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"ROUGHNECKS" of the Legacy Builds

Currently working on builds #3 and #4 simultaneously. Was planning on just building a 4 string cigar box uke for my 6yo until my 4yo daughter decided she wanted one too, also requesting 4 strings....so...now I'm building 2 at same time and experiencing small scale production. I have to say, its much more efficient to build this way.

Anyways, a few firsts on these builds for me. Firstly, tried my hand at building my own boxes for these and so far so good. Just cut the boxes open today, Not a perfect cut, but nothing my surface planer couldn't fix. Secondly, I cut and glued my first scarf joints. Built a nice little scarf cutting jig for the table saw (will post pics later). The boxes are made of poplar sides and lauan ply top/bottom. Alder braces in the inside corners.

Got some rough necks glued up so far. Went pretty experimental with the wood choices. Cherry neck. Scarf'd headstock piece is dark walnut. Wings on one head stock is poplar. Alder wood for heel piece. Aspen fingerboard. I chose aspen because i needed a light wood for finger board as i'm planning to color the board with an acrylic wash.. We'll just have to see how it holds up. Its pretty soft wood. Probably gonna have to glue a few frets down.e

My 6yo wants a unicorn themed guitar that is pink and purple. My 4yo daughter whom we adopted from China about 2 years ago wants a Superman themed guitar. I do want to thank DC or whoever created Superman for making one of the greatest superheroes an adopted orphan. My daughter has been in love with superman since she found that out,. Will try to post updates as the build progresses.

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Comment by Barsymes Cratchnee on February 9, 2014 at 4:25pm: Great question Richey, I'm still trying to work this out. Experimented on a few scraps and was able to down the grain down with a 400 grit and 0000 steel wool pretty smooth. I also have micro mesh pads for final finish and stuff. Also still working out the best finish for the fret board. Was thinking about experiment with several coats of true oil, just not sure how much this will affect the color or if it will make the color bleed. Was planning different colors instead of fret markers. I've also considered poly, but thought the tru oil might give a harder, more durable finish. Still working out the best way to dye the wood the colors i want. I really like the orange dye finish Bruce just did on his CBG for servicemen build.

Comment by Richey Kay on February 8, 2014 at 7:11pm: Lookin' good man. Really nice job of those boxes.How are you planning to smooth the fretboards down after the acrylic wash? I do this for the boxes of the kid's guitars I make, and the grain raises quite a bit. I use a poly varnish and smooth down with 600 grit...

Comment by Bruce Myers on February 6, 2014 at 1:50pm: Those look great, your girls will love them. The Aspen should hold up pretty well, I installed some Aspen flooring in a log home a couple years ago and it still looks good. I had my doubts when the owner picked it out but seems to be wearing fine.