Woodcraft

It's just fascinating to see some raw blocks of wood step by step metamorphosing into a beauty of an instrument.
This is what we call Handwerkskunst in German (craftsmanship). Keep going and sharing the transformation of matter into art, Tony.
 
A master wood worker, as opposed to a hobbyist!
I love your patience and care, (that I so sorely lack, in my own wood "mangling").

Awesome thread Tony.
Great work all around.

It's just fascinating to see some raw blocks of wood step by step metamorphosing into a beauty of an instrument.
This is what we call Handwerkskunst in German (craftsmanship). Keep going and sharing the transformation of matter into art, Tony.
Thanks guys. Here's another image from this morning's session out in the garage. I needed to true the face of the kiku headstock, and rather than take it to my disc sander, I decided to do it the old-fashioned way, with a block plane and a square. Nothing quite like the hiss of a plane as it peels away fine curls of wood from a workpiece.

neck shavings.jpg
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More CNC work, milling the peghead routing template for the kiku. First order of business was testing the milling script on some scrapwood to ensure the dimensions were accurate. The last image gives an overview of the project's progress.

peghead test.jpg
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kiku parts.jpg
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kiku progress.jpg
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I woke before 0300 this morning (again). After laying in bed for a while and trying in vain to drift off to sleep, I got up and went down to the shop to make better use of my time. I spent the next couple of hours bending the second kiku side and working on the fretboard layout. I also did a load of dishes, walked the dog, and fed the pets . . . all before my wife had to wake and go to work. Insomnia . . .

kiku side 2.jpg
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kiku layout.jpg
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Yesterday I received this beautiful piece of locally harvested American Sycamore from a local sawyer, as well as plans for a Kasha-braced baritone ukulele from Hana Lima ‘Ia in Hawaii. This instrument is going to be built from locally grown and harvested woods: Sycamore for the entire body, Cherry for the neck, and Black Walnut for the bindings, end graft, and peghead veneer. I’m still searching for a suitable locally grown wood for the fretboard and bridge. My first choice would be Persimmon, but I may have to use Hickory if I can’t find the Persimmon.

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All of the tapering is complete, the linings have been installed and sanded flush, and the cross-grain reinforcing patch for the side sound port has been installed. Next up is installing the spalted Sycamore oval trim ring. Unfortunately, the one shown in the image is not the proper size, so I need to make a new one tomorrow.

kiku linings.jpg
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The CNC spalted Sycamore sound port ring is glued in place and sanded flush. The inner lip will be rounded slightly when I do final sanding. Next task: bracing the top and back.

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We're now getting to the type of weather where I can only work in the garage until about noon, as it gets quite hot in there in the afternoon. Here's where I stopped today, with the 100+ year old wormy American Chestnut baritone uke neck blank glued and checked for squareness, the Osage Orange fretboard blank sanded to thickness and slotted, the Osage Orange bridge blank sanded to thickness, and the Red Spruce transverse braces sanded to thickness and ripped to a bit more than the correct height on the bandsaw, ready for shaping and gluing.

slot jig.jpg
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I had a productive morning in the shop with the table saw and thickness sander, making tone bars and cross-grain center strips from old growth Red Spruce. I also used the CNC mill to make a ukulele bridge from Osage Orange. I enjoy using hand tools when I can, but I cannot make parts like these with any sort of precision by hand.

pieces 052231.jpg
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kasha bridge.jpg
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A morning of turning a slab of American Sycamore into the body pieces for a baritone ukulele. The sides I could resaw on my old band saw, but the top and back plates had to be done the old fashioned way. I also had a sizeable piece of the Sycamore left over for a future project. The photos just don't do this wood justice; the grain figure is striking.

sycamore plank.jpg
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kerfs.jpg
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resawing.jpg
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kasha plates.jpg
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Spending a rainy morning in the garage making a building form and spreader bars for my baritone ukulele project. The bandsaw was a Christmas gift from my wife over 25 years ago, and it still works great. I installed a new blade and retuned it this morning just for this job.

bandsaw.jpg
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kasha form.jpg
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