Mountain Whimsy

All neck joints must be designed to accommodate the geometry of the instrument top, sides, and neck angle to obtain the correct string height and action once all the pieces are put together. Most instruments I've made have a flat area here the neck heel joins the body of the instrument. This allows for an easy joint that can largely be achieved with a router jig. The shoulders on this baritone uke maintain a curvature across the entire edge connecting the upper bouts. The

Not just a trout. Here's a Mayfly getting the cutthroat treatment.

This always feels good. A major milestone in any build.

The neck is taking shape.  I even remembered that this is a lefty and put the side dots on the correct edge.

Subtle shadows reveal the details of an archtop carve. Here's the inside carve of the top plate.

Getting ready for installing the linings on the uke. The top and back edges were cleaned up on the radius dish, and a 0.5" taper was put on the back towards the neck.

A quick look at how the back and sides look together. Next up will be adding the kerfed linings to the sides.

I had some Chechen with nice figure and color left over from a Caddis build, so I thought I'd try it out for a rosette on the latest Mayfly.

Some of the joy of building instruments comes from the simple pleasures. I could make these little curly shavings all day and still have a smile on my face.