Cigar Box Ukulele

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Concept

Due to their simple, lightweight construction, nylon strings, and lack of pretension, ukuleles are an excellent choice for a first handmade instrument.

Members Interested

Sacha (instigator)

Ingredients and Suppliers

  • Cigar Box
    • Tesa Cigars (Grand and Milwaukee)
    • Binny's Beverage Depot(213 W. Grand)
  • Ukulele Strings
    • you want nylon soprano strings, not tenor or bass
    • elderly instruments sells decent sets of strings for about $3
  • Tuners
    • There are two major kinds of tuners: friction and geared
      • Friction - old school, (sometimes) cheaper, can be built by hand/lathe
      • Geared tuners - easier to use, keep their tune longer, (not necessarily) more expensive
    • Elderly instruments sells a set of geared tuners for about $8.85 and a set of friction tuners for about $8.95
  • Neck
    • Preferably hardwood (like maple), but poplar works too - nylon strings are pretty gentle.
  • Frets
    • Hardwood or metal
  • Bridge
    • can be made from scrap from neck manufacturing

Directions and Plans

  • Excellent website - scroll down to find PDF of (really nice) vintage plans from 1910-1920 for making a cigarbox uke: [1]
  • Fret calculators (for figuring out fret placement...):
    • Stewart-Macdonald [2]
    • EMI [3]
    • Fret calculation theory: [4]
  • How to actually cut frets - involves a jig and a Gent Saw
    • Fretboard slotting [5]
    • Project Guitar [6]