A VERY LARGE LATHE A VERY SMALL PROJECT AND THE RESULT AFTER A FEW MINUTES WORK,  SEVEN STRAP BUTTONS ..read more

A lovely piece of Koa makes #225 special And the good news is that it sounds great too Englemann Spruce sound board,  Alaska yellow cedar neck, ironbark fretboard and bridge ..read more

 This Kasha Tenor is my 224th ukulele, a pretty one I think The sound board is Englemann Spruce, the body Brazilian Tigerwood and the neck Alaska Cedar It will be listed for sale on my web site after I have enjoyed it for a bit ..read more

#226 is now ready for its finish, French Polish. The first coating just got applied this afternoon.   It sure brings out the beauty of this Machiche wood and the peg head plate ..read more

Notice the horizontal white lines on this excellent piece of Englemann Spruce.  They are medullary rays and because they are perfectly horizontal they indicate that this ukulele soundboard is perfectly quartersoawn.  Medullary rays distribute water and minerals from the center of the tree to the outer bark.  In some woods they are quite prominent and add beauty and interest to the finished instrument.  This lovely Spruce was perfectly cut at Pacific Rim Tonewoods ..read more

THIS PRETTY TENOR, #226 GOT ITS FRETBOARD TODAY AND THIS SPALTED MAPLE WILL GRACE THE PEG HEAD ..read more

Ready to cut the binding grooves Now the grooves are cut ..read more

I set up the saw to cut fretboards and while I was at it.  four different woods. This requires a change of saw blade and other  preparation, It pays to make  more than one. The wood is attached to the guide with tape and passed repeatedly through the saw blade advancing with each pass to the next indexing slot ..read more

My friend Ricardo Hernandez  just returned to Bellingham for another summer of house painting.  He lives in Paracho, the guitar capital of Mexico and he responded to my request for some Palo Escrito ukulele wood in grand fashion.  Eight sets of this lovely wood .   This will keep me busy ..read more

Attaching the neck to the soundboard determines the straightness of the instrument. It helps to have a long see-through ruler. Get it straight and then drive brads through the plexiglass caul. Now pull the brads and glue up the joining surfaces,  the brads then re-enter their holes taking you back to straightness Then clamp it tight until the glue sets-and the next step will be installing the sides ..read more