Well, the repaired crack didn’t survive.  What I’ve done is attach the sides to the top and join the cracked section with a piece of engleman spruce backing.  After the box is constructed, with both the top and the back attached to the sides, I will trim out the ragged edges, down to the spruce backing, and insert a binding bordered patch.  Patch is the wrong word; inlay is better.  The binding will match the body binding and the inlay will mimic the end graft, which I believe is rosewood.

The kerf for the top is installed, and once this dries, along with the spruce backing on the cutaway, I can begin to trim the sides in preparation for installing the back.

As mentioned previously, the cutaway bend probably cracked.  I let the bent sides sit in the bender overnight so as to allow the bends to settle, then opened the bender carefully.

The underside of the sandwich was held in place with a bit of wire to keep it from springing up and pushing against the bent side.  After removing from the machine, the crack was evident.

Two cracks, on either side of the outer bend can be repaired with CA glue, then the bend can be rounded on the hand bending heater before attaching to the guitar top.  This piece is salvageable and will be fine.  After aggressive sanding and fairing, there should be no evidence of the crack.  I might consider gluing a small spruce caul into the inside of the bend to provide stability.

I began installing the non-cutaway side.  First I increased the bends on the hand bender, determined the position of the cut for each end to shorten the side piece, applied glue to the butt block, neck slot and joint between the side and the top.  It slipped into the workboard easily, and followed the trace of the joint nicely, so I was able, on the first pass, to clamp down.

I finally bit the bullet and went headlong into the cutaway bend.  First I needed to locate the pivot point for the cutaway ram to be mounted on the bending machine.  After several dry runs, I committed to a hole location for the ram pivot. I drilled the holes, installed the ram and placed the side sandwich in the bender and cranked up the heat.  I bent the butt end first then took a deep breath.

The concern is that the bend is severe, and the side wood tends to crack.  The ram is screwed down tight into the vee between the waist and the rise in the upper bout.

As the ram is pulled away from the waist, it must be released to follow the rise of the upper bout.  Just at the point the bend starts down, the ram must be pulled while advancing the press screw then immediately start to push the ram as it travels down the cutaway until it reaches the bottom of the cutaway.

The waist press, up to this point, has only been advanced to an eighth of an inch from bottom.  Finally, the waist press is clamped down to push the waist down and pull the sides “in” onto the bouts.  A quick inspection from the side of the sandwich showed the tight bend did indeed crack, but to what extent, and knowing if it is useable will only be discovered when the package is opened.  A spring bar was draped over the upper bout at the cutaway bend to add pressure at the bend.  One more round of cranking up the heating blanket then a cool down may very well improve the roundness of the side bend at the cutaway peak.

I finished detailing the bracing on the top and trimmed back the ends to make room for the attachment of the sides to the top.  The butt block was radiused and trimmed to length (about 1/8″ longer than actual) and glued to the top.

I also trimmed the sides to the same width as the butt block height then proceeded to bend the non-cutaway side.

After heating and bending, the side is allowed to cool, then the heat is turned back on for 15 minutes, then the side will sit in the mold overnight.  After removal, it will need more hand bending to bring it to the desired curve to avoid having to spring the side into the workboard, which puts stress at the butt block and neck joint points which can cause splitting.

The cutaway side remains to be bent, but first I have to devise where the cutaway ram will be mounted on the bending machine.  Hope I get it right.  I’ve been avoiding this bend for months, and I am fully prepared to order new sides if I muck this up.  So much for practicing on throwaway stock.

I built this workboard several months ago.  It’s adapted from the workboard I used for the ukes and examples I’ve seen at luthier suppliers.  The next step is to shape and dimension the butt block then glue it in place in preparation for the attachment of the sides.

The neck was notched on the router table to accept the top.  The center lines were aligned, pilot holes drilled, and the neck has been glued to the top.  After drying, the neck and top will be mounted to the workboard in preparation for attaching the butt block and joining the sides to the top.

It’s a snow day, a day before my son’s 19th birthday, and the birth of my second uke.  The finish is KTM9, a water based lacquer which I believe I will continue to use for future instrument finishes.  I took several months to apply, knockdown and buff the finish, and I believe it improved the results.  Also, 24 or more very thin coats proved to be the right approach.  I avoided drips and orange peel effect, and the knockdown was more straightforward.

There’s nothing like a fire, dog and uke to complete a snow day at home.

Tomorrow this uke will be making music.  The finish is all knocked down and polished, and today I mounted the bridge.  After setting overnight it will be a quick transition to get the strings installed.

Back to work in the shop.  I’ve done the fretboard inlay for the hybrid, and started tackling portions of guitar 1202, the Rosewood OM also known as Bob.  First, I joined the back.

I tried using tempera paint to outline the thorn and vine inlay for the fretboard.

It certainly made for a clear distinction when diving in with the router to clear out the channel for the shell.  I was a bit sloppy wity the application and got too much on the shell and had to spend extra time to remove the paint from the shell before installing.

Finally, using black epoxy, the shell was glued in.  Note the excess splurted over the top.  This ensures all gaps get filled, and a nice clean seam between the shell and the fretboard.

The uke has been delivered.  Here are the final images.