Saturday was my day to relax, so Tasha watched Eve while I worked on Dad’s ukulele.  I succeeded in getting the front binding on and filled.  Most of the afternoon was spent sanding and scraping and there’s still more to go.  I created a Facebook album to chronicle the progress, it is coming along well!  […]

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Today I started the complicated work on my Dad’s ukulele.  He wanted me to install cocobolo bindings, something I have never done before.  I followed the instructions as best as I could, taking special care to measure things carefully and test out my cuts on a piece of scrap.  The StewMac binding router bits worked […]

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Today I began work on my second ukulele, this time it’s a project for my Dad.  He wanted me to make him a Grizzly ukulele kit but with some additional frills… different tuners and wood binding along the edges.  Today I accomplished the repetitive but relaxing task of sanding the kit parts.  While doing so, […]

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This weekend has been hectic but fun.  We spent most of yesterday shopping and then gaming for my buddy Ed’s birthday, followed quickly by a D&D session on Sunday.  The remainder of the weekend was spent doing our normal end of the month routine, which included some extra baby shopping and the creation of the […]

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After all these concerts, it was nice to get to relax and sleep in today.  (I know, it’s a rough life but someone has to do it!) Last night I decided to put my new Aquila strings on my ukulele.  This required a few small modifications in order to make it work.  The Aquila strings […]

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Tonight we joined the Waltons for a concert in Boulder, but this was not just any ordinary concert.  It was a concert by ukulele virtuoso Jake Shimabukuro.  The venue was a giant barn in the middle of a park in Boulder, which held around 1200 people.  The show was sold out. It was almost a […]

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The ukulele is DONE!  I spent the last few days on the final coat of lacquer finish, installing the hardware, and sanding/filing the nut and bridge to adjust the string height.  The last thing to happen was applying the sound hole decal, I’ve never applied a water-based decal in my entire life correctly until now […]

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Today’s ukulele progress report is pretty straightforward: it’s finishing time!  I got some help with this one, my buddy Paul donated a Vox amp box to help me create the most rocking paint booth ever!  Tasha helped me rig up the box, a coat hanger, and a shower curtain to protect the ukulele from errant […]

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It’s hard to call tonight’s effort a day of work, but I did complete a few more steps today.  I sanded the edges of the neck flush with the fretboard, fitted the bridge, and prepped everything for putting the lacquer on. Now I have a problem.  I need a dust-free area to apply the finish, […]

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Today I decided to finally do something handy and I started building a ukulele.  Several years ago, my Dad gave me a Grizzly ukulele kit and it has sat uncompleted for quite some time.  Recently, I have been regretting not using my workbench for anything, so this project serves a double purpose. Getting the materials […]

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