Concert Ukulele

Uke #4 will be a concert sized, based on the Martin shape. The body and neck will be all cherry, from the same tree as the dulcimer. The fret board will probably be walnut. I haven't decided what to do around the sound hole yet. I'm thinking of using maple binding. Just for the heck of it I decided to join the sides with a dovetail joint at the tail. The joint on the left was a trial run done in a couple pieces of scrap. The other joint is the actual bent sides with the dovetail cut. I made a template for the joint in CAD to help me cut the joints accurately. The joints were cut with a razor saw and cleaned up with a chisel, knife, and fine rasp.

Two ukes under construction. Cherry concert is on the right, with all linings installed. Another koa soprano on the left getting it's linings glued in. On these ukes I have let the ends of the linings into the head and tail blocks a bit.

Trim for sound hole consists of tiles of light sapwood and dark heartwood of wood from large old ornamental cherry tree. The bwb rings bordering the inlay are violin purfling.

Completed body with Z-Poxy finishing resin applied.

Below is the basic shape for this uke.