Making A Boat Paddle Tenor Ukulele - Part 6 - Sides + Front and Back

Okey-dokey, some time in the shed at last and getting back on track.

Sides
The moulded sides are well and truly dried and are holding their shape quite nicely.
The cutaway section is in two parts and needs some re-inforcing gussets to prevent chipping and to strengthen the joins.  I have chosen a couple of pieces of African blackwood, both for strength and because it matches both the fretboard and the headstock.

These two gussets will be glued in place before the linings are added to the inside.

Here is a view from the inside.

This end block will become the corner of the block that houses the neck.  It will be made from cedar for lightness and strength.
I'll cut a block from this piece of Australian cedar and I will also shape the mortice in it before gluing.  This so much easier to do while the cedar piece is long - it is also safer when using a router.

Gluing Up the Front and Back

The front and the back are made from book-matched thin (2mm) pieces of mango.
Before gluing, each piece has to have its glue-edge perfectly straight.  I do this with a plane on a shooting board.

This timber is not mango, but black wattle - but you get the idea.

The edge-trued pieces are glued together and held in place under tension by nothing more than masking tape.

A flat surface is placed on top to keep the drying skins from warping and this is held down with a small weight.

The finished results are shown with the mango skins dried and flat.

The skin on the left will be the front and that on the right will be the back.

 This skin is most highly figured of the two, and will look best on the back where it will be able to show off its lovely grain to advantage.
The other will have a sound hole cut into it as well as a bridge glued on top.

Finally I have cut some strips from what was left of the mango used for cutting the sides.  These strips will be used for bracing and strengthening pieces on the backs of the front and back skins.

Next time I'll work on the neck.