80/365: Wood Shop Warrior

Today I made:

a plan to infiltrate the Man Cave...

Safety first!

My husband is one of my creative heroes. His love for music led him to want to build his own guitars. So while I play at my art desk in our bedroom, he spends his time crafting instruments in the garage turned man cave/wood shop. Recently he began experimenting with repurposing old cigar boxes and turning them into cigar box guitars & amps. He does all the wiring so they're electric! I am quite in awe.


The other day, he proposed we build instruments together- cigar box ukuleles for each of us. Because I love to learn new crafts and am hoping that if I build it, the urge to make music will follow, I am all on board!

So despite having full knowledge of my reputation with sharp instruments, hubby has invited me into his wood shop where he is showing me, step by step, how to construct this curious piece of awesomeness. It is a miracle I still have ten fingers and no broken bones or sutures in my medical history. Let's hope I can keep it that way. Wish me luck. I need all my fingers for art making.

Today I learned how to cut the neck for my ukulele on a table saw (with a handy little safety piece over the blade). That's hubby cutting the angle for the headstock. Wood glue and monster clamps fixed the angle piece onto the neck. The belt sander was my favorite!

We're almost done forming the necks. Tomorrow we add the fret boards and set them into the cigar box, which will be the body. Then the electronics! Huge learning curve for me, but it's nice to try new ways of creating. Now I understand why my husband is almost always covered in a fine layer of saw dust. :)