MIMF

Thanks for the tip!

I forgot that I can just buy a short scale neck, and save a ton of time.
We'll see.....still need to clean the garage.

Dear MIMF, I've recently decided to build myself a short scale bass, sorta like the Les Paul log or a Steinberger with a head. Ideally, I want something I can whip out in a day with minimal jigs, a router, and a jigsaw.....especially important with a toddler and newborn. How this is too thin? Fender...

Dear MIMF, I've been encouraging my wife to find meaning in life beyond her former identity as a tech worker. She's since found happiness and meaning teaching at a nearby middle school. She will likely be tapped as the science teacher, and will have to build up a curriculum from not much. Do you hav...

Update: first snafu.

The braces have warped in the last 6-8 years since I glued them on causing the top and back to become concave.

Dumb question: do I need to take off the braces, and make new ones?

Kerfing glued on.

I brought in the rim, along with some tightbond into my office to work on after patients, paperwork, and notes.
I figure that I have maybe 5-10 minutes of freedom at a time.

Next is planing the rims/kerfing flush and installing the top/back

Dear Mimf, This weekend, we put the kids to sleep and organized the workshop. I found a few braced/thicknessed ukelele tops/backs, and a set of bent sides with kerfining glued on one side...as well as a neck and the bridge. After talking with my wife, we decided to just finish the ukulele and get ba...

Thanks. That was actually really useful.

I've created a safe(enough) are in the backyard where the kiddo can splash, get dirty, throw rocks, and play with dirt.
It has greatly helped him with behavioral issues.

I wonder how I missed this thread! This is the one thread I can be of help. For bonding, I recommend a 2 or 3 bottle system, as the single bottle stuff tends to lose effectiveness very fast (due to contrasting chemistry). Scotchbond, Optibond, Optibond Solo+ are all great bonding agents. You can pro...

Yay!

I may ask my teacher wife to run this past her principal.

Yup...

Will probably be working on an electric bass or an electric travel guitar sometime.
It may take years to finish cleaning up our garage though...

There's some tools that I can't find for the life of me (like a Japanese chamfer plane)

Dear MIMF, A while back, I was crazy about ukulele and promised Jake Shimabukuro a ukulele. Years later, he told me he has two huge rooms of ukes, and asked me to donate it to raise money for local schools. This idea sorta stuck with me. I'm thinking if I get a chance, I'd like to build an instrumen...

Hey Gordon,

Glad to hear that you're doing better.

Please enjoy your time with your lovely bride.

Has anyone used any 3d printed tools/jigs for luthiery?

I just started 3d printing around October 2024, and have found it super useful in my dental office.
I've seen a number of tools (like a fret rocker and understring leveling beam) online.

Has anyone tried these?

Hey MIMF, I've been off for a while, and likely will be taking a long time before going back to building (but no regrets). My main focus right now are my kids, and my wife. However, I don't have a ton of creativity in how to play with my toddler son. Do you have good game/activity/teaching ideas? -M...

My professor pinged me back, and told me to just enjoy my time with my kids.

She said she already has two ukeleles (including a vintage Martin).
She said it'd mean more to her for me to be around my toddler son and newborn daughter.

Dear MIMF, I'm thinking of getting a tenor ukulele kit from Stewmac, and was wondering what else to get. About 10-12 years ago, I'd promised my dental school professor a ukulele. Since then, I've been very stalled. And with two youngsters (a 3 mo and 21 mo), I don't think I have the energy/time to d...

Also, have you thought of building another model with readily available plans? Why the Kalamazoo KG 11? Personally, I'd much rather build Mark Swanson's fatboy first. There's also the L-0 plans and the L-00 plans (used to be available on LMI, but they closed). PM me if you want a copy of the L-O plan.

Taking a break from dad life, and listening to a laser surgery lecture while typing this. I think that you are doing a variation of the Yamaha "long tenon" set neck joint, with a scarf connection IMHO, the longer tenon was superior to the Gibson joint. The scarf might be a bit hard to inde...

That's beautiful.

Wait, what!?