Author Archives: joel

Carter’s Box Car

Posted on March 31, 2013 by joel

Check out the car Carter made out of a box! She decorated it and 'drove' it around the house all day. At one point she even put a stuffed animal in it and gave it a ride around.

Posted in Family | Comments Off

I saw a cool ukulele wall hanger online a week or so ago and made up my own version to hang the uke on the wall. It came out pretty cool, I think. I made another for my dad, as well. On a related note, I moved the bridge on the uke I built and now the intonation is perfect! It's been a couple of weeks and the top is starting to open up as it breaks in - it sounds great! The only problem I've still got is a couple of buzzing notes from two frets that are too high and need to be filed down - but I think I'll wait until next time I have to change the strings anyway before I bother fixing them.

Posted in Wood | Comments Off

Ukulele – Done, Sort Of

Posted on March 15, 2013 by joel

Well, the ukulele is all finished - ain't she a beaut? Unfortunately, there was a typo in the book I was building from and the scale length is wrong - which means I will somehow need to get the bridge off and glued back on 2.5 cm further back. Otherwise it just won't sound quite right. But before I tackle that - which has a decent chance of not coming out that well, at least visually - I wanted to get some good photos of it while it was still looking good.

Posted in Wood | Comments Off

Buried in Snow

Posted on March 8, 2013 by joel

We were only forecast to get 3-5 inches of snow - and instead woke up to over a foot this morning. While playing outside I buried each of the kids to their armpits in snow. They claim it was quite cozy - like a thick heavy blanket.

Posted in Family | Comments Off

Cherry Shelves

Posted on March 3, 2013 by joel

Finally finished the shelves that I have been working on in parallel with the uke. They really help round out the living room. Now we just need to find some decorative stuff to put on them. :)

Posted in Wood | Comments Off

Ukulele – All Lacquered Up!

Posted on March 3, 2013 by joel

Got the grain pore filler and lacquer applied this weekend. Once it cures out for a week, I can unmask the fingerboard and soundhole, glue on the bridge, install the tuners, and string it up! It's quite possible that by the end of next weekend - or the following weekend, worst case - this thing will be in a playable state!

Posted in Wood | Comments Off

Ukulele – Binding Complete

Posted on February 24, 2013 by joel

I got the ukulele's end graft installed yesterday, and I got the binding installed and scraped flush today. I wet it down with some mineral spirits, to give an idea of roughly what it should eventually look like under the finish. I also included a 'glamor shot' with the not-quite-finished fingerboard just laying on top of the neck.

Posted in Wood | Comments Off

Ukulele – Kerfing and Back Done

Posted on February 17, 2013 by joel

This weekend I got all the kerfing installed, and got the back on. I also made a new fingerboard - on the first one, I think I cut one of the fret slots a little off, and it's not worth the risk of it being wrong after all the work I've put in so far. Next up is to route a channel and install the binding.

Posted in Wood | Comments Off

Ukulele – Coming Together!

Posted on February 10, 2013 by joel

Today I got the soundboard glued to the neck, and the sides glued on as well! Once all that is dry I can glue in the kerfing and then add the back. Even though there will still be a long way to go, it will really start to look like an instrument at that point. Can't wait!

Posted in Wood | Comments Off

Snowmageddon!

Posted on February 10, 2013 by joel

Well, we got hit with the snowpocalypse! It worked out perfect, actually. The snow started on Friday night, and we had nowhere to go all weekend. We ended up with about 24 inches of snow. It wasn't so fun to dig out but at least it was powdery and fluffy, instead of wet and heavy. In total, spent about five hours shoveling spread across two days. We all had a lot of fun playing in it. Sean and I played king of the mountain, Sadie went hopping through the snow like a rabbit, Carter whined a whole lot (which is her usual snow behavior) and Lori even helped shovel! Even though we got two feet of snow and ridiculous amounts of wind, we never lost the power. So as far as blizzards go, it was pretty tame.