Finishing Soundboard and Gluing to Sides

Today we will finish the uke soundboard as far as getting it to the point of gluing it to the sides which are still in the mold.

1.Horizontal braces are carved on each long side with a small hand plane and then dimensioned with a 1 ¼” wide Japanese Bench chisel. Touch those up with a 220 grit 3M sanding block and then scallop ends with a Two Cherries gouge.

2. Two pieces of spruce stock are then cut for the two fan braces. Line them up where they lay on the pencil marks you have drawn and mark two lines across where the bridge patch is. Take the piece over to the belt sander and shave away a little divot on the bottom of the piece where the bridge patch will be. This is so the fan brace will lie flat over the bridge patch. This can also be accomplished just using a half-round file if you don’t have a belt sander. In the past, I had meticulously taken care to carve out this spot so it would fit exactly over the bridge patch. Mike says this is not necessary. Glue to soundboard making sure to leave about a ¼” space at the top of each fan brace away from the mid-brace. The fan braces should not touch the mid-brace! These are in turn carved as the horizontal braces. Mike told me to flatten the tops of them a little bit. The ends of the braces are scalloped almost flush with the top of the soundboard. The only placed they should be left about a 1/16” tall is at the top of the fan braces. Here we need a little strength. He tells me the more wood you take away the louder your uke will be. There needs to be a happy balance between strength of the uke and how loud you can get it to be. Grams of wood shavings can be taken away here and there to make your uke project more sound. Though this can be a cost to strength.

3. Finish sand the inside of the soundboard and it is ready to glue to the sides!

4. Apply a bead of white woodworkers glue to the head and tail blocks and the kerfing that is in the mold. Line up the center line of the soundboard to the center line of the mold and first use two cam clamps at the tail block and then use two cam clamps at the head block. Mike showed me how to make sure the clamps are perpendicular to the bottom and to each other clamp. The clamp end should be just over the sides. If too far forward the sides can be crushed. When the soundboard is over the sides, one cannot see where the sides are. Before you glue and add the top you can mark your cam clamp with a pencil as to how for forward you can go with the cam clamp. After both ends are clamped, start filling rest of the side areas with cam clamps. This proved to be a very quick and relatively painless way to glue the soundboard on.

Next will be getting the back ready…