Stewart Golf ukulele kit User manual
Sheet #i-5351 Updated 11/17
Assembly
Instructions
UKULELE KIT
StewMac
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Tools and supplies..................................... 2
Parts list .............................................. 3
Brace the top and back ................................ 4
Make the body mold .................................. 6
Assemble the body ................................... 7
Prepare the neck ......................................10
Level the frets .........................................13
Sand the body and neck ..............................13
These are the tools and supplies we recommend for assem-
bling this kit. StewMac item numbers are included where
applicable.
Tools
Clamps (few are needed, but more are handy)
2 or more clamps with 4" or longer reach (#3867)
1 or more small C-clamps or spring clamps
12 or more clothespins or kerng clamps
Rubber bands to wrap around clothespins
Scratch awl, pushpin or center punch (#1672)
Flat mill le or pillar le (#4175)
Razor knife (#4878)
Small chisel or ne-cut saw (#1619 or #3617)
Side cutter or fret cutter (#0619)
Hammer for fret installation (#4895)
Electric hand drill
1/4" and 1/16" drill bits (#4850, #1710)
Small brush for applying glue (#4167)
Scissors
Straightedge to reach from string nut to bridge (#3850)
Measuring tape
Rubber binding band (provided)
Tools and supplies
Table of contents
Locate the bridge .....................................14
Apply the stain (optional) .............................16
Attach the neck .......................................17
Apply the nish .......................................18
Glue the bridge .......................................19
Install the tuners ......................................19
Fit the nut and saddle .................................19
Supplies
Titebond III wood glue (#0621)
StewMac #10 Thin Super Glue with whip tip (#0010)
Masking tape or low-tack protective tape (#1683)
Double-stick tape (#1689)
Scraps of wood for various clamping cauls and supports
Waxed paper
For body mold:
3/4" plywood, 19"x12"
Four 2-1/2" steel corner braces with mounting screws
Eight large screw eyes or screw hooks
Sandpaper (#5562 or #5096)
80-grit, 120-grit, 220-grit, 320-grit, 400-grit
Sanding blocks (scrap wood or #3701, #3699)
ColorTone Wipe-On Poly nish (#3622)
ColorTone Liquid Stain (optional)
Steel wool, 0000-gauge (optional, for dulling the nish)
Fretboard oil or lemon oil (#3863 or #3864)
Paste wax, such as car wax
Cotton balls
Scraps of t-shirt material
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Parts list
Kit contents
Solid mahogany top
Laminated mahogany back
Laminated mahogany sides
Fully shaped neck with two dowel pins for neck joint
Slotted fretboard with inlaid position markers
Tuners with mounting hardware
Shaped string nut
Carved, drilled bridge
Shaped saddle
Plastic dowel for making side dots
Fretwire
Rubber binding bands
Three carved back braces
Six carved top braces (Soprano has two)
Two at soundhole braces
Shaped bridge plate (not on Soprano)
Full-size bracing plan
Instruction book
Welcome to instrument making! Video: “How To Build A Ukulele”
Neck
Neck
joint
dowels
Top Sides
Back
Slotted,
inlaid
fretboard
Nut
Bridge
Tuners with
mounting
hardware
Back braces
Fretwire
Side dot
dowel
Rubber
binding
bands
Top braces
and bridge plate
(fewer on Soprano model)
Saddle
If you’re a rst-time builder, this kit is a great way to
start. You’ll have fun and learn a lot.
A ukulele kit is an excellent way to get into instrument
building. It can be built with basic tools. The design
and construction is similar to an acoustic guitar, but
faster and easier.
You’ll learn to brace the top, build the body, fret the
neck and apply a simple nish. When you’re done, you’ll
have a great sounding ukulele!
We captured every step of this process on video!
Watch and build along with Dan Erlewine as he assem-
bles this uke kit in his workshop. These free videos are
available at:
stewmac.com/ukevideos
Watch the video: PART 1 LET’S GET STARTED!
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The rst step is gluing the top and back braces. The back
has three braces. The number of top braces depends on
the model of your ukulele: the Soprano has fewer than the
Concert or Tenor.
Transfer the brace plan to the wood
The full-size plan shows where to place the braces. Back
braces are printed in gray, and top braces in white.
The heavy black line on the plan is the actual shape of
the ukulele. Outside of this is a dotted line indicating the
slightly oversize top and back wood. Cut the plan out on
this dotted line.
Decide which side of the top and back you prefer to have
facing outward. We’ll mark brace locations on the opposite
side, which will become the inside of the uke.
Lay the plan over the back or top, centering it on the wood.
Transfer the plan’s centerline to the upper and lower edges
of the top and back wood.
Use a pushpin to poke small holes into the wood at the brace
ends. Connect these holes with a pencil and straightedge,
and you have the brace locations marked for gluing.
Save the plan drawing for use later when building the body.
Clamps
You’ll need at least one clamp big enough to reach onto
the top or back for clamping braces. Smaller clamps are
good for the brace ends. Wooden clothespins make great
small clamps, if you wrap them with rubber bands for extra
strength.
You don’t need many clamps. TiteBond III dries fast, so
gluing the braces goes quickly even when clamping one
brace at a time.
Use pieces of wood to protect the uke parts from the clamps.
Cauls of scrap wood also distribute clamping pressure more
evenly. Cauls also can be placed across multiple braces, so
one clamp can glue two or even three at once.
A piece of wood clamped to your table makes a very handy
gluing rig. It holds the back and top in place while giving
you lots of room to arrange clamps.
Start with the back braces
The back bracing is simpler than the top, so that’s a good
place to start. When you move on to the top braces, you’ll
be familiar with clamping and gluing.
Brace the top and back
SOPRANO
CONCERT TENOR
Fewer top braces.
Watch the video: PART 2 BRACING THE TOP+BACK
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You can glue each brace separately, or use wooden cauls to
clamp more than one at a time as in the photo of clamped
back braces on the previous page.
Do a dry run before gluing
Test your clamping setup before you use glue. Decide where
to place clamps and cauls, and look to see that the braces
are held down tightly from end to end. You don’t want to
gure this out while the glue is drying!
The important thing is that you’re comfortable with your
clamping plan, and have seen that it works before you’re
under the time pressure created by wet glue.
Use tape for a clean joint
When you dry-run your clamping setup, place masking tape
next to the braces. When glue squeezes out during the glue-
up, the tape catches it. Peel the tape away, and most of the
glue mess goes with it.
Keep a bowl of water handy
Water is always needed for cleanup, and sometimes for
wetting the glue joint as you get ready to clamp.
Apply the glue
Apply the glue to the exposed wood between the strips of
tape. It’s not necessary to put glue on the braces; an even
coat on the back/top wood will be enough. A glue brush
is helpful. Use scissors to trim the brush smaller for better
control.
Let it dry for 45 minutes
Titebond III recommends a drying time of 30 minutes. That
generally is plenty of time, but to be extra sure, we recom-
mend giving your glue joints an extra 15 minutes under
clamping pressure.
Glue the top braces
Start with the upper braces above and below the sound-
hole. With a caul spanning them, they can be glued up at
the same time.
Position the soundhole reinforcement strips between the
upper braces, 3/8" from the soundhole. The cauls in the
photo above include the neck block and tail block included
with the kit. A piece of waxed paper keeps glue from getting
on these parts.
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Clothespin clamps
Wooden clothespins are inexpensive small clamps. Their
springs aren’t strong enough for brace clamping, so wrap
them in a rubber band to get enough pressure.
When you need extra pressure, add a second clothespin,
backwards, as in the photo above.
Make the body mold
Assembling the ukulele body starts with creating the body
mold. This is a very simple xture: a piece of plywood and
four 2-1/2" corner braces (angle brackets). It holds the body
pieces in shape while you build.
Start with a piece of 3/4" plywood, 19"x12". This is large
enough to build any of the three uke sizes. Draw a centerline
down the middle of the board.
Tape the plan drawing to the plywood, aligning it on the
centerline. The bold black line on the plan drawing is the
nal shape of your uke.
Attach blocks of wood to two of the corner braces, as shown
in the photo (next page). Screw these two braces to the ply-
wood, on the centerline. Position them so they are against
the bold line of the uke shape. These are clamp supports for
gluing the neck block and tail block to the sides.
These clamping blocks should be no taller than the sides
of the ukulele.
The other two corner braces support the sides at the uke’s
waist. To avoid metal scarring the mahogany sides, give
these brackets some padding. A piece of dowel wrapped
in masking tape works well.
Screw these braces to the plywood, positioning them against
the uke outline at the waist.
Glue the X-braces and fan braces next.
Add the bridge plate between the X-braces.
The complete set of top braces on a Concert model. The
larger Tenor uses the same bracing pattern.
Watch the video: PART 3 ASSEMBLING THE BODY
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Assemble the body
Place the bent sides into the body mold, with their ends
butted together at the center. Now you can see the body of
your ukulele taking shape! If the sides don’t precisely match
the body shape on the plan drawing, don’t worry. A little vari-
ation between ukes is ne. As long as the side curves match
each other nicely, you’ll have a great looking instrument.
The corner braces will hold your sides nicely square to the
baseboard, so the body doesn’t “lean” in one direction. If
you like, use a square to double-check this.
The neck block and tail block are the same size and shape,
so you can use either block at either end. Press these blocks
against the side joints with sturdy clamps. Do your dry run
before using glue. A piece of waxed paper between the
sides and the body mold will prevent accidentally gluing
the sides to the mold.
The neck and tail blocks need to be the same height as the
sides. If yours are taller than the sides, trim them with a saw
or chisel. This is easier to do now than later.
Glue the sides and blocks
When you’re comfortable with your clamping setup, put glue
on the neck and tail blocks. Put a little glue on the narrow
edges of the sides that butt together, too.
If the neck and tail blocks quickly absorb the glue, add more
to make sure you have a wet gluing surface. You don’t want
a glue-starved joint.
Clamp the blocks and sides, and let them dry for 45 minutes.
Use warm water to clean up any glue squeezeout while it’s
still wet.
Install the linings
The exible wooden linings will be glued to the edges of the
sides, ush with the top and back. These strengthen the body
and provide a wider surface for gluing the top and back.
On guitars similar linings are called kerng, and kerng
clamps are made for gluing them. Rubber-banded clothes-
pins make great substitute kerng clamps for this kit.
Watch the video: PART 3 ASSEMBLING THE BODY
Body mold of
plywood and
corner braces
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For rm gap-free pressure all along the linings, you’ll need
at least 12 clothespins to glue one lining strip. Using even
more clothespins, closely spaced, ensures that the linings
are pressed to the sides at every point along the curves.
Do a dry run by clamping the linings ush with the edge of
the side. While the lining is held in place, put masking tape
against its lower edge to catch glue squeezeout.
When you’re ready, apply glue to the linings and clamp
them. Clean up any glue drips, and when there’s no more
squeezeout, peel away the masking tape strips.
Allow them to dry for 45 minutes, then turn the sides over
in the body mold and glue the linings to the other edge.
Sand the linings ush
The edges of the sides need to be smooth and uniform for
gluing the top and back. Use a straight piece of wood, longer
than the body, for a sanding stick. Cover the stick with 80-grit
sandpaper, taping the sandpaper in place.
Lay this stick across the sides and sand evenly over every
point, in all directions. Scribble with a pencil on the edges
to be sanded, and on the neck and tail block. Watch your
pencil marks as you sand; when they disappear, you know
you’ve sanded every point.
Keep moving the stick as you sand, to sand every point
evenly. If your neck or tail blocks are taller than the sides,
you'll need to trim them or sand them until they’re ush.
Fit the back to the sides
The braces on the back are intentionally longer than the
width of the body. When you place the back on, these braces
will overhang the sides.
The next step is trimming braces to length, and creating
notches in the side linings so the back drops in place.
Place the back in position, aligning it on center. Use a weight
to hold it in place. Make small pencil marks on the sides to
show where the braces touch. Extend these marks over the
edge of the sides and linings.
With a sharp razor knife, cut notches in the linings for the
braces. A small chisel is helpful for chipping out the notch.
Trim the ends of the braces so they t within the sides,
dropping into the notches. Scrape the trimmed brace ends
o the back. When you’re done, the back ts at onto the
sides, with the braces keyed into the notches.
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The top and back are slightly oversize, with edges that hang
over the sides. This overhang will be removed after gluing.
Glue the back and top
To get good clamping pressure all around the back, the
body mold is now put to use again. By adding screw eyes
or hooks around the edges of the of the plywood, you can
use the rubber clamping band included with your kit. If
your clamping band is an unbroken loop, cut it to make it
one long strip.
Tie the end of the clamping band and stretch it tightly over
the body to the opposite corner. Continue strapping from
corner to corner until the back is clamped under a web
of rubber bands. Tie o the end to one of the screw eyes.
Try this as a dry run.
When you’re ready for glue, apply it to the edge of the side
and lining, and to the end of the neck and tail blocks. Put the
back in position and wrap with the rubber clamping band.
Let the glue dry for 45 minutes, then remove the body from
the mold. Clean away any dripped glue, especially where it
can be seen through the soundhole of the assembled body.
Place the body back into the mold and repeat the process
to glue the top on.
Trim the overhang
The top and back needs to be trimmed to make them ush
with the sides. This involves cutting the overhang to make
it very slight, then sanding away the remainder to make
the edges smooth and even.
A Dremel rotary tool with StewMac’s Precision Router Base
and Edge Guide is ideal for trimming the overhang. Use a
downcut router bit to make a clean cut. Rout away most
of the overhang, leaving it small enough to remove with
sandpaper.
You can also trim the overhang with a sharp razor knife and
a at le. Using the knife, carve away a small bit of wood
with each cut, reducing the overhang until it is close to the
sides. Follow with the le to bring it close enough to remove
with sandpaper.
Beware of tearout. Whether you use a router or a knife, you
must pay attention to the grain of the wood on the body
curves—especially with the top which is solid mahogany,
not laminated.
At the curves, a cutting tool working against the grain wants
to dig into the wood. This action makes it easy to tear out a
chunk of wood. See the illustration on the next page.
To avoid tearout, plan your cuts so that the router or knife
appoaches each curve on its downward slope, rather than
climbing upward. The eight arrows on the illustration show
the direction to make each cut around the body.
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With a at sanding block, follow the outer curves of the body
to ush the edges with the sides. A curved sanding block or
a stout wooden dowel makes a good sanding block for the
inside curves at the waist.
Don’t sand the sides at this point. That comes later. Just make
the top and back edges ush with the sides.
Sand until you have a smooth edge all around the uke.
Prepare the neck
Install the side dots
The position markers on the side of the fretboard are made
from a small plastic dowel, 1/16" in diameter. The dots are
centered between the same frets that have inlaid dots on
the board.
Use a sharp point to mark holes for drilling. Make sure all the
holes are centered equally down the side of the board. You
might want to put two dots at the 12th fret to indicate the
octave; this is optional on a ukulele.
After trimming, the remaining back and top overhang should
be very small. You’ll remove this with a le and sandpaper.
Sand the top and back ush with the sides
A at le will remove the remaining bit of overhang, followed
by sandpaper to make a smooth, ush edge.
Put masking tape on the sides to protect them from le
marks. Carefully file away the overhang until it’s small
enough that you feel ready to switch to sandpaper. You
might not need the le at all: 120-grit sandpaper may be
all you need.
Cutting tool
approaching
a curve from
this direction
invites tearout.
Tearout: accidentally breaking at the grain line
Tearout: the
wood breaks
at the grain.
Cutting from
the opposite
direction makes
tearout much
less likely.
To avoid tearout,
make your cuts
on the downward
slope of the curve,
with the grain.
Don’t cut upward
against the grain.
Watch the video: PART 4 PREPARING THE NECK
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Using a drill with a 1/16" bit, start each hole by briey running
the drill in reverse. This will create an indentation in the wood
to center the bit so it doesn’t wander when drilling.
Hold the drill square to the surface, and drill each hole about
1/8" deep.
Turn the end of the side dot dowel against a piece of sand-
paper to clean up the end so it will slide into the hole. Then
dip it in Titebond glue and insert it in the hole.
Wipe away any excess glue, then cut the dowel o at the
surface of the wood using a ne-cut saw. After installing all
the dots, use a le to level them ush with the surface of the
wood. The result is a line of small round position markers.
Straighten the fretwire
Straighten the curved fretwire by working down the length
of it with both hands, carefully bending it straight. If it still
has a slight curve, that’s okay—it will straighten out when
you hammer the frets in.
Clamp the fretboard to a smooth at work surface. You want
a solid table that won’t bounce or shake when you tap the
frets with a hammer.
Cut the frets
Lay the end of the wire over the rst fret slot, so it protrudes
only very slightly over the edge of the board. Holding the
wire down with one hand, cut the fret at the other side of
the board. This creates a fret that’s cut to length for this slot,
with very little extra metal to le away from the ends later.
Use a fret cutter or side cutter to cut the fretwire.
Set the cut fret aside and move on to the next. Fasten a piece
of masking tape to your table, sticky side up, to keep your
cut frets in order while you work.
Install the frets
The top of the fret is called the crown. The strip that ts into
the fret slot is called the tang. Position the rst fret so the
tang sits on the fret slot. Hold the fret in position by press-
ing it down at the center with one nger. With a hammer in
your other hand, tap the two ends of the fret into the slot.
When the ends are seated in the slot, you can remove your
nger and tap down the center of the fret. Do this for each
fret down the board.
Any hammer can be used, but a small one, like a fretting
hammer, works best. Don’t hit the fret or the board hard
enough to cause dents.
Glue the frets
Adding water-thin super glue under the frets, such as Stew-
Mac #10 super glue, keeps the frets seated. Such thin glue
can be introduced at both ends of the fret slot, and will pull
itself into the slot under the fret.
Before doing this, wax the fretboard surface to keep the glue
from soaking into the wood. Any soft wax, such as oor wax
or car wax will do. Use a soft rag to wipe it onto the board.
Turn the board on its side and run the thin super glue under
the fret slots. A small whip tip on the glue bottle will help
pinpoint the fret slot. Place waxed paper under the fretboard
in case the glue runs out the other end—so you don’t glue
the board to your table.
After adding glue to each slot, turn the board over and do
the same to the other side.
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A block of wood can help align the drill bit. Draw a line at a
right angle to give you a visual reference when lining up the
bit. If you measure and cut the wood, you can create a block
that supports the drill bit at the height you need for the hole.
(See photo above; also see our video Part 4 Preparing The
Neck.) A helper can also view your drill bit from the side to
let you know when you have it square to the body.
When you’re jigged and ready, drill the two holes using a
1/4" drill bit. Drill them at least 5/8" deep.
Attach the fretboard
The end of the fretboard will butt up against the front of the
nut. This point may already be marked on the neck with a
pencil line. If not, the back of the nut aligns with the peghead
angle, and the front of the nut is where the fretboard starts.
Put a pencil mark at this point.
Brush glue onto the surface of the neck, and press the fret-
board into place. Align it to the front-of-nut pencil mark.
Wrap the board tightly with rubber binding bands. Check
to be sure the board is centered on the neck. Allow the glue
to dry for 45 minutes.
File the fret ends
Clamp the fretted ngerboard onto a piece of wood with
one edge overhanging. This is a convenient way to le the
fret ends. Use cauls to prevent the clamps from damaging
the fretboard.
Using long strokes with a at le, remove the ends of the
frets so they are ush with the fretboard edge.
A two-handed grip is recommended: it takes rm pressure
to le down the fret ends—especially at rst, while their cut
ends are sharp and uneven.
When you’ve made the fret ends ush, tip your le and give
a slight bevel to the fret crowns. This makes the frets more
comfortable to play.
When the fret ends on one side are smooth, rotate the board
and give the same attention to the other side.
Drill the neck joint
The neck has two 1/4" diameter holes for the dowels that
support the neck joint. You need to drill matching holes in
the body to t these dowels.
Measure and mark the centers for the two holes. One is 1/2"
down from the top, and the other is 1-1/4" down from the
top. Mark these two locations with a sharp point.
The body mold is a good way to hold the body while drilling
these holes. Strap the body in, and clamp the mold to your
table. You’ll need to place scraps of wood under the body
to lift it enough to accommodate your drill.
1/2"
1-1/4"
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makes a good tool for rounding the fret ends. Stroke the
ends where they meet the fretboard, rounding them until
they feel smooth.
Round the fret tops
Leveling the frets leaves at surfaces on the fret tops. Round
o these ats using 400-grit sandpaper wrapped around
your ngers. Run the sandpaper up and down the fretboard
to smooth the frets. Follow this with 600-grit paper for a
nice satin surface.
Sand the body and neck
Sand with 180-grit
Sand the body using 180-grit sandpaper and a at sanding
block. Make your sanding strokes with the grain direction,
not sideways across it. You’re looking for and removing any
scratches deeper than the grain itself, and a sideways or
circular motion will create small new scratches.
A stout wooden dowel makes a good sanding block for the
inner curves at the waist.
Smooth all sharp edges to make them slightly rounded.
When edges are too sharp, it’s easy to accidentally sand the
nish away at those points when you sand between coats.
Knock o all sharp edges so they receive and hold a good
coat of nish.
Smooth the fretboard/neck transition
The glue joint between the fretboard and neck needs to
be smoothed to get a comfortable transition between the
rounded neck and the at edge of the fretboard.
Use a at le and sandpaper to slightly round the fretboard
edge, blending it into the neck. At this stage, you’re shaping,
not nal sanding. Final sanding comes later, as you prepare
for nishing.
While ling along the length of the neck, this is a good time
to double-check the bevel of your fret ends. When playing
the uke, you’ll appreciate the feel of the rounded neck
blending smoothly into the fretboard, with comfortably
beveled fret ends.
Level the frets with sandpaper
No matter how carefully you’ve installed the frets, some fret
tops will be higher than others.
To level the frets, tape 320- and 400-grit sandpaper to a at
table top. Lay the frets face-down on the 320-grit and slide
back and forth to sand them. When all the fret tops have
been scued by the paper, the frets are level. Follow this
with 400-grit paper, sanding gently to remove scratches.
Round the fret ends
The beveled fret ends will have some roughness from l-
ing. 400-grit sandpaper wrapped around a metal ruler to
Level the frets
Watch the video: PART 5 LEVELING THE FRETS
Watch the video: PART 6 SANDING THE BODY+NECK
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Don’t oversand the veneer
The back and sides are laminted with mahogany veneer.
They’re quite smooth to begin with, and don’t require much
sanding. If you were to sand unnecessarily deep, you might
reach wood that’s near the glue under the veneer. This could
produce uneven results when staining. This doesn’t apply
to the top wood, which is solid mahogany.
Raise the grain by damp sanding
Sandpaper cuts away the fuzzy bers of wood grain. Sanding
causes some of these bers to lay down at, even though
they haven’t been removed. When wet nish touches them,
the bers lift up and make your nish feel rough.
Solve this problem by raising the grain with a damp rag.
When you’re done with the 180-grit sanding, wipe the wood
with a rag that’s been dipped in water and squeezed-out,
leaving it just damp. After the wood dries, you’ll feel the
roughness of the raised grain.
Sand with 220-grit
Now move on to sanding with 220-grit, which cuts away the
bers raised by the damp rag. Completely sand the body and
neck. After sanding with 220, the wood is ready for nish.
Before nishing, you need to establish the bridge location in
order to tape o the area where it will be glued later.
Locate the bridge
A dowel makes good block for sanding the waist.
Sand to make sharp edges slightly rounded.
The bridge needs to be at the correct distance from the
string nut for your uke to play in tune. We’ve made locating
the bridge very simple: you just need one measurement.
Dry-t the neck onto the body using one of the neck joint
dowels. With a straightedge down the middle of the fret-
board, nd the center point on the tail of the uke. Mark this
on a piece of tape.
Measure carefully along this centerline to locate the bridge.
Start from the end of the fretboard where it will contact the
nut, and locate the distance indicated in the drawing below,
depending on the size of your uke.
This is the distance from the nut to the front edge of the
bridge, not the distance to the bridge saddle.
Use a piece of tape to mark this location on the uke. The tape
should be longer than the width of the bridge. With your
straightedge, mark the centerline on this tape.
Center the neck
Check to see if the neck is centered. Place the straightedge
along both sides of the fretboard and mark the tape at the
bridge location. These two marks should equally straddle the
centerline that you’ve already marked. If they’re o-center,
shift the neck until it’s centered.
Measure from the front of the nut to the
front of the bridge (not the saddle)
Nut
133/8"
143/4"1611
/16"
Soprano
Concert
Tenor
Tape Bridge
Mark fretboard edge lines See if the neck is centered
Watch the video: PART 6 SANDING THE BODY+NECK
stewmac.com 15
Fitting the neck joint
When you dry-tted the neck, if it needed to be shifted left
or right for centering, the neck joint needs to be adjusted.
Or, you may nd a gap between the neck and the body.
This can be caused by any number of things, and it’s not
hard to correct.
The gap in the photo above can be xed by removing wood
from the heel of the neck. Because the gap is toward the
fretboard, wood needs to be removed from the bottom of
the heel. If the gap were ran the opposite way, wood would
be removed from the top of the heel.
If the neck leans to the left or right, wood needs to be re-
moved from the opposite side of the neck heel.
Remove wood by strip-sanding with 80-Grit sandpaper. Cut
a strip of paper to t under the area you’re sanding, and slide
Small spring clamps through the soundhole can grip the
fretboard to keep the neck in its corrected position while
you center the neck.
Tape o the bridge area
Pencil a centerline on the front edge of the uke bridge, and
line the bridge up against the tape that marks your measure-
ment. With the bridge centered and square to the centerline,
place masking tape around all four edges.
Remove the bridge, and you’ve a framed the bridge’s “foot-
print” with masking tape. Cut more tape to exactly ll the
inside of this frame. Remove the outer tape. After you’ve
applied the nish, this taped-o bridge area will be left
unnished for good adhesion when you glue the bridge.
Tape o the fretboard area
Put tape around the fretboard extension to create a “frame”
around this area also. Before you place tape inside the frame,
consider whether your neck joint needs to be adjusted.
Bridge surrounded with tape Taping off the bridge area
to prepare for finishing
Bridge area taped off
Fretboard taped If the
neck leans
this way,
remove
wood here
If the
neck leans
this way,
remove
wood here
Remove
wood here
Remove
wood here
Gap
Gap
stewmac.com
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Taped-off for staining
Taped-off for gluing
it between the neck and body. Hold the neck rmly down
onto the body, and pull the sandpaper out. Repeat this until
enough wood has been sanded away. Wear gloves to avoid
paper cuts from the edge of the sandpaper.
Watch our video, How To Build A Ukulele, Part 6: Sanding The
Body + Neck to see Dan Erlewine demonstrate strip-sanding.
Tape o the neck heel area
Frame the neck heel with masking tape, as you did for the
bridge and fretboard. Remove the sharp edge on the body
where the neck will t by ling or beveling it with a sharp
knife. This will help the neck joint t closely.
The next step depends on whether you’re going to stain your
ukulele or give it a clear natural nish. If you’re staining, tape
inside the neck heel and fretboard extension, then remove
the frame of tape. Like the bridge, the neck joint area is now
masked to keep it free of stain and nish, for gluing later.
If you’re not staining, the frame of tape around the neck joint
is ready for gluing the neck.
If you’re going to stain the wood, do it before attaching the
neck. When the neck is on, stain accumulates along the seam
where the neck meets the body. To avoid having to remove
stain from this crevice, stain the neck and body separately.
If you’re choosing an unstained natural nish, you can skip
this section on staining and attach the neck.
It’s not impossible to have diculty with stain. Dark spots,
light spots or otherwise uneven coverage are possibilities.
If you want to follow the easiest, most foolproof path to a
nished uke, go with the clear natural nish.
Use ColorTone Liquid Stains to create rich dark browns or
vibrant colors. The color in the bottle may be exactly what
you want, but don’t hesitate to mix colors. On our Part 7
video, you’ll see a brown uke that we stained with a mix of
Tobacco Brown and Medium Brown.
Mix the stain with water
ColorTone Stains are concentrated, so mix them with water.
The amount of water and stain depends on the color you’re
after and the wood you’re staining. You can build a dark
color with thinned stain by wiping on more. To get a feel for
mixing, watch Dan Erlewine use stain on the video.
Wipe on with cloth-wrapped cotton
Wrap a ball of cotton in a scrap of t-shirt material to make a
pad for staining.
Watch the video: PART 7 STAINING THE BODY+NECK
Apply the stain (optional)
stewmac.com 17
At last, it’s time to put the neck on the body!
The neck will be held in place during gluing with a rubber
binding band. A small clamp will hold the fretboard exten-
sion to the top. This might be the spring clamp used when
test-tting the neck.
If more pressure is needed on the fretboard extension, a
C-clamp can be used. Use a piece of scrap wood as a caul to
protect the frets from the clamp.
Inside the body, the C-clamp foot will land on the top brace.
To protect the brace from damage, glue a caul from three
pieces of scrap wood. This U-shaped block straddles the
brace, giving the clamp a solid surface to bear against.
If you stained your uke, apply masking tape again around the
neck joint surfaces. Apply glue to the neck heel and fretboard
extension, and to the matching areas on the body. Put glue
on the dowels and the holes they t into.
Clamp the neck in place, checking to make sure it’s aligned
and centered. Tie the rubber binding band to the neck.
Stretch it down over the tail of the uke and back up around
the heel of the neck, wrapping tightly.
Wet the endgrain with water
Down the length of the neck, the wood grain runs straight.
The carved heel and peghead have exposed endgrain,
indicated by dark areas in the illustration below. The end
of the peghead is endgrain also. These areas will absorb
more stain than the straight grain, making them darker.
Compensate for this by wetting these areas with a damp
paper towel before you begin staining. The damp endgrain
will suck up less stain than if it were dry, giving better balance
to your stain overall.
Wait until your color is mixed and you’re ready to begin
staining before you wet the endgrain, so it doesn’t have
time to dry out.
Wipe on the stain
Wear gloves! Work quickly with the cloth/cotton pad, build-
ing the color evenly all over the body and neck. You can go
back and apply more stain, and can even darken the edges
around the body using a semi-dry staining pad.
Watch the video: PART 8 ATTACHING THE NECK
Attach the neck
Wet the endgrain
before staining
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handle while adding the last stroke of nish. You can also
clamp this peg to your table when leaving the uke to dry.
Wipe on the rst coat
Using ColorTone Wipe-On Poly nish, apply the rst coat
using the pad made of cotton wrapped in a piece of t-shirt
cloth. The wood will soak up this rst coat very quickly; it’s
basically a sealer coat. Allow to dry.
Scu-sand with 400-grit
When the coat is dry, lightly sand it with 400-grit paper, to
remove surface imperfections.
Brush on the second coat
A foam brush lays down more nish than a cloth pad, so
brushing builds the nish more quickly while still being
very easy to do.
Scu-sand again with 400-grit
When dry, lightly sand again with 400-grit paper.
Apply the nal coat
Add a third coat for a complete nish. Allow to dry for a day.
Shiny or satin?
The nish will have a nice sheen. If you’d rather have a satin
look, you can dull the nish by rubbing it with 0000-grade
steel wool.
When the neck is bound with rubber bands, clean away any
sqeezeout you can reach. Allow to dry for two hours (there’s
a lot of glue in that neck joint).
Apply the nish
Tape o the fretboard to avoid getting nish on it.
If there is a gap between the neck and body, ll it with
ColorTone Grain Filler. A mix of our Mahogany and Ash
colors made a good match for the light mahogany of this
unstained kit.
Tape o both sides of the gap, then use a knife to press the
ller into it. Wipe o the excess with a damp paper towel and
peel away the tape. Clean up with paper towel if needed.
Allow to dry, then sand with 400-grit paper.
Wear nitrile or other protective gloves when handling the
uke now, to keep the surface dry and clean for nishing.
Make a holder peg
You can hold the uke by the neck while nishing the body,
but by the time you’re nishing the peghead you’ll need a
hand grip.
Sand a taper onto the end of a dowel, so it will press-t into
one of the tuner holes, like a violin peg. This gives you a
Watch the video: PART 9 APPLYING THE FINISH
stewmac.com 19
Be careful not to install the bridge backwards! The saddle
goes toward the neck, and the string tie block goes toward
the tail.
Remove the tape from the bridge area and fretboard. Place
the bridge onto its “footprint” and tape around it to catch
any glue squeezeout.
Reduce the tackiness of masking tape
Masking tape’s adhesive is strong, and contains chemicals
that could react with your new nish—so don’t leave tape on
the nish any longer than you have to. Also, make the tape
less tacky by pressing it onto your clothing before applying it.
Dry-run your clamping setup
You can glue the bridge with a single clamp. Protect the top
of the bridge with a wooden caul. Apply pressure to the ends
of the bridge with small wooden wedges.
Depending on the style of your clamp, it may not t easily
between the X-braces on Concert and Tenor ukes. It’s easy
to modify the clamp for this job.
Referring to your bracing plan drawing, cut a shape of wood
that ts into the angle of the X-braces. Tape this to the clamp
so it can reach between the braces.
Glue and clamp up
Apply the glue and clamp the bridge. Clean away squeeze-
out, and allow it to dry for 45 minutes.
Glue the bridge Install the tuners
Watch the video: PART 10 FINAL ASSEMBLY+SETUP Put the tuners in the peghead, and place the washers
over the string posts. Add the hex nuts and make them
nger-tight. Line the tuners up so they stick out at right
angles, not crooked. Use a sharp awl to mark the tuner
mounting holes. Drill the pilot holes and install the screws.
Use a wrench to tighten the hex nuts on the peghead face.
Fit the nut and saddle
Place a straightedge on the frets, and see where it meets the
bridge. It should be roughly at the height of the bridge top.
Press the saddle into its slot and rest the straightedge on it.
Pretend the straightedge is a string and imagine that string
passing over the rst fret. Lift the straightedge so it’s a little
less than 1/16" above the rst fret (about .050"). This is a good
height for your strings. When the nut is installed, we’ll want
it to hold the strings at about this height.
Clean up the nut ledge
Use sandpaper to be sure the the at area for the nut is level
and free of nish. An easy way to do this is to double-stick
tape a piece of 220-grit sandpaper to the bottom of the nut
and slide it back and forth. Remove the sandpaper and place
the nut in position, holding it with a bit of double-stick tape.
Install the two outside strings
There are four strings on a uke—two thin ones and two
thicker ones. The thin ones are the outermost strings. Install
these two outer strings so you can check the height of the
nut and saddle.
Thread the string through the back of the bridge. Tie it as
shown in the three-step drawing below. Draw it tight.
stewmac.com
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Pull it tight, and the knot holds securely.
When installing all four strings, tuck the tail end of the rst
string into the wrap of the second string. Continue this pat-
tern for a clean job of stringing the uke.
Uke strings are stretchy. To get them to hold tight to the
string post, pass them through the hole, around and through
again to create a knot. This is quicker than slowly wrapping
many times to get a good grip on the post.
Adjust the nut height
If the string heights are comfortable, you’re almost done.
If the nut is too high, you can lower it by sanding material o
the bottom. Tape sandpaper to your table and slide the nut
on it until you’ve removed enough material. Hold the nut
against a piece of wood to keep square. Also smooth and
round the ends of the nut on the sandpaper.
If the nut is too low (unlikely), place a thin shim cut from
wood or a business card under it to raise it.
Oil the fretboard and bridge
Before stringing up, wipe the fretboard with fretboard oil or
lemon oil. Use a Q-tip to do the same for the bridge.
Install the nut
Put a small drop of glue under the nut, and place it in posi-
tion. The strings will hold it securely.
Install the strings
String up and you’re done! Your uke is ready to play.
Tune your uke
The four open strings are G C E A.
Have fun with your new custom-built uke!
G
C
E
A
Tuning for Soprano,
Concert or Tenor:
G C E A
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