Today I worked on the second bass ukulele. I’m building the fret board of jacoba wood Wayne gave me. It’s a hard South American flooring board with a color similar to the mahogany I’m using for the body. I cut it to square width on the table saw and marked it in pencil from the CAD print out. I set it up in the fret cutting jig with wedges to hold it solid. Using the .023 flush cut saw I started each fret slot with the jig, matching the blade to the mark in the sunlight lined up without a shadow. It’s fairly accurate. I attached the wooden depth guide set to the wide fret depth and re cut each slot. I slipped a couple times, so I sanded it on the surfacer and by hand with new 100 grit sand paper, then carefully re cut it to depth. There are a few small errors, but the wide fret stock will cover it and the lines are accurate.
I positioned the neck on the fret board and marked the line, continued with a straight edge to the proper length, this all on the back after marking the nut and end cut. I trimmed it wide on the bandsaw so I can sand it into place after it’s attached, roughed to form on the drum sander. Cobbled together on the bench, it looks good.
The second soprano I put together yesterday is looking good but needs a few adjustments to the nut (lowered) and bridge (filed back to increase the length). I want to add a few burn marks to the neck as markers.
I cooked up a 5 pound batch of chicken leg quarters, boiled for enchiladas, meat separated, bagged and frozen. I cooked the bones and skin down for a bone soup broth, strained and cooling in the fridge to solidify the fat for removal. All good stuff. A good day.
8shotoflove8 