Inlay Innovations

We’re getting to the end of the project. The inlay is pretty well completed and now what remains is to re-install the frets, string it up, and play the new ukulele.

It starts with re-creating the slots for the frets. The pearl and abalone have crossed the majority of the frets and are blocking the insertion of the fretwire. I carefully lined up a ruler with the ends of the fretslots and drew a line with a “Sharpie” to mark where I thought the fret should go.

Here’s the slide show –
As usual, click on a picture to start the slideshow, then click on the arrows at the bottom right and left, to advance or go back. Finally click on any picture to exit the slideshow.

Then, the trick is to make a series of holes in the pearl, with the router, along the line drawn by the Sharpie. The holes are made for two reasons. 1 – because it’s easier to keep the router bit from overheating and 2 – because I could easily stray off the line if I simply tried to follow it. Also the bit that’s used is a bit wider than the original slot so that once the slot has been re-routed, the barbs of the fretwire don’t chip the pearl. I tried to leave some of each slot as it was originally, so that the barbs could grip the ends of the fretslot where pearl had not been inlaid.

Naturally, just when you think you’re doing well, a problem arises. A piece of the Ukulele lady’s toe flies off during the routing of the fret slots. This means a small setback. The pattern is examined and the toe is located. A new toe is cut and great care is taken not to lose the tiny piece of pearl that has to be glued into place. The cavity for the toe is re-routed and the toe is re-glued into place, and finally the blob of glue is sanded again to reveal the fixed up toe. Now we’re back to where we started, and the slot is very carefully re-routed. This time the toe stays in place.

Here’s the slide show –
As usual, click on a picture to start the slideshow, then click on the arrows at the bottom right and left, to advance or go back. Finally click on any picture to exit the slideshow.

Reinstalling the frets is done 3 to 4 frets at a time. First the fret slots are filled with fine sawdust; in my case I used sanding dust because it’s finer and fills the slots nicely. I filled all the slots and then waxed the fretboard with creamy car wax. Then I carefully removed the sand dust with a special tool made out of a razor blade.

Why ? you ask.

The fret wire is going to be glued in place with epoxy glue and you don’t want the glue to stick to the fretboard, but you do want it to adhere to the walls of the slots. So the sand dust prevents the wax from getting into the slots.

The next step is to mix up some clear epoxy glue, dribble it into three or four slots and insert the fret wire. Notice two things in the following photos – 1 – I was all prepared before I started the gluing and 2 – the fret stand keeps the frets in proper order and available for quick plucking. You only have a few minutes before the glue sets up and you don’t want to waste time fumbling for the right piece of fret wire.

Here are some photos:
As usual, click on a picture to start the slideshow, then click on the arrows at the bottom right and left, to advance or go back. Finally click on any picture to exit the slideshow.

Here’s the Ukulele cleaned up, but awaiting strings:

Awaiting Strings