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Seat the neck into the body using the dowel pins and ensure
it is aligned on center.
Mark a line where the heel cap extends past the body.
Extend this pencil line up both sides of the heel so the entire
amount to be removed is marked.
Carefully trim o the excess with a saw. You should NOT take
the line. We want the heel to remain just a tiny bit proud of
the back of the ukulele body after trimming.
Now, take a at sanding block with 120-grit adhesive sand-
paper and sand the transition between the back of the
instrument and the heel smooth.
When you’re done you should have a owing surface that
extends directly from the back of the body and the neck.
Level the frets
No matter how carefully you’ve installed the frets, some fret
tops will be higher than others.
To level the frets, tape 320- and 400-grit sandpaper to a at
table top. Lay the frets face-down on the 320-grit and slide
back and forth to sand them. When all the fret tops have
been scued by the paper, the frets are level. Follow this
with 400-grit paper, sanding gently to remove scratches.
Round the fret ends
The beveled fret ends will have some roughness from ling.
400-grit sandpaper wrapped around a metal ruler makes a
good tool for rounding them. Stroke the ends where they
meet the ngerboard, rounding them until they feel smooth.
Round the fret tops
Leveling the frets leaves at surfaces on the fret tops. Round
o these ats using 400-grit sandpaper wrapped around
your ngers. Run the sandpaper up and down the nger-
board to smooth the frets. Follow this with 600-grit paper
for a nice satin surface.
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