Yesterday I got my travel Ukulele functional. (Just in time for a trip!)
It is just a hunk of flamed maple I picked up from Westcoast Woodslabs awhile back. The fret slots were done on the CNC as well as the basic profile. I copied the profile further with a template router but, carved the neck profile with a rasp. I used the thickness sander to get the back a bit shorter and parallel and made the turnaround on the lathe. A couple hours of filing frets and I got it working.
It is a real joy to play, there’s no nut, just a 0th fret. That gives it a different feel and a low action. It is intentionally pretty quiet but later versions of this might include an under-saddle pickup.
This thing was a lot of fun to make.