01. Laser Cut Ukulele

Overview

This build incorporated laser cut parts to take static wood and give it life. The top, bottom and sides of the ukulele are all laser cut from plywood sheets and assembled to an off the shelf neck and fretboard. The sides utilize parametric kerfing to bend around the body.

Process

I was inspired by the work of Aaron Porterfield and reasoned that this technique could be used for an instrument. I designed the body using Fusion 360, along with the sides in AutoCAD. The sides were cut from plywood with a kerf pattern, as shown below.

When laser cutting the pieces, I had a thought to optimize the sound resonance within the body by adding an internal membrane layer. This involved cutting a thin plywood layer to fit around to body to add some structural integrity and potentially improve sound quality. The body was then assembled using wood glue and clamps to hold the pieces in place while drying.

After the body was assembled, the neck and fretboard were intstalled using wood glue. Additionally, a crude version of a pickup was added for increased versatility, then the ukulele was strung up and tuned.