The truss rod can help with the bend in thw neck. Truss rods were invented to counteract bowing of necks under the tension of the strings. So on traditional truss rods you can just ighten it some more and it eliminates the bend. However idk if this one works as well
my dad has built a wood ukulele before with the help of my brother, it looks and sounds beautiful, but it's really nice and he travels a lot and we wouldn't want to risk damaging it, so I might find a buddy with a 3D printer and buy a spool of wood PLA to try this build out! It might not be perfect, but if it broke in a suitcase it would be no big deal 😂
You need to go to a real hardware store. Metric has been a thing for a long time in the U.S.. There hasn't been a U.S. built vehicle that didn't have at least 50% metric fasteners since 1973. Also...the neck is bowed because you didn't bother to adjust the truss rod to correct the bow.
I made a couple of these as well. At first, I was happy with them, but, the moment the novelty wore off, I decided it was a waste of filament. Here is why... 1. The friction tuners are not intended for plastic. I am a very gentle player, but I could not get the silly thing to stay in tune for more than a few seconds. I tried adding felt washers, which extended play time to maybe 45 seconds, but still too unstable for practical use. 2. I printed my neck as intended, but still had the same problem you did with your first neck. Also, trying to fix it with the truss rod broke the truss rod. So, I tried reprinting the truss rod with 100% infill and the neck with also much more infill. I redesigned the body to fit geared tuners. I even printed geared tuners out of ABS to try to experiment. (They broke under tension) Mark II worked better and I had a blast with it for a couple weeks until I noticed the neck continuously bowing. Eventually it was unplayable, and again, the truss rod broke trying to adjust this. Finally, I made one out of scrap softwood (from a bed slat my kid outgrew) using hand tools, and so far, that one has held up longer than either of the printed ones. Funny thing is that, considering the cost of filament and all of the futile redesigning in CAD, the wood one was both cheaper and quicker.
Thanks for this, I was thinking of making one but rather thought the same. Did you make the neck for the wood one? That's the thing that seems a bit daunting.
@@rexjaguarius yes. It only took a couple hours. It's softwood, so it is easy to work. I tried, years ago, to make a guitar neck out of pine, expecting it to bow, and that's exactly what it did, but the shorter length of the ukulele neck, and a little bit more thickness, and it has been fine so far.
I made this one, got a bit better tuners so it held the tune for days, but eventually it stayed in direct sunlight for a few days and it bowed under the string tension. Got as much as possible from the tension rod, but the strings are far from the neck, so it is harder to play. I used 50% infil and 6 walls, if it helps. Still, amazing build, and i used it to practice in the evening so my kids don't wake up. Still do if i need to practice technique, but it is pretty hard to actually play on it. I will rebuild it in wood, using the neck from a donor uke. The form factor is pretty unbeatable for a travelling instrument.
Right. Making Uks is the way to go. Some folks have tried to make violins. I think uks is a far better use of the technology, especially if you can produce a fairly good quality sound. I could imagine cranking out 10 for a high school group. You are on to something.
Fun video. I've been thinking about printing an ukulele. You might want to try it with a different set of strings. Might sound better and stay in tune. I've noticed some ukuleles sound better with Worth, some better with Aquilla, etc.
I used about a 6inch strip of masking tape folded in half with the end of each string inside and fed it through the holes. Definitely the trickiest part!
I’ll stick to my Risa uke solid, properly all solid wood with a hollow bit for the pickup, planetary geared tuners, zero fret for intonation, real frets.
can you please show me how to insert the strings? I wasn’t able to see it well in the video. edit: I found it was easier to feed fishing line through, then tie the fishing line to the string and pull it through after wrapping the fishing line around a screwdriver.
If they're new, they should slide through the gap on top and curve out through the middle. Mine were used and I had to do it in a weird way by feeding tape through the holes.
If you fold the tape lengthwise with the adhesive facing in, you can feed it through, then sandwich a string in the middle to pull it back out. It's not super elegant, but it works!
@@Patrick_Gibney The masking tape trick almost worked, but maybe it was something with my print… I found a better method and I put it up in the edited comment for other people to see, thanks!
Interesting project. Why not buy a fretboard with metal frets and glue it on? The sound is really dampened and muddy. It would be better with steel strings and humbucker pickup.
Sadly no. Steel strings create too much tension. Not only enough to destroy the plastic, but even enough to render friction tuners inoperable. But, in any case, plastic cannot be used, so 3D printing is basically incompatible with steel strings.
The truss rod can help with the bend in thw neck. Truss rods were invented to counteract bowing of necks under the tension of the strings. So on traditional truss rods you can just ighten it some more and it eliminates the bend. However idk if this one works as well
my dad has built a wood ukulele before with the help of my brother, it looks and sounds beautiful, but it's really nice and he travels a lot and we wouldn't want to risk damaging it, so I might find a buddy with a 3D printer and buy a spool of wood PLA to try this build out! It might not be perfect, but if it broke in a suitcase it would be no big deal 😂
You need to go to a real hardware store. Metric has been a thing for a long time in the U.S.. There hasn't been a U.S. built vehicle that didn't have at least 50% metric fasteners since 1973. Also...the neck is bowed because you didn't bother to adjust the truss rod to correct the bow.
I made a couple of these as well. At first, I was happy with them, but, the moment the novelty wore off, I decided it was a waste of filament. Here is why... 1. The friction tuners are not intended for plastic. I am a very gentle player, but I could not get the silly thing to stay in tune for more than a few seconds. I tried adding felt washers, which extended play time to maybe 45 seconds, but still too unstable for practical use. 2. I printed my neck as intended, but still had the same problem you did with your first neck. Also, trying to fix it with the truss rod broke the truss rod. So, I tried reprinting the truss rod with 100% infill and the neck with also much more infill. I redesigned the body to fit geared tuners. I even printed geared tuners out of ABS to try to experiment. (They broke under tension) Mark II worked better and I had a blast with it for a couple weeks until I noticed the neck continuously bowing. Eventually it was unplayable, and again, the truss rod broke trying to adjust this. Finally, I made one out of scrap softwood (from a bed slat my kid outgrew) using hand tools, and so far, that one has held up longer than either of the printed ones. Funny thing is that, considering the cost of filament and all of the futile redesigning in CAD, the wood one was both cheaper and quicker.
Thanks for this, I was thinking of making one but rather thought the same. Did you make the neck for the wood one? That's the thing that seems a bit daunting.
@@rexjaguarius yes. It only took a couple hours. It's softwood, so it is easy to work. I tried, years ago, to make a guitar neck out of pine, expecting it to bow, and that's exactly what it did, but the shorter length of the ukulele neck, and a little bit more thickness, and it has been fine so far.
I made this one, got a bit better tuners so it held the tune for days, but eventually it stayed in direct sunlight for a few days and it bowed under the string tension. Got as much as possible from the tension rod, but the strings are far from the neck, so it is harder to play.
I used 50% infil and 6 walls, if it helps.
Still, amazing build, and i used it to practice in the evening so my kids don't wake up. Still do if i need to practice technique, but it is pretty hard to actually play on it.
I will rebuild it in wood, using the neck from a donor uke. The form factor is pretty unbeatable for a travelling instrument.
Thanks for the vid, I'm hoping to try one of these for my daughter.
Best of luck!
Right. Making Uks is the way to go. Some folks have tried to make violins. I think uks is a far better use of the technology, especially if you can produce a fairly good quality sound. I could imagine cranking out 10 for a high school group. You are on to something.
Fun video. I've been thinking about printing an ukulele. You might want to try it with a different set of strings. Might sound better and stay in tune. I've noticed some ukuleles sound better with Worth, some better with Aquilla, etc.
Yeah, I think you're right. Next time!
Hello! I am trying this project - what did you use to get the strings to go through? Even with new strings, I'm having some trouble with that step :/
I used about a 6inch strip of masking tape folded in half with the end of each string inside and fed it through the holes. Definitely the trickiest part!
I’ll stick to my Risa uke solid, properly all solid wood with a hollow bit for the pickup, planetary geared tuners, zero fret for intonation, real frets.
Did you ever figure out the pickup problem?
Great job pronouncing Iz's name! :) Your issue was probably just that strings take a hot minute to stretch out when they're new.
Do you think the 3d design will work as a left handed uke?
I don't see why not!
Thanks! I was just thinking the nut could be a problem. Now to find a 3d printer haha!
Do you have a video where you install the strings?
yes. I think all slicers have the option to mirror the model before printing. mirror that nut and good to go
can you please show me how to insert the strings? I wasn’t able to see it well in the video.
edit: I found it was easier to feed fishing line through, then tie the fishing line to the string and pull it through after wrapping the fishing line around a screwdriver.
If they're new, they should slide through the gap on top and curve out through the middle. Mine were used and I had to do it in a weird way by feeding tape through the holes.
@@Patrick_Gibney how exactly do you use the masking tape? I got brand new strings and I’m still having trouble getting it through
@@Patrick_Gibney thanks for responding, btw
If you fold the tape lengthwise with the adhesive facing in, you can feed it through, then sandwich a string in the middle to pull it back out. It's not super elegant, but it works!
@@Patrick_Gibney
The masking tape trick almost worked, but maybe it was something with my print… I found a better method and I put it up in the edited comment for other people to see, thanks!
What kind of pocket knife was that?
I want. How can I buy It?
better tuning can be obtained switching to geared tuning pegs
I was wondering if you had to use the electronic part
I’m currently building on without and it sound fine
Ok great👍
Interesting project. Why not buy a fretboard with metal frets and glue it on? The sound is really dampened and muddy. It would be better with steel strings and humbucker pickup.
Agreed, already in the works!
Sadly no. Steel strings create too much tension. Not only enough to destroy the plastic, but even enough to render friction tuners inoperable. But, in any case, plastic cannot be used, so 3D printing is basically incompatible with steel strings.
Thanks for the vid, really interesting
Jesus the good lord loves you my friend! I hope youre having a great day
Its a cool ukulele, but its too quiet. I prefer the Ka Mua travel ukulele. It uses geared tuners instead.
I'll check it out!
So the printer, plans, etc..only costs 10$? Wow!
Oh ok
There are fully plastic ukuleles that cost 10bucks sounding waaay better that this one. Still a cool project, but not worth it
Waste of time and money. Stick with the old black one. It may have been cheap, but I bet it plays ok.