Uke kit from Stew-Mac

[Gene Davis]

Was thinking of dipping into this with a kit.

Is body assembly going to go OK using the rubber bands provided with the kit?

[Bradley Gray]

Go for it. Kits are a good way to dip in. (full disclosure: my son in law puts those kits together)

[george wilson]

Old time Spanish makers just used twine to tie backs and tops down for gluing. In the 18th. C. Musical Instrument Maker's Shop in Williamsburg,we did the same thing. We made 18th. C. guitars with vaulted backs(among other instruments),so the twine actually worked better than clamps,which would have wanted to slide off the vaulted backs.

I used a plank with the shape of the guitar sawn out. I drove nails all around the guitar shape. The guitar was placed on the plank,and the nails served as a place to loop the twine over. The guitar was bound up like a mummy with twine.

We had to be careful to not use TOO much pressure on the twine,because the sides would squeeze inward on the vaulted back. You'd have much less issue on your nearly flat back uke. Besides,the struts in the back would butt internally against the sides,keeping the sides from creeping inwards. I STILL ADVISE CAREFUL LASHING. Those repeated lashings can build up great pressure,like wrapping a string around your finger. Each turn increases the pressure,and pretty quickly your finger is painfully squeezed. Keep that principle in mind while lashing down. Look at the sides,too,while lashing. Make sure they have not started to dish concave under the pressure.

Nothing wrong with old principles. Many of the finest old Spanish guitars were made using this and other dodges where expensive tools like clamps weren't possible to buy. Even the great builder Torres was pretty poor,which can be seen in some wood choices he had to make.

[Scott DelPorte]

StewMac kit has you build a plank with nails like George mentions with some supports to help the sides keep their shape. This might have been posted here already, but I like this. Its a short video from 1917 showing an old time builder assembling a ukulele. You can see how he uses string to clamp the arched back to the sides.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MxapCiRm278