Official Luthiers Forum!

Hello Everyone! My name is Mark, and I am getting ready to start my first Ukulele! I actually built one from a Stew-Mac kit, but I just bought some wood for my next project. I have limited tools, since I am just getting into this hobby & honestly don't have room for all the toys I want! I look forward to getting involved in this forum and learning all I can. BTW, the wood I bought is Curly Koa for the sides and back, and red cedar for the top. Any advice will be gladly accepted!

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Mark Lowe
Stanley, NC

Good Morning Mark. I think you are going to have to get specific with your burning questions. Probably one or two at a time to get good answers. I would suggest starting a new thread and using a title of "Curly Koa - first time bending questions" or something along those lines to get some really specific answers. You may also want to explore thickness questions that are related to the sides or back. I assume you are working from a plan, but I don't know if all of those questions are answered. Also, when you present the question, it might be a good idea to indicate what method of bending you plan to use.

Once again, Welcome to OLF. Try your question in a new thread, and add a signature to your post, so folks have a name without your having to always say, "My name is Mark".

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Waddy

Photobucket Build Album Library

Sound Clips of most of my guitars

Hi Mark. Waddy's right, specific questions will get you better information, but overall, I would suggest you keep in mind that it's very easy to overbuild a ukulele. String tension is relatively light, so bracing can be kept light as well. Just my 2 cents worth.
Craig S.

I built a Koa uke as my first (and only). I definitely over built it.

Not to send you to another site, but got a lot of good Uke specific info from the Hana Lima 'Ia site. They have plans and parts available.

http://www.hanalima.com/store_shopstore.shtml

One general think I can tell you about Koa. If you bend on a fox style bender, place paper between the wood and any metal slat in the sandwich. I ended up with some green stains from the metal.

Good Luck,
John

You might also consider using the uke forum at http://uketalk.com/v-web/bulletin/bb/vi ... c829a16da5 as another resource. What size uke are building?
Bob

Welcome to the OLF Mark.

This is a really great forum with lots of information and support from the members. There is a lot to be learned here.

One thing you might want to consider is the Hana Lima 'Ia 'Ukulele Construction Manual. This manual is basically their 10 week building school in book form. It has all the facts and figures including detailed instructions. In fact, if I remember correctly it includes a set of plans. Hana Lima will have any parts you need for your ukulele. The also have a ukulele specific forum. The owners Mike and Asa Chock are really great people and are very approachable.
http://www.hanalima.com/

Ukuleles are a lot of fun and I’m sure you will have a good time building and playing it.

Here is my first tenor ukulele. The Tru-oil finish was still not complete in the photo.


Philip

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aka konacat

If you think my playing is bad you should hear me sing!
Practice breeds confidence and confidence breeds competence. Unfortunately, I'm stuck in practice.

Hi Mark:

I have built tenor ukes with both Koa and WRC tops. The tradition is for a hardwood top so Koa with a uke with Koa back and sides. However, I have used WRC with success but it was very, very stiff well aged old growth that I split from a shake billet.

I agree with those who said that it is easy to over build a uke. I tend to make things a little thinner than the standard plans. By "things" I mean top back and sides and braces, depending on the wood used. It is interesting that at the recent GAL conference Bob Gleason showed tops with five fan braces rather than the traditional three.

Good luck with the new project.

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GEO
perpetual beginner

Thanks everyone for your replies. Since that was my first post, I just wanted to introduce myself a little bit without jumping into all my questions! The uke I am building is a soprano. As I said in my first post, the wood I have is koa(Sides & back) and red cedar(top) I have not bought the headstock yet, nor wood for the fingerboard. Should I get koa for the top or should the red cedar be ok? I am planning on using a bending iron for the sides; either build one or buy one, I haven't decided yet. I am basing my plans off of a Ukulele that I have now - a Kala - Ka-S.

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Mark Lowe
Stanley, NC

Mark
Either Koa or red cedar will work for the top. It just depends on what kind of sound you are going for. In my experience koa tends to be brighter than the softer top woods. I have built ukes with redwood tops, spruce tops, mahogany tops and koa tops. All have their own unique voice. Just have fun with it and you can't go wrong.
Bob

Thanks Bob - that's my plan! To have fun building this and then have fun playing it! I am really looking forward to the build process. What advice could you give me as far as bending the koa. I am planning on using a bending iron, and I have read that bending Koa should be soaked for about 30 minutes prior to bending, but I have also seen that you should only lightly mist it with water. Also, what temperature is best for bending this type of wood?

Thanks a lot!

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Mark Lowe
Stanley, NC

I did the 30 minute soak with my koa sides and ended up with some serious cupping. I used a fox style bender with light bulbs so I may not have gotten it hot enough. Others will have better advice, but that was my experience.

John

Hi:

Koa is not hard to bend although more figure means more care. I suggest light mist only and let it soak in for a few minutes. Koa will "toast" more easily than other woods so watch the temp and time. I use 290 to 300 for Koa. If you have scraps to test first it is a good idea. I do not mean to bend but to see how long it takes to darken it.

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GEO
perpetual beginner

To bend my sides I sand them down to about .075, spray with supersoft and let sit until dry. I then spritz the board, wrap in foil and set my heat blanket on full until steam starts to show, then I proceed with bending. So far no problems.
Bob

Bob - is that Koa you are bending? or is that how you bend any type of wood? Also, are you using a Fox bender with the heating blanket?

Thanks

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Mark Lowe
Stanley, NC

Hello Mark, welcome to the OLF! I'm down here in GA so we are almost neighbors.

Regarding the Koa, I've done a guitar out of it, and used a mold and heating blanket. What I did notice about bending it is that you have to be careful with it so it doesn't kink in the curls. I misted it with water and wrapped it in foil and kraft paper (as you have probably seen others do it around here). One thing I did notice though, was koa has the propensity to turn green on you during heating and bending. I thought I'd bring that up, and maybe someone with more experience in dealing with koa can elaborate on how to avoid this...with me, it was the side that was touching the aluminum foil, and not on the side with the kraft paper between the wood and foil, so that may have been the problem. Just thought I'd toss that out there....

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Brad Tucker

First thing I think about when bending Koa is, its wood. There is nothing behind the wood that makes it out of the ordinary compared to other hardwoods (unless you live on the mountain, and grew the Koa yourself). Yes, each has its own idiosyncrasies, but its still wood - just bend it.

I just soak it in running water (both sides, actually, enough to wet, but not soak), then start bending on a bender with a blanket (no foil, parchment, slats, nothing). Spray bottle of water kept nearby when it dries in areas that are yet to be bent.

It the quickest 5 minute part of the building cycle for me - stringing and tuning takes longer than bending sides. I do it @ .080/.090, but I've seen a factory custom at about .110.

As you can see by the posts, there is no one "right" way, just "your" way.

"As you can see by the posts, there is no one "right" way, just "your" way"


Aaron - thanks for that bit of advice. I'm ordering my bending iron this weekend!

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Mark Lowe
Stanley, NC

Mark,
Sorry for the late reply but I haven't been online, been in the shop too much. Yes, that's how I bend koa but also the majority of woods I use I bend that way. I did notice some of my koa did get a bit of a green tinge like one person noted but it sanded out OK. The bending unit I use is my home made version of a fox bender but simplified a bit. One thing I do a little different on my bender is that I have installed a front registration block to insure uniformity of the waist position. I found that even though I marked the waist the wood had tendency to slip a bit when I started to press it. So I came with the idea of locking the front edge to a specific spot to prevent movement. I know many of the more experienced builders think this unnecessary but for a relative rookie like me it helped a lot.

Mark, I've built several koa ukes some with spruce tops and some with koa tops. You can go thinner on koa tops. I've found its difficult to get the same punch out of a koa top compared to a spruce top. Here's my latest build. A concert uke using a combination of Hana Lima and Scott Antes plans. You can see others at my web site.

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A higher purpose for wood.
Rich Smith
Issaquah, WA