Hana Lima 'Ia - day four

Today was a big attention to detail day!  I learned at lot. I learned what happens when details are overlooked or unclear. It's said the you learn from your mistakes: lottsa mistakes, lottsa learning!

First there was the tail block mistake. That actually happened yesterday morning when I didn't let the glue set up on the cross grain of the block long enough. The tailblock is the piece of dark wood the is sticking up at the end of the soundboard. 

What happens when not enough time passes between when glue is applied and the block is clamped down is the glue gets sucked into the open grain and not enough remains for a strong bond. So we start to mount the sides to the soundboard and "plop", tail block fall off! Oops!

So after tailblock is reglued and clamped, I pass the time beveling shims to be used to create a tight fit where the sides will meet the neck. I do a good job and in a flurry of activity as another uke, whose tailblock hasn't fallen off, gets its sides my carefully crafted shims get used. 

No problem. I make some more from thin veneer but not only do I cut them the wrong way resulting in uber flimsy shims but I also do a lousy job of beveling them because, well, because they're so darn flimsy!

Here are the culprits:

As we assemble the sides to the soundboard of my uke which is a time sensitive procedure requiring teamwork, my crap shims delay us and I'm in a total flap as I try to cut more and do a ridiculous job of the beveling.  We take so long in this step that when we go to adjust the second side of the uke the glue has already set up! Oops!

I panic, my instructor curses and with brute force and much determination he pulls up the side from the soundboard and quickly resets it in necessary position. The sides are clamped all round and I breathe a sigh of relief. 

The next step is an easy one. We glue down kerfing to help support the newly assembled sides. Phew, something straightforward. What could go wrong?

Kerfing is not symmetrical, on side is straight while the other is in an angle. Did you know that?  Well, neither did I!  Oops!

The sound board side now as some of the kerfing upside down and some right side up. We'll make it our secret, OK?

The top side kerfing is assembled correctly.   More lessons learned. 

It didn't end there!  You've heard the common saying 'measure twice, cut once'. As my pal Stan was already boxing up his uke, meaning he had sanded the top of the uke sides and was now attaching the uke's back, I was sanding. Why?  Because I had somehow cut the misbehaving tail block about 1/16th too long. Oops!

I learned more lessons today than I really wanted to but, there you go, no mistakes, ahhhh, yeah, right, possibly less learned!