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 kerng 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 kerng, and kerng
clamps are made for gluing them. Rubber-banded clothes-
pins make great substitute kerng 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