Official Luthiers Forum!

So I'm working the cabinet for the CNC machine and need some special hinges, so I took the wife out to lunch as a cover ploy and stopped by woodcraft to drool over the new Powermatic saw and get some hinges.

We ended up talking about the Powermatic with the owner for a long time, he even had a sawstop in the back that we looked at and played with a little. In the course of the conversation we started talking guitars, they have been trying to do a class on stringed instruments.

Well one thing led to another and it looks like I'll be teaching a class sometime in october on building a uke from a kit. After some discussion we settled on doing uke kits from Stew Mac since a lot of the hard work was already done. So I ordered a couple of kits to make a showpiece and figure out the best way to build one in a 3 day time span.

It's both scary and exciting, as soon the kits get here I'm going to put one together to see what I'm in for, the hard stuff looks be done. The neck is already carved and it has a headplate, the sides are bent and it looks like everything is pretty much ready for assembly. Should be an interesting challenge, once I build one, I'm going to take a 3 day weekend and see if I can build a kit in one go....

Wish me luck, I'm going to need it

-Paul-

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-Paul-

Patriot Guitars

That's great! Teaching luthiery is very rewarding and a great way to connect with folks with similar interests.

I approached our Woodcraft to do this and they didn't seem terribly interested. Too bad. There's a gentleman that's done several uke classes in New England Woodcrafts with a great deal of success.

Our local Woodcraft seems interested in my stuff, but I'm not ready yet to teach a class.

As a university professor, I have long lived with the teaching principal that I had to be able to do my own one hour exams in 15 minutes, on one side of a piece of paper.
With this in mind, I was looking at the Stew-mac Uke kit, and wondering if it could be done in a day. I think it could, which makes it a pretty good candidate for a course of this type.

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Jim Kirby
kirby@udel.edu

Paul,

COOL! This could really open up some opportunites for you. Networking with the community, maybe private luthier lessons, more commissions, make sure you have business card available! Or, even develop a handout that has some information about you, and your contact information.

Keep us posted on your progress with the kit.

Oh, and I hope you are getting the powermatic as compensation for the class!

Jeff

Sounds like a fun project. I'm sure your up to the task.

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Beautiful and unusual tone woods at a reasonable price.
http://www.rctonewoods.com/RCT_Store
The Zootman
1109 Military Rd.
Kenmore, NY 14217
(716) 874-1498

rock on paul...ukes are easy so enjoy the experience!

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John Mayes
http://www.mayesluthier.com