get it working but not for long.

Finally decided that I'm too old to mess with some tool I need and use so I popped for the new one.

 

Very, very envious.  There's not a chance of me getting one into my teeny workspace but boy would it make a difference if I could!

In between life's inevitable distractions, a bit more progress.

I cut a couple of sides from a mahogany back and side set I found at the back of the shed.  1st job was to slim them down from 4mm to just below 2mm.  I used my low-angle plane which did nicely:

Then, after a decent soaking and plenty of water spritzing along the way, it was over the heat pipe and fitted progressively around the mould.  Mahogany and walnut are both generally pretty well behaved over a hot pipe.

Must be time for a mockup!!  

Once that's fully dried, I'll cut them to length for the two sides to butt up front and back and then fit a mahogany tailblock and neckblock.  Something I've never done before, but might with this one, is rout the tenon slot in the neck block before I glue it to the sides.

This gets better and better.  That binding is really going to set the top off.

They both look great from here! 

6 hours ago, ADFinlayson said:

how did you find that tape for joining the top?

I didn't get it from G&W (had that roll for years - way before G&W were trading), but pretty sure it's the same stuff:

https://guitarsandwoods.com/guitar-binding-tape-3m-filamented-reinforced-tape.html

It works well and doesn't create tear out too badly at all - I've taken the tape off this morning and no tear out at all.  I think the magic letters are '3M'

6 hours ago, ADFinlayson said:

what do you think of the radius dish uk mould?

It's really nice.  I used one of their moulds for the Trini Lopez 335-ish too.  Well made and work well.  My only gripe is that they take a surprisingly long time from order to receipt.

While still waiting for the tenor uke mould, I started roughing out the bridge.  As I mentioned earlier, I will be using ball-end nylons and a steel-string-type through-body pegged bridge. 

But a knock on the door this morning and guess what arrived?

Yes - it's the mould!!!  

And so I could work out where the soundhole is going to be and cut the fretboard end accordingly:

And yes - neck join at the 12th as with a classical guitar.  Little people have little arm stretches...and if either of them start shredding above the 12th fret, then I'll  just have to buy them a Parker Nitefly instead! 

And yes - the plan is X-bracing!  More about that in future posts.

So top wood thicknessed to around 3mm (I'll scrape down to final thickness later) and joined on glass using reinforced tape while the Titebond cures.

Coming along nicely. 

The tenor uke body mould still hasn't arrived and I won't do the sanding on the neck until I can fit the fretboard...which can't be done until I've sorted the neck angle...which can't be done until the body complete.  Hmpfff!  

I can still busy myself thinking about soundhole size, shape and purfling and I can make a prototype bridge - but the neck will have to go in the cupboard for the time being.

Here it is in its pre-sanded state and with fretboard still unattached but with headstock backplate now fitted:

The bandsaw looks just the ticket!  Count me as envious  

It's frustrating about the pickups, though.  Hopefully they will arrive this week.