With Instructables you can share what you make with the world and tap into an ever-growing community of creative experts.
This Instructable will show you how to create a playable soprano ukulele from cardboard and items found at your local hardware store (plus some tuners...
Items you need for this project: Several large shipping boxes made from corrugated cardboard. The tighter the corrugation the better. Several sheets...
Attached are word files (now also in PDF!) with templates for the body and neck. Print and cut out each template. Glue these templates onto some thi...
Trace the templates on to the corrugated cardboard. You will need the following number of pieces (save some extra pieces of cardboard in case you nee...
Trace Body A and Body B onto non-corrugated composite carboard sheet (the back of a legal pad or thick cereal box should work). Do not cut the notch ...
Using a very sharp blade, cut out all of the cardboard pieces.
Stack the cardboard in the following order: Corrugated Body C, composite Body B, corrugated Body B. The corrugated Body B pieces can be stacked in a...
Using a thin coating of wood glue, glue the stack together. Place a book on top of the stack. Check back after a few minutes to ensure that nothing ...
Cut 2 strips of composite cardboard 1" x 8". Cut 3 score lines running along the length of the strips 1/4 inches apart. Bend along the score lines t...
Cut the triangular bracing pieces to cross the body as shown in the picture. You'll have to cut a notch in one of the pieces to be able to cross them...
Glue the bracing to the soundboard with wood glue.
Check fit the neck pieces in the body cutout. The notch in the neck pieces should be flush with the top of the cutout in the body. Trim the bottom n...
Glue the neck so that you have the following stackup: 3x Neck A 7x Neck B 3x Neck A I like to glue these pieces together in increments in order to en...
While you are waiting for some glue to dry, you can work on the bridge. Cut a rectangle of composite cardboard that is the width of 2 hinges (about 2...
Using some leftover bracing, create a triangular stop for the saddle. Cut a bolt or threaded rod to a length of approximately 2.0 inches. While you ...
The saddle height should be approximately 3/8 inches above the soundboard. Shim under the bolt to get a height near 3/8 inches. Note: This will res...
Once the neck pieces are set, cut 4-6 strips for either side of the head. They should maintain the thickness of the head and could be used to get a l...
Using composite cardboard, cover the top surface of the head and the fingerboard, scoring where the angle of the neck changes. Also, cover the lower ...
Once the neck is completely dry, drill the holes for the tuners. I find that 1.5 inches back from the bend in the neck is a good spot for the first p...
Once the glue has set, install the tuners on the back of the neck. Using wood glue on the screws will make them hold better.
Test fit the neck in the body notch. If it is too large, trim even amounts of cardboard off either side. If it is too narrow, create shims to fill t...
Glue the neck into the notch in the body. While glue is still drying, install the screw through the back. The screw should go through most of the ne...
Glue the soundboard with braces to the top of the body and weigh it down with a textbook or two.
Cut a strip of corrugated cardboard as wide as the fingerboard and long enough to go from the bend in the neck to just past where the neck goes into t...
Glue the nut onto the head, just above the fingerboard. You will need to shim under the nut in order to achieve a string height of about 1/8th of an ...
Attach the two small hinges to the portion of the bridge that wraps around the bottom of the uke. Use the screws provided, coated with wood glue, to ...
If you plan on using a strap, at this point, you can add a strap button (aka screw) to the bottom of the ukulele. You will want to drill a pilot hole...
Once the glue is completely dry.... Tie the strings to the hinges. If you purchased commercially available ukulele strings, they will be numbered. ...
Measure the distance between the nut and the saddle (scale length). At this point, you can research how to calculate fret spacing (if you are a nerd....
Once you have some tension on each string, space them out on the nut and saddle. The strings should get slightly wider as they run down the neck. T...
Remove these ads by
Signing Up
Not NiceInappropriateSpam
PDF Downloads
As a Pro member, you will gain access to download any Instructable in the PDF format.
You also have the ability to customize your PDF download.
Visit Our Store »
Go Pro Today »