Ukuleles
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My Work
I'll be sharing photos of works in progress on these pages. Ukulele making is conceptually quite simple and understanding how they go together can help you select and maintain your ukulele.
Making each ukulele is a unique experience. The variety of designs, sizes, woods and techniques afford an infinite welcome variety to my work day. To share that variety with you, I will highlight some of my special projects on these pages .
My Shop
I am now in a 2500 sq. ft. workspace but have not had time to update the photos. Please check back as there are several new machines, more jigs, and lots of student ukes from my ukulele build classes.
Interested in trying to build your own uke? A favorite saying of mine is "To teach is to learn twice", so if there is anything you would like to learn regarding ukulele construction please let me know.
mike@ukemaker.com
DaSilva Ukulele
Co.
2547 8th Street, Suite 28
Berkeley, CA 94710
510 649-1548
Copyright
@ 2006 Michael DaSilva
All Rights Reserved
My Label
I celebrate the wonder of wood everyday. I like to think about that koa tree that grew sometime in the 1800's that contributed the tops, backs and sides of my 1930's Martin 3K. And my last name means "Of the Forest". Hence the tree.
The scallops refer to the connections to the ocean that the Madeirans must have had when they travelled to Hawaii just as I feel since immigrating from Hong Kong in the 60's. My ancestry is Portuguese, tracing back to the Far East Portuguese former-colony of Macao, hence my last name. My great-grandfather was a merchant seaman and I like to think that he may have visited Hawaii at the time of introduction of the ukulele.
The branches represent the olive tree. The olive tree symbolizes fruitfulness and beauty and dignity. "Extending an olive branch" signifies an offer of peace.
The two ukuleles represent the endless variety in ukuleles and ukulele music as well as forever tying the U.S. mainland to Hawaii.
And the Portuguese phrase "Vivo Criar" is "Live To Create" Need I say more?
Wood
For those not able to visit, I will post photos of some of my wood stock to assist in designing your custom ukulele.
On The Bench
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Finally moved in - lots of wood storage. |
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Finally moved in - How did I fit all this stuff into a one-car garage? |
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Finally moved in - My new office and a small showroom perfect for jam sessions. |
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Ricky,
Rob, Annie, Phil and Jerrold jamming in the new shop! |
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Peghead detail on completed Concert "Honu" in Koa. |
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Body for completed Concert "Honu" in Koa. |
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1- car garage workshop. Works great, but... |
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My new workspace! |
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More new workspace. |
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And still more workspace. |
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Concert "Honu" in Mango. Ready for final finishing but strung up for a test run. |
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Finally! The July 2004 Giveaway Ukulele. |
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Finally! The July 2004 Giveaway Ukulele. |
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Amazing curly koa on a SM1 soprano for Randall. Completed on 8/25/2004. See Photo Gallery section for full photo set. |
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Amazing curly koa on a SM1 soprano for Randall. Completed on 8/25/2004. See Photo Gallery section for full photo set. |
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Concert Pineapple in mango wood with "Honu" turtle motif. Snakewood headplate matches the turtle inlay. |
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Almost done! I can't wait to hear them. |
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July Giveaway uke almost ready to go. Binding, position dots and headplate have been installed. All it needs now is frets, bridge, finishing, tuners and stringing. Yes, I am a little behind. |
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Drill press with milling table and direct reading caliper is the perfect setup for cutting fretting templates for any scale. This setup reads and holds the template within .0005". I do not have to rely on hand cut or commercial templates with limited scale length and compensation factors anymore. |
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The fret slotting templates are used on a tablesaw sliding table with indexing pin and hold downs. It makes quick work of a fretboard. |
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Honu concerts with necks dry-fitted waiting for fretboards and neck carving. Note the carbon fiber reinforcement embedded in the necks. |
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An assortment of sopranos waiting for fretboards. Spruce and koa tops. |
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Top and Sides assembled for July 2004 Giveaway |
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Inside of bookmatched koa top and back with bracing and heart soundhole lined with celluloid tortoise shell for July 2004 Giveaway |
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Bookmatched koa top and back for July 2004 Giveaway joined and trimmed. |
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Koa sides for July 2004 Giveaway bent and fitted into outside soprano mold |
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Neck and end blocks glued and clamped to sides of July 2004 Giveaway . |
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Gluing the back kerfed lining for the mahogany soprano. Clothespins work great for holding the triangular lining if you cut a notch and add a rubber band for more clamping pressure. |
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Top and sides glued together on "Honu" model for Mark G. |
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Wood for top and back of July Giveaway - SM1 all pieces are from the same flitch. Conservatively graded AAA koa is from Notable Woods http://www.notablewoods.com |
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Wood for top of July Giveaway - |
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Wood for back of July Giveaway - |
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CH3 - "Honu" Top for concert pineapple in Mango with Snakewood inlay. For stock inventory. Call if interested. |
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CH3 - Concert pineapple for Mark Gutierrez. Photoshop design drawing. Wood is cut&paste of photo of actual wood selected. |
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CH3 - Inlaid abalone "Honu" Soundhole is lined with plastic tortoise shell binding material. Note the wood match with the drawing. |
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CH3 - Bending sides for Mark's concert in my new bending jig. |
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| Mahogany soprano in the mold. Neck and tail blocks are glued in. Top lining is glued and sanded ready for the top to be glued on. |
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| A couple of sopranos. Purpleheart sides and back, one with koa, other with spruce top. Dolphin motif is for my son. |
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| Closeup of spruce top soprano. See the completed uke in Ukuleles section. |
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| Gluing the back on an SM1. |
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| 5 SM1 models in various states of progress. |
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| 6 sopranos ready for polishing, bridge placement and final setup. |
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| Something different for an art birdhouse raffle to benefit a local school. Made from Home Depot scraps. It actually plays when strung up! |
| More to come... |
