MIMF

I did a search today and found a variety of free online plans. Pinterest seems to have a quite a bit of stuff too, but I am a luddite in terms of social media so I don't have an account there. Can't say anything about the relative merits as I have never built a uke before. Here are a few sources sta...

I recently got myself a cheap soprano ukelele kit. Total "construction" consisted of joining ready made next to ready made body, then glueing the bridge and sticking on the tuners. I have been amusing myself no end with it in the last few days. Now I fancy trying something a big bigger. :-) Anyone t...

I assembled the kit last night and this morning. In the end I gave it a light coat of shellac as I have a batch mixed. On closer inspection the fretboard and the bridge are both made from from thin strips of some kind of dark wood laminate together. It gives both a quite pleasing appearance. The nec...

Just thought I would update this. The kit arrived today. It sat in a distribution centre for the island from monday of last week until today. A reasonably competitive marathon runner could have made it there and back in 3 or 4 hours. (25-27km each way) :-). The body is not too bad and I was pleasant...

Thanks Chris. If I had 2 I could do a pink and a blue. Have you had a look at any of the other kits? I had a good look on the alibazar site. If I decide to make a batch of these as gifts, I think I would order direct from china. If you order 5,000 the cheapest kits are $3 each. :mrgreen: Once you st...

I ordered one of the cheap chinese uke kits where you just join the next to the body, put in the bridge and fretboard and add the tuning machines. Lets call it cheap and cheerful. I could scarcely get the plywood for what the whole thing costs. (unless I scored it from a skip/dimpster :-) ). It is s...

The point of the downdraft table is to collect the dust. The vac might work but something like this might work better, https://www.harborfreight.com/13-gallon-industrial-portable-dust-collector-31810.html?_br_psugg_q=dust+collector. It will still be noisy though. I've got my dust collector in an ou...

European houses don't have forced air systems like the USA. So this is not an option. There is no ducting in any houses except the latest and greatest "zero energy" houses which are completely sealed and must have a forced system. :-) In most of Spain, where I now live, you are surprised if there is...

The fan in our kitchen extractor is so loud that we scarcely ever turn it on. When we replace it, I will not be re-using it for this.

I think there must be a few posts by Alain Bieber about this. I recall one of his experiments where discussed clues. One issue was foaming.

Check my logic please. I will be making myself some sort of downdraft table in the near future. The simplest option is just to plug in one of my workshop vacuum cleaners. However these are very noisy but I don't have anything else at the moment. So that is step one. But there may be a later "Plan B"...

Thanks Bob.

I find that dust is bothering more than in the past. I do take precautions but I don't have anything to measure the effects (apart from my lungs :-)). I did a few searches this morning and found a range of counters and air quality meters. Prices from about $20 to $7000+. All seem to work with a lase...

The StewMac 000 and D kits come with a cardboard inside mould. I found them quite good so I have nothing against inside colds. However, for classicals I have only ever used a solera and I don't use any mold with it. Nowadays I use some wooden right angles at a few points around the perimeter but whe...

Until now I have always used a blonde/superblonde de-waxed shellac. I got a small amount of what appears to be a waxed shellac recently. Compared to my usual shellac, the flakes dissolved almost instantly but the mix is cloudy. What should I be thinking about if I use this type? I just did a very br...

I read one of the technical docs earlier. In fact the parent company is from Belgium. Still never heard of it. EDIT I called the company selling it and asked about it. They told me that they sold it and the other oil finishes mainly to people doing wood turning. As a side note I also found out that...

I read one of the technical docs earlier. In fact the parent company is from Belgium. Still never heard of it.

I spotted this on a Spanish suppliers website which suggests that at least some professionals are using it. It is some sort of oil finish and as the name suggests apparently need only one coat. It seems to be a US company and I have seen it referred to as RMC. I usually use shellac but at the moment...

Peter Wilcox wrote: ↑

Fri May 29, 2020 9:00 pm

... but wants a "top of the line" handbuilt acoustic ... Money is no object.

Well that's good news. I suppose he does realise that "top of the line" acoustics cost US$25K-US$35K and more for special requests. (Symogyi and similar)

I got a pair of these* put in a few months back. Much pricier here (x2-x3 plus fitting) that in the link but I am quite happy with them. The electrical company who put them in recommended them. The main reason I got them fitted is that I had no ladders high enough to reach the ceiling and secondly t...