Moore Bettah
ukuleles
With the advantage of a temperature and humidity controlled building room that is isolated from the rest of the wood shop I am able to make sure that all the wood components are thoroughly dry and stable before assembly. Although the ambient humidity in this part of coastal Hawaii averages 80%, I maintain a relative humidity in the building room of between 45-55%. This assures the buyer that any changes in the wood in the future would be minimal if cared for reasonably. No matter what soundboard wood I choose, I always build in a 25 foot radius into the top, creating a slight arch that adds to the strength of the top and helps to reduce distortion.
Solar powered shop in Opihikao, Hawaii
Profiling the soundboard braces in the climate-contolled build room
A life long love affair with Hawaii and the South Pacific compelled me to move to the island of Moloka'i more than twenty years ago. I was immediately captivated by the sights, the sounds, the people and the laid back atmosphere of this rural tropical paradise. After extensively exploring the South Seas I knew that Hawaii was the place I had to be. While I was continuing my career as a potter and making scrimshaw I took the opportunity of this radical change in geography and lifestyle to explore other forms of art that I had longed to do. With the abundance of tropical woods around me I decided to pursue wood carving and for a while I made sculptural and architectural pieces that wound up in many homes throughout Hawaii.
One day a local bruddah stopped by my shop with the biggest coconut I'd ever seen and in sing-song pigeon English said "Hey brah,you make me ukulele out of dis?' The huge coconut he handed to me turned out to be of the "Samoan" variety which was pretty scarce where I lived but he kept me supplied with enough of them to turn out quite a few two or three nutted "coco-leles" for quite a while. These were relatively simple instruments though some had rosettes and hand carved tuning pegs of fossil walrus ivory (from my scrimshaw stash.)
Thickness sanding koa....Hawaiian style!
MY WORK ....where it happens, how it happens and why.
Inlaying black pearl shell
Inlaying is one of my favorite aspects of building ukuleles. It gives me an opportunity to give the instrument a truly unique personality. The shell I use is all solid shell, not laminate or veneer.I am fortunate to have a good supply of Tahitian black pearl shells that I've collected during my travels in the South Pacific. After I grind the rough shell by hand I sand it to a working thickness, cut out the shapes with a jeweler's saw and rout out the recess with a rotary tool. I also use fossil walrus ivory, composite stone and abalone shell that is worked in the same way.
Many of the woods I use are found locally on the Big Island, including koa, mango, and kiawe. The materials I use in construction are of solid wood, no plywoods or veneers are used. Instrument grade koa is especially treasured with demand surpassing the dwindling supply and has become increasingly more valuable in the past few years. Every type of wood imparts it's own unique signature to the characteristics of the finished ukulele. For bindings and fretboards I use non-endangered tropical hardwoods such as cocobolo, ebony, purple heart, bocote, wenge, etc. As a woodworker, it's always exciting to cut through a new piece of wood to reveal the surprises (or heart aches) within.
I normally build a few ukes at a time spending about 10 days on each one over a period of about two months. This extended time allows the various wood components to reach their natural equilibrium and for the lacquer finish to fully cure.
The Building Room
It wasn't until I moved to the Big Island of Hawaii however that I decided to build ukuleles full time. After all, "the Big Island is where all the koa comes from" and what better homage to pay to this scarce and exotic wood than to create beautiful and wonderful sounding ukuleles from it.
The Workshop
The process begins in this room where all the rough cutting, shaping and sanding is done. Thankfully we get enough sun in Opihikao to keep these machines running, including air conditioner and dehumidifier. The koa I use is air dried for several years the is kept in a special drying unit that maintains a higher temperature and low humidity so that the final lumber has a moisture content of between 6 and 8 percent.
After sanding the instrument with 400 grit, the surfaces are sealed with a vinyl sealer and the pores of the grain are filled with a clear filler. The spraying procedure involves several sessions of spraying and sanding over a period of 8 to 10 days and every ukulele receives about 6 coats of instrument grade nitrocellulose lacquer.The spray booth allows me to apply lacquer in a humidity controlled and dust free environment. The ukulele is then moved to a drying room where it will rest for about two weeks before it is wet sanded with several grits of sandpaper before polishing and buffing compound are applied. This very intensive hand finishing process results in a glossy finish and is extremely durable.
The Finishing Process
Whenever I get stuck for inspiration, I put on my thinking cap. (It also helps to keep unwanted solicitors away.)
The "Moore Bettah" Wahine
Inlaying paua abalone pearl shell rosettes
Gluing the braces on a sound board using the "Go-deck".
Inlaying fret boards
Customer supplied the drawing that inspired this inlay. Materials used were mastadon ivory and composition stone.
What follows here is an assortment of pictures......in no particular order!
One of the side benders. Electric heat blankets are used to bend the sides.
The plate joining jig. The tops and backs are book matched, glued and clamped together in this fixture.
The bent sides are placed into a mold while head and tail blocks are glued into place.
The sides get curve (radius) sanded into them on a radius dish attached to a motorized potter's wheel.
Kerfings are clamped and glued into place.
Cutting kerfings on the table saw. Kerfings or linings are strip of wood that are glued to the sides allowing for greater surface area when gluing on the tops and backs.
Spending a few days making kerfings, bindings, braces and all the other necessary parts is sort of a meditation for me. While I can't really let my mind wander, it does give me a break from many of the tedious tasks of building. When I get in a "groove" and I let my mind go it can be a real creative time for me as well, as I design my future ukes in my head. I really enjoy this time in the shop, turning big bits of wood into little bits.
After the top is glued to the sides it it trimmed using a flush cut router bit.
With the neck temporarily attached for alignment purposes, the uke is set into yet another jig. While making it convenient for gluing the back on, this fixture also allows me extreme accuracy in aligning the neck to the body.
And the back is firmly glued and clamped on
Various channels are cut into the body allowing for purflings, bindings and end grafts.
Ebony binding and purfling is installed in the channel previously cut.
An ebony end graft ready for installation.
Installing the pearl purfling is a very time consuming process. I use only solid pearl shell, paua abalone in this case, rather than the composite shell used on less expensive ukuleles. Pearl purflings can really add distinction to your ukulele.
The solar powered cutting room
The Go sticks are spring loaded to apply even pressure to the braces.
The sound board braces are further shaped until the proper amount of flexibility is achieved.
INLAY
In this "wave" inlay the pattern pieces are cut and individually glued to the shell which is then cut with a jeweler's saw. The pieces of the "puzzle" are then glued together and fit into a cavity that has been routed into the head stock. It is then glued and sanded flush.
.
