Best stuff to buy from Stewmac 4/2025

[Matthew Lau]

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 do a scratch build.

Anyways, just wondering if there's anything specially great from Stewmac that I can't 3d print, or buy elsewhere.

[JC Whitney]

How about some finishing supplies for a nice sunburst on that soon-to-be uke?

[Matthew Lau]

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.

[Karl Wicklund]

That professor has priorities in line. But now you’ve got to find another impetus to start, don’t you?

[Matthew Lau]

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)