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Monday, December 01, 2025

Side bender

 

In preparation for bending lots of uke sides, I have made a bending jig. I had the plywood lying around, and I 3D printed the knobs from PETG. I bought a single stainless steel piece from Ali Express (£7.59) and cut it into two with some very old metal snips. The silicone heating pad was also bought from Ali Express (£22.29).

I tested it out on a length  of walnut. I think I will need a 3D printed rack to store the sides and keep them in the right shape once they are bent.

Saturday, October 25, 2025

A set of soprano ukes


















I have  accumulated a set of grandchildren and plan to make a soprano uke for each of them. I will start with a prototype, and then intend to go into 'mass production ' mode and make a set of five all together.

Shout out to G-thang for help with the design process.

I finally finished it!

 The bottom string on the pineapple uke broke and I took the opportunity to redress the frets and fit a new set of strings (this time to baritone tuning). No more buzzing, and I think that it sounds quite nice!