catching up

I used to have a unique domain and a host for all this cookie tin ukulele stuff. Those days are over. As a result, all the following posts are transfers from the old web site (all in one day! what'd ya know?) so the post dates are meaningless.

the beat box

It’s time for me to get my application in for the 2016 San Mateo Maker Faire. I’ve participated in a few previous Faires and this year I thought I’d add something to my usual offering of cookie tin ukuleles and other instruments. If all goes as planned (and they like my proposal) I’ll be at the Faire in May with a peddler’s cart that will transport several instruments and provide a little treadle powered down beat.

In the video I demonstrate my first two crude cam sets that play a waltz and a shuffle. I hope to fit up four sets to knock out a variety of beats. So far this is like playing along with a bad drummer, but I’m getting better at it. The cart rolls nicely on the two wheels like a garden wheel barrow, and when it is tipped up on end (as seen in the video) it will display my instruments and offer its wonky rhythm. The wheels, bearings, and sprockets were scavenged from a kids bike a neighbor was about to chuck in the trash. Some of the wood box is left over molding from a frame shop and the shafts are from my lifetime collection of dumpster gold.
There are many improvements and tweaks in the works; including fitting up the inside of the cart to secure the instruments for travel, painting the exterior, improving the cam sets, and adding more mass to the fly wheel. Stay tuned, there’s more to come.

blue flake lap steel

Indeed, here it is, in all its chunky squared off glory and all its slinky-slidey twang! It’s my first go at building a baritone scale lap steel ukulele, and I am having too much fun. Now I just need to learn to play the dern thing. Yes, I know that’s a mouth full. Learning to play a lap steel – and doing it well – is no small task.

As I mentioned in my previous post, this instrument is the direct descendant of a big kid-safe lap steel I knocked out just before the San Mateo Maker Faire. Regardless of my questionable skills playing this wingnut I’m sure it won’t be that last one I build.

• tin: 230 x 76 mm, 9 x 3 in.
• scale length: 520 mm, 20 1/2 in.
• head to tail: 760 mm, 30 in.
• G .024, C .018, E .015, g .013 plain steel loop end
• squarish profile maple neck
• teak fret board
• stainless fork string anchor

I have been fooling around with adding a carbon mic and a piezo pickup. Someday soon I’ll update the photos and demo to show off the wacky electronics.

Blue Flake Lap Steel from The Tinkers Damn on Vimeo.

big pink lap steel

Just a week before the big to-do in San Mateo this year I whipped up a big lap steel instrument to have something for the kids to whomp on.

 With fat solid steel strings, a neck cut out of a 2×4, and pegs that require a wrench to tune, I knew it would keep the kids busy with nothing to break. The original, above, had only two strings and the tin was flat so it barked quite a bit when the strings were plucked. There is a bit of me fiddling with the beastie at the beginning of the video from the Faire.

I had so much fun with it at the Maker Faire I decided to make some improvements when I got home.

The revamped instrument has a shaped tin body for better resonance and no bark, an 80cm scale, and four strings for more snaky slidey fun.

big pink lap steel from The Tinkers Damn on Vimeo.

gondola-la

And now for my second soprano ukulele with nylon strings and a supercalifragilistic coordinated theme!

a fero da prorà on the head stock

gondolas bobbing along the sides

and gondolas on the silk neck tie strap! Expialidocious or what?

Hold on to your socks! Jeannie may just puff out of that bottle on the strap and whisk you off to Venice in a hula skirt.

• tin: 210 x 50 mm, 6 1/4 x 2 in.
• scale length: 330 mm, 13 in.
• head to tail: 550 mm, 21 3/4 in.
• G .025, C .036, E .032, A .021 nylon
• maple neck
• padauk fret board
• silver plate fork string anchor and arm rest
• silk neck tie strap

gondola-la from The Tinkers Damn on Vimeo.

San Mateo Maker Faire 2015

Tinkers Damn spent two and a half days at the San Mateo Maker Faire this May. It was quite a hubbub once again.

For next year I will have to come up with some way to close up shop and take an hour break in the middle of the day.

The crowd can be overwhelming, but I still had a ball.

Yes, the young’uns were indeed obstreperous…

but many of them had a grand time picking out a tune.

The adults had a fine time as well. Here’s a short clip of me plucking the lap steel (more about that below) and playing “Freight Train” on old electric blue.

San Mateo MF 2015 from The Tinkers Damn on Vimeo.

There’s a slew more photos on Flickr if you just can’t get enough. As usual, many thanks to mrs. a-go-go for being the shutter bug. See you next year, San Mateo! Thanks for having us.
Regarding the lap steel, I whipped that monster up just a few days before the show. It is far from perfect but it gave me another durable instrument to put in front of the kids. It’s not much to play but I had fun with it and I swear I am going to revamp it soon. Stay tuned for a post on the lap steel’s rebirth! Maybe I can get some of the distortion out of it and put enough strings on to get some real steel fun out of it.

big red baritone

Big red, and a baritone, no less! My first go at a baritone scale ukulele used a 10 inch snowflake tin with the same art design as big green, a concert ukulele from some time ago. The similarities end there. Big red has a 520 mm scale length and a voice that is an octave lower. For my own convenience big red is strung and tuned in a typical ukulele GCEA so I can play it without fussing to learn the chords for the standard baritone ukulele tuning of DGBE. If there is anyone out there interested in big red and would prefer DGBE I would certainly be amenable to swap in a set of strings for that tuning. Meanwhile, I am getting a kick out of the deeper voice and I am sure I’ll be using the big ten inch tins for more baritones to come.

• tin: 250 x 90 mm, 9 7/8 x 3 1/2 in.
• scale length: 520 mm, 20 1/2 in.
• head to tail: 780 mm, 30 1/2 in.
• G .022 wound, C .032 wound, E .026 wound, A .018 plain steel loop
• or for a standard baritone tuning: D .030 wound, G .022 wound, B .017 plain, E .012 plain steel loop
• maple neck
• teak fret board
• stainless fork string anchor
• silk neck tie strap

big red from The Tinkers Damn on Vimeo.

faded blue

It’s been a while coming, but the blue was already faded when I started. After tinkering with a chassis punch on the flying iris I thought I’d put it to use on a bigger tin. This uke projects its hoot and holler right out front thanks to the six sound holes in the belly. She’s bound to keep the blues away.

• tin: 255 x 100  mm, 10 x 3 7/8 in.
• scale length: 380 mm, 15 in.
• head to tail: 645 mm, 25 1/2 in.
• G .010, C .015, E .011, A .008 steel loop
• maple neck
• paduak fret board
• stainless fork string anchor
• neck tie strap

faded blue from The Tinkers Damn on Vimeo.

flying iris

 

What? A soprano ukulele? Yes, and with nylon strings no less!

Time to branch out a bit from exclusively steel strings on concert scale ukuleles.

This little Tindeco oval was aching to be an instrument but it’s size kept me away. After the requests and suggestions that I use nylon strings for a more familiar feel, I figured a li’l sorpano uke with nylon strings would fit this tin nicely. Some day soon I’ll turn out a baritone ukulele too. Meanwhile, some specs for flying iris…

• tin: 215 x 145 x 45 mm, 8 1/2 x 5 5/8 x 1 3/4 in.
• scale length: 330 mm, 12 3/4 in.
• head to tail: 510 mm, 20 in.
• G .020, C .032, E .030, A .022 Nylon
• maple neck
• teak fret board
• sterling fork string anchor
• silk neck tie strap

flying iris from The Tinkers Damn on Vimeo.

wee texas blue

At last I am back to work and making some new instruments! I have not completed a new one since February, too many other projects and distractions. This little Texas Bluebonnet tin from the Collin Street Bakery was a fine choice for getting back to the rasps and hammers. This is the fourth ukulele I’ve built with these pretty tins. I’ve used the big ones and the medium ones, but this is my first go with a wee one. The history of the state of Texas plays out on the sides while the state flower and a rudimentary map grace the lid. She’s a big winner in a diminutive size! Wee has now found a new home with a friend in Portland where I'm sure she'll make the rafters ring.

• tin: 170 x 77 mm, 6 3/4 x 3 in.
• scale length: 380 mm, 15 in.
• head to tail: 620 mm, 24 1/2 in.
• G .010, C .015, E .011, A .008
• maple neck
• teak fret board
• stainless fork and rest
• silk neck tie strap

wee tex blue from The Tinkers Damn on Vimeo.

San Mateo Maker Faire 2014

I got my hands on some photos from the San Mateo Maker Faire 2014 after all. These are from May 17th.

Tools! fret cutting jig, bench clamp and carpenter’s plane, fret press, ball-peen hammer, curved anvil, and sample tins in the process of shaping.

I was not presenting as a commercial maker this time so I did not bring instruments to sell. Instead, I focused on providing sample instruments, encouraging people to try strumming a uke or sliding on a canjo, and I laid out some of my tools to help answer the universal question, “How do you make these?”

 

 

Lots of people went away smiling after hearing tuna cans and cookie tins make marvelous twangy music, and a few may have been inspired to try their hand at making a hillbilly instrument of their own.

If you have never been to the Maker Faire or have never heard of it, you are sure to have more opportunities. The San Mateo event happens every May and there are more and more Maker Faire events around the world every year. Interested in seeing what your crazy creative neighbors are cooking up? Then have look at what’s been happening and what’s coming up. There are events in New York, Detroit, and Kansas City just to name a few in the U.S. Yes, the bug has spread internationally too. Paris, Trondheim, Tokyo, Istanbul, São Paulo, and Oaxaca have all had Maker Faires so look for one near you.

SLO Mini Maker Faire 2014

The second annual San Luis Obispo Mini Maker Faire has come and gone and a couple of instruments left the “available for sale” category. There were lots of impromptu ukulele lessons and canjo sessions.

There were paper sculptures, a frisbee chucking bot, and shrinky-dinks among the many activities and demonstrations.

The following weekend I traveled to San Mateo for the big Maker Faire. It was two whole days of surprising people with the sound that can come out of a hillbilly instrument. I am happy to say that lots of folks left the Tinkers Damn booth smiling. My special lady friend did not come along for the big show so I am short on photos, folks. Here’s a video that gives a drone’s view of some of the Faire. If you’ve never attended it will give a little taste of how big the event is.

If you want to see more of the SLO event, have a look at the iFixit SLO Maker Faire video (and though it makes me writhe in pain to see myself on tape, it includes a short clip of me and the cans.) A couple of the Faire volunteers jumped right in to ukulele lessons and did so much to spread the magic to more of the Faire visitors than I could have ever done on my own. Sorry for all the cut off heads here and above (I prefer to avoid showing faces of people who have not given the go to use their likeness on the interwebs).

San Luis Obispo Mini Maker Faire 2014 from The Tinkers Damn on Vimeo.

black rose

Boy, I tell ya, I am starting to really like these medium size tins for concert scale ukuleles. They work like a charm. I suppose I will have to start working the big 10 inch tins into baritone ukuleles instead. Don’t miss the wild colors of the polka-dot liner inside this silk neck-tie strap. You can just see the pattern peeking out of the right side of the top photo. The mottled patina in the steel of the cookie tin bottom gives black rose a world-wise personality, and the fleurs-de-lis on the tin and arm rest give her a mild, regal bearing. She’s a special gal!

• tin: 185 x 65 mm, 7 1/4 x 2 1/2 in.
• scale length: 380 mm, 15 in.
• head to tail: 620 mm, 24 1/2 in.
• G .010, C .015, E .011, A .008
• maple neck
• cocobolo fret board
• stainless fork and rest
• silk neck tie strap

Black Rose was sold at the San Luis Obispo Maker Faire, May 10, 2014. We had a really swell volunteer for the day who picked up a uke for the first time at the Faire. She learned a few chords from me and many more plus a few songs from other uke players who happened by. By the time she had to go for the day she was ready to make this uke her own. If our volunteer is reading this… thank you so much for all the help and enthusiasm getting other people to try out an instrument and I hope your new instrument brings years of strumming.

Lapp Woman

The lid of this tin depicts a scene from the Hans Christian Andersen story of the Lapp Woman and the Finn Woman, a part of The Snow Queen. Gerda, carrying a dried cod (it looks more like a sturgeon to me), is riding a reindeer on her way to see the Finn Woman. Oddly, the fish has a message written on it. Be that as it may, the resulting ukulele came out of the shop sounding really swell, and what’d ya know, no fish odor!

• tin: 190 x 90 mm, 7 3/4 x 3 1/2 in.
• scale length: 380 mm, 15 in.
• head to tail: 620 mm, 24 1/2 in.
• G .010, C .015, E .011, A .008
• maple neck
• paduak fret board
• stainless fork and rest
• silk neck tie strap

Lapp Woman sold to a nice fella and his daughter in San Mateo in March 2014.

Lapp Woman from The Tinkers Damn on Vimeo.

hope tambourine

Percussion and twang all in one instrument.

• tin dimensions: 8 x 3 3/8 inches
• scale length: 390 mm, 15 3/8 inches
• head to tail: 630 mm, 24 3/4 inches
• G .010, C .015, E .011, A .008
• maple neck
• padauk fret board
• silk neck tie strap
• open head tuning machines
• five sets of tambourine bells

Promised to the San Luis Obispo Classical Academy for their 2014 annual fund raising auction.

big tex blue

Ah, she is a beauty. Completed in June 2013, big tex was built with one of my favorite sorts of tins. This is my third concert scale ukulele using a Collin Street Bakery tin with the double Texas Bluebonnet on the lid, but this is the first and only one using the big ten inch tin. It’s got a loud voice and a loud neck tie strap.

• tin: 10 x 3 1/4 in.
• scale: 380 mm, 15 in.
• head to tail: 650 mm, 25 1/4 in.
• G .010, C .015, E .011, A .008
• maple neck
• cocobolo fret board
• silk neck tie strap

This instrument was snapped up by a resident of the great state of Texas as a tin wedding anniversary gift (that’s the 10th anniversary in case you were wondering). Thanks again D. Your purchase made all this fooling around so much more worth it.

big tex blue from The Tinkers Damn on Vimeo.