Ugh

Post date: Jul 26, 2014 12:55:39 PM

Well 1.0 assembly is nearly complete. I finished the Uke with a commercial water-based urethane. The major thing I learned is not to bypass getting a proper wood filler. The mahogany is extremely porous, so unless you use a filler the finish well be extremely uneven. I pushed to get through integration, but this skipping ahead left me with a finish that while acceptable, doesn't thrill me either.

I've searched the internet, but I haven't seen any mention of this one...The instructions with my Grizzly kit are clearly wrong, but unfortunately I didn't catch it. The instructions clearly state to place the bridge 7 9/16" from the 14th fret. Well, in retrospect, that's pretty obviously wrong, given that the scale length is 15". So, my bridge is quite a bit off. I then went back and checked the Grizzly site (www.grizzly.com) for the updated instructions, and lo and behold, they've change the distance to 7 1/2" from the 12th fret. (in the back of my mind, I kinda knew this was an issue, but believed the instructions anyway...interesting life lesson in accepting authority. Always, always think for yourself ;) The problem is that the finish is already over that location and won't be present if I simply move the bridge. So, I think a compromise is in order. It's purely cosmetic, but there's space to place a second bridge in the correct location. Gluing becomes an issue, but I believe I can use an epoxy. Alternatively, I could remake the bridge (that's a bit more work) that's large enough to cover both positions. That way, the glue area will hold. The downside, is that it really stiffens up a large area of the soundboard. So, the former seems better.

It honestly doesn't sound bad, despite the bad intonation. It's a uke, what can you expect, especially from a kit?

Also, I've found that integrating the electronics is turning into a bit of a pain. It's unclear why, but my LiPo charger seems to have failed. It followed a deep discharge of the cell (I left it connected by mistake), so I'm not sure if the issue is the charger or the cell itself. Yet another reason to stick with easily obtainable cells on 2.0. The mod I made to the Arduino Micro to remove the supply has had some minor consequences too. I needed to add a diode to allow the system to run off the USB supply during charging (or to at least keep developing). I really need a simple on/off switch ;)

Other small details, include minor issues with the display bezel. It's not quite flush with the surface. That's a minor problem on my part, I should have included a spacer to pull the display flush with surface. Also, the electronics panel (where I hold the electronics) is slightly incorrectly bowed. The location should have been slightly higher on the curve, since my panel sits right at the start of the second inflection in the body. It's really minor and if I include the electronics on the LED board on 2.0, then it's a non-issue. I need to complete a hookup drawing to get the connections straight. Too many dev boards to keep straight. This is also a good lesson is taking smaller steps.