Newbie Stewmac Kit: adding upgrades/bling .. peghead veneer thickness?

[LabRat_3k]

Hello UU readers and guardians of sacred building tips,

Frst time builder of a pair of Stewmac Concert kits (watching for a 'sale' event, so that I can pickup a couple of more.. or if I graduate to wood bending).
These are intended as gifts, and I have been adding 'customizations' to jazz them up a bit (inlays, rosette's etc. ). I'm hoping that none of the intended recipients are part of the UU community, and spoil the surprise. I had planned on a 2mm veneer to go on the peghead (with the recipient's name as an additional inlay), but then realized that this would act to reduce the amount of the turning peg that was exposed. Has anyone done something similar to/with one of the Stewmac kits?
Is that loss of 2mm on the tuning peg, something I need to be concerned about?
Should I be trying for a thinner veneer, or should I be trying to plane off the peghead by a corresponding 2mm ?
Should I be looking to purchase 'taller' tuning pegs?
Or am I just over thinking it, and it will 'be fine' ??

Looking forward to hearing from the build gurus!!

 

[Island Jim]

I think you could have some problems with adding 2mm to the peghead. As long as you are jazzing them up some upgraded tuners might be a good idea.

 

[John Colter]

So long as there is enough tuning spindle exposed to do the job, it should be just fine.

 

[humblej]

I am not a build guru, and have never built from a kit before. I have always built from scratch. Not many builds, just 4 ukuleles so far, so I am new to this too. Any advice I give is based on my limited specific experience.

Your first couple of builds will be learning basic skills: joining; fitting; gluing; clamping; sanding; finishing; etc. Don't expect too much the first time out. Perhaps the time to try departing from and customizing the basic kit is not on the first or second attempt. And you may not want to give the first couple of builds as gifts, except as maybe toys to some kids, until you gain experience.

When I add a veneer to the peghead I remove the same amount from the peghead so its finished dimensions, appearance, and weight are not changed. For a ukulele, bigger, thicker, or stronger is usually not an improvement.

Good luck with your build, and welcome the affliction. Please post pictures when your done, or of your progress.

 

[Tukanu]

Take a piece of scrap wood and plane it down to the thickness of your peghead with veneer. Drill a hole and mount your tuner in it. If it looks and functions okay, you're good to go.

 

[LabRat_3k]

Thank you all for the prompt replies. Pictures being work 1K words .. here's what I'm working with on the peg heads..

Hopefully showing the default setup/height, and how short they would become. Note that I left the washer off on the far side, just to see the impact. Would this be an option? (alternatively, what's the measurements I should be taking to determine a replacement tuning peg?)



And a close-up from the other side...

 

[LabRat_3k]

Again.. thank you for taking the time to read and provide feedback. I was mulling over the "remove 2mm from the headstock", but with the kit as it is I think that might prove troublesome.

1. if taking it off the top, that changes the position of the nut and fretboard.. (pushing it further south) EDIT: Or does it? (Original plan the veneer buts up against the nut but I suppose if the veneer is replacing 2mm of mahogany, then it shouldn't impact the nut/fretboard but would no longer but against the nut, but stop just shy/below it (if that makes sense)).
2. if taking off the bottom ... not sure I have an reasonable way to do that due to the angle with the neck. (not sure that the router surfacing bit would reach)

So that leaves me with .. make the veneer thinner or .. longer pegs .. or counter sink the washer(??) (aka oversize the hole in the veneer)

 

[LabRat_3k]

Spotted another thread, with an image showing veneer on the headstock that is significantly thinner than the 2mm I was considering.
"other Stewmac build log"

So I'm going to take these back to the thickness sander and see just how thin I can go.

Pictures to follow.. (success or failure)

 

[sequoia]

With the cheap Chinese metal tuners included in the kit you have a lot of wiggle room with a big post. Should not be an issue. You can always sand the veneer down with an orbital sander at the end to very thin. Don't overthink this. Everything is going to be fine.

 

[LabRat_3k]

Thank you Sequoia. The argument (to myself) this evening, was that adding a taller peg (an option I was researching), might not work as it had the potential to alter the angle of the string over the nut. What if it ended up too tall? (But then as you noted, I'm probably over thinking it). I was preparing to try and remove 2mm from the top of the peghead, but then saw the picture with the very thin veneer. So plan to use the home constructed thickness sander (based on Pat Hawley's design detailed at WoodGears.ca), and see how thin I can go. Should know within a couple of days.

 

[John Colter]

Judging from the photos, your pegs are just about OK without the veneer: with the veneer, the posts are not long enough. I would remove 2mm from the upper face of the headstock.

 

[Jerryc41]

Hello UU readers and guardians of sacred building tips,

Frst time builder of a pair of Stewmac Concert kits (watching for a 'sale' event, so that I can pickup a couple of more.. or if I graduate to wood bending).
These are intended as gifts, and I have been adding 'customizations' to jazz them up a bit (inlays, rosette's etc. ). I'm hoping that none of the intended recipients are part of the UU community, and spoil the surprise. I had planned on a 2mm veneer to go on the peghead (with the recipient's name as an additional inlay), but then realized that this would act to reduce the amount of the turning peg that was exposed. Has anyone done something similar to/with one of the Stewmac kits?
Is that loss of 2mm on the tuning peg, something I need to be concerned about?
Should I be trying for a thinner veneer, or should I be trying to plane off the peghead by a corresponding 2mm ?
Should I be looking to purchase 'taller' tuning pegs?
Or am I just over thinking it, and it will 'be fine' ??

Looking forward to hearing from the build gurus!!

I've bought headstock veneer from Stew-Mac. I applied it to the headstock, and it worked out fine.

 

[LabRat_3k]

@Jerryc41 .. Interesting. Do you happen to have any photos?

 

[LabRat_3k]

Pushed the sander about as far as I can, without making a sled and gluing down the veneer. At this point the inlay (wood, epoxy) are starting to show through to the back, and the wood is getting too flexible to reliably push it through the drum.
If I'm reading my callipers correctly, I've knocked this down from 2.1mm thick to about 1.34mm thick. Attempted mock up with the tuners in a photo here as well. To the untrained eye (mine) .. this still feels like the overall head stock thickness is too much, and I should investigate a method to reliably remove 1.34mm from the top surface so that the veneer would sit flush with the current surface. But perhaps this is "good enough" ??

 

[Island Jim]

I built my first soprano from a stew mac kit and had the same problem. I did not like the tuners it came with so I plugged the holes added a head plate and used a set of Graph Tech Tune ele tuners I had laying around. I like the weight and the no ears look!

 

[LabRat_3k]

@Island Jim Wow.. thanks for that shot. In an attempted comparison, they look similar in height to the default ones from Stewmac, but without the added thickness of the washers. Along the lines of if I went with the bushing/nut only, and tightened direct to the veneer, tossing the washers in the "parts to be used later" bin. Being a first build, I don't know if that's even a plan I should be considering. I have a little wiggle room with additional sanding once installed, perhaps knocking about .3 mm off. Could also consider counter sinking the washers. Everything else on this build, while not trouble free, has been easily surmounted. This peg head veneer has actually proven the. most challenging part.

 

[Island Jim]

I would not do away with the washers but I would get much thinner ones and do a little more sanding. Also pull as much slack out of the strings when connecting to the tuners, this will keep the wraps to a minimum.

 

[sequoia]

Pushed the sander about as far as I can, without making a sled and gluing down the veneer. At this point the inlay (wood, epoxy) are starting to show through to the back, and the wood is getting too flexible to reliably push it through the drum.
If I'm reading my callipers correctly, I've knocked this down from 2.1mm thick to about 1.34mm thick. Attempted mock up with the tuners in a photo here as well. To the untrained eye (mine) .. this still feels like the overall head stock thickness is too much, and I should investigate a method to reliably remove 1.34mm from the top surface so that the veneer would sit flush with the current surface. But perhaps this is "good enough" ??
View attachment 157794View attachment 157795View attachment 157797View attachment 157800

Don't forget you can take meat off the BACK of the peghead as well as the top. Take an orbital sander to it and in less than a minute you can take a lot of wood off.

 

[ploverwing]

I built my first soprano from a stew mac kit and had the same problem. I did not like the tuners it came with so I plugged the holes added a head plate and used a set of Graph Tech Tune ele tuners I had laying around. I like the weight and the no ears look!

View attachment 157806

I really like the Graph Techs.

 

[LabRat_3k]

Another experiment using an extra piece of the veneer (New rule to follow measure twice cut once.. always re-check spelling of names . I tried counter sinking the washer/pegs. Not happy with the results, so will aim to sand a mm off the back of the peg head, after I glue the veneers in place. Thank you everyone for the feedback and positive encouragement.