Long time no post. Sorry to say I have not been building instruments for a while. Making backpacking gear has been my main creative outlet the last few years. The exception (and crossover) project was this ultralight ukulele. Following a project using carbon fiber golf club shafts for a pack frame, I made a quick idea sketch of a stripped down uke to take backpacking. The idea stuck with me, and last year I followed up. The result is this 2.3 oz (65 gram) fun little thing!
It is surprisingly fun to play, and has become a favorite daily pastime even when I am not on the trail.
- The neck is a section of carbon fiber shaft from a thrift store golf club.
- The tuning pegs are delrin tapered on a small lathe and fit in carefully paired holes in the shaft walls. Fitting the pegs was the difficult part to finesse.
- Hanging on the yellow bit of string is a small steel pin. It fits in a cross hole in the head of each each tuning peg. The pin provides the leverage to adjust tuning.
- The fret board is a scrap of curious plastic material. It has a smooth, hard face and a light, rigid, foam-like backing that was easy to carve with a small curved chisel.
- The nut is a bit of hard white plastic sheet stock - unknown what kind of plastic.
- Only five frets made of nylon zip tie shafts. Five is enough for all the basic chords. I expected the instrument would be funky enough that more frets would probably have poor intonation anyhow.
- The body is an aluminum 5.5 oz cat food can, thoroughly cleaned and polished. The bottom face of the can became the resonator belly of the body after some careful shaping with a hammer on a small round anvil.
- The bridge is a bit of aluminum bar stock. The string tension keeps the bridge in place with the help of small beads of museum wax under each foot.
- A bit of epoxy putty anchors the neck in a hole in the side of the can. A bit more epoxy and one small screw anchors the butt of the neck on the opposite wall of the can.
- The strings are anchored in holes drilled in the can. Each hole is reinforced with a bit of wood and a bit of epoxy to keep the nylon strings from being cut by the metal of the can.
- The strings are a standard nylon soprano set.
- Scale length: 330mm
- Total length: 17 7/8 inches (455mm)
Li'l buddy has come along on a few backpacking trips. It's light enough to add to my kit as a luxury item, it has proven durable enough for the trail, and it doesn't mind getting wet.
I will post a video as soon as I can get my soggy old brain to recollect about filming and editing.
