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This is padauk: And this is what I wrote (elsewhere) at the time: Given the interesting shape and intricate mouldings of your clock, I'd plan to use clear shellac (the Liberon blonde ready-mix, in bottle not can, works nicely for me) and then put something like Tru-Oil on top for your final...

If you attempt a uke I suggest you don't start with a soprano. The side bends are very tight (if you look at the thread in the quote you'll see that the experienced violin maker has to fix the cracks he made!) and getting decent volume is challenging. This makers bracing looks way OTT to me -...

And if a conventional spring washer is too visible, a crinkle washer. Both available via eBay in small quantities, often 99p delivered.

Obeche is soft as butter, a fingernail can mark it. It will cut easily and pretty cleanly (with a handsaw anyway,I don't have a scroll saw) but might be too soft to last well for toys. OK for ornaments.

All done bar any final tidying which emerges as the uke settles down to being a uke. Here is what it looks and sounds like: https://youtu.be/v0ArGkl768Y I'm off to Singapore for a trip, back late November, so when I get back I will do any last minute tweaking and then give it a final polish...

I had to make some leather washers, and achieved it by drilling holes in scraps of leather and then sandwiching them between metal washers of the right size. Metal/leather/metal/leather ... metal. Bolt through middle, tighten nut then carve away with Stanley knife. Finish with coarse sandpaper...

Your rippled sycamore looks very beautiful! Once you have some offcuts I recommend you start thinking about finishes, and experiment on them. Given that the sycamore will darken quite a lot with light exposure, do you want to stain it? Or to try to preserve the light colour? Either way, you...

Have you seen my Making a Ukulele thread Michelle? making-a-ukulele-t100091.html Today's posting is the first stringing up, so I'm far enough ahead that you might find some helpful ideas there. However, I'm not a professional either, so don't treat anything I write as gospel. There is a post...

The tuning pegs arrived from China, and I thought "Obviously, I should complete the finishing before I string up this uke, only sensible way to proceed." Oh yeah? So here we have a preview of what the final product will look like, only it should be shinier. I'm delighted to say that the...

The Sue Ryder ukes are remarkable. I occasionally look at budget ukes to see how much work us needed to make them vaguely playable. The Sue Ryders are the only ones where I can see no way at all. The inch-thick finish is the least of it. If you know a child whom you wish to deter from ever...

Finishing the body, and there is an important difference from the neck. In theory the finish on the neck could be as thick as I like, but on the body I want a really thin film. A uke is so small that it has trouble producing any sound at all, and a nice thick dipped finish will kill the sound...

The flakes should be good for years yet.

The ending will be a little drawn out, because I'm waiting for tuners to arrive from China. Against my aesthetic judgment I have to use geared tuning pegs, rather than metal friction pegs, because young Jenna would find the frictions too difficult (and a uke she can't tune is no use to her at...

Now I'm into finishing, which means there is very little to show by way of photos. But I thought my process might be of interest, if only because (having tried most of the other possibilities) I think it's about the simplest possible for an amateur (other than simply spraying clear automotive...

We can't keep Custard waiting ... Today, frets. You can see from this pictures that the ends of the frets are sticking out, and they are really sharp! Not good for playing. So step one is to file them back to the edge of the neck. I use a file angled at about 30 degrees, so the fret ends...

Rosewood is commonly used for classical guitar sides and back. The thickness there is around 2mm! But they use vertical grain timber for stability. If your boxes are small, guitar fretboard blanks (straight, not tapered) might be a good source. These seem cheap, though they're tapered (60mm...

We need a bridge. First I have to work out where the bridge has to be glued on. If I just work from the centre line it might look wrong, and even be in the wrong place if the neck doesn't line up 100% with the centre line. The bridge is made from a block of suitable, vertical grain wood (I'm...

Japanese pull saw. I just scribe a line with a marking gauge and then cut along it. Minimal tidying up required, just don't rush the cut. A vice holds the opposite side to the cut, so tends to spring it apart rather than pinching it closed.

I was inspired to fret the uke this evening, and all was done in 30 minutes (a new record for me). The critical factor is fret slots which are the right width and depth, and I nailed it this time, so every fret went in right first time with no fuss. Additionally, I brushed a smear of hot hide...

One loyal reader is enough! (though I see that 20 others have looked in since my last post, so you may not be alone). And I'm documenting this in full on a ukulele board for Jenna, my "client", so it's just cut and paste to reproduce it here. If anyone is inspired to try their hand at building...