The new, Micro, sopranissimo sized ukulele : just 11 inches tall with a 6.8 inch scale length. Super tiny, but lots of fun to play with a surprisingly full sound.
Wide fretboard for playability.
Print the body flat, rather than upright like my original Soprano design.
Flexible ways of printing the body top for a variety different looks.
Easy assembly.
3mf files with support for both AMS no AMS multi-color printing.
Full color body tops.
A template for easily integrating Hueforge prints onto the body top.
How's the Micro sound? Check out my new song “Family of Ukes” for a sound demo of the Micro uke, along with all my other ukes.
Building the Uke
For details on building the Micro, see the video below. I put this video together to document the build of my new Mini 2 Sopranino ukulele, but the build process is the same for the Micro.
The saddle is a compensated saddle. When placing it in the slot in the bridge, pay attention to the orientation. The peaks in the middle part of the bridge should be further from the top of the uke, and peaks on the edges of the bridge should be nearer the top. I like Gorilla brand super glue gel for parts that need to be glued.
Filament
I use PLA or PETG. I recommend avoiding filaments with additives, such as PLA silk, matte, or wood as these often have much lower strength. Bambu PLA basic has a bending strength of 76 MPa and tensile strength of 35 MPa according to Bambu Lab's Technical Data Sheets. I have found that filaments with similar or greater values work well.
Print Settings
Rafts: No
Supports: None of the parts require supports
Resolution: 0.12 mm
Wall loops: 5
Infill: 50%
All parts were printed with 5 shell layers and 50% infill for strength. No supports, rafts, or brims required for any part.
Parts needed
Body
Body top
Bridge (if printed separately from the Body Top)
Braces
Top glue aide
Neck and Headstock
Inlay, if using
Fretboard
Saddle
Strap pin, if you want to use a strap
If you are using a smaller printer like the A1 mini and the neck and headstock is too tall to print, you can use the split neck and headstock, so you will need to print:
Neck
Headstock
Headstock screw hole cover
In addition to the printed parts, you'll need
Eight, #2, 3/8'' wood screws for installing the tuners. Metric equivalent is M2x8mm.
If you use the split neck and headstock, you will also need one #2, 3/8'' wood screw is to screw the headstock to the neck. In addition, use superglue in between neck and headstock.
Unlike my other ukuleles, I do not use a carbon fiber rod in the neck, as the neck is so short, the carbon fiber rod is not necessary.
The Body Top
The body top can be printed with or without AMS:
With center ring and bridge in different colors using the AMS. Bridge and center ring are attached to the body. A .step file is included for making full-color tops.
With the bridge and center ring attached to the body top, and printed in different colors by pausing the print and switching filaments.
The Fretboard:
The fretboard can also be printed with or without AMS.
With the frets, fret markers, nut in different colors using the AMS
With the frets and nut in different colors by pausing the print and switching filaments. In this case, 5 fret markers should printed and glued in during assembly.
Tuners
You'll need four of my all new Mini ukulele tuners. The video on the mini tuner page provides instructions on installation.
Stringing and Tuning the Uke
For the strings, I use regular soprano uke strings. I like D'Addario Nyltech. There are many instructions on Youtube available for stringing a uke. Search for how to string a slotted bridge uke.
Tune the Micro ukulele to GCEA an octave higher than a regular Soprano, so that the string tension Micro the same as a Soprano.
Using the HueForge template
HueForge template .step and .3mf files are provided to make it easy to integrate a Hueforge print onto the ukulele body top. To use this template follow the instructions below.
Load the “Mini 2 Body Top HueForge Template.step” file into Bambu Studio. Print settings are set to 5 wall layers, 100% sparse infill, rectilinear infill pattern, 0.08 layer height, and 0.16 initial layer height.
In the left pane in the Objects view in Bambu Studio right click on the Assembly and select split to objects. This has already been done in the Micro Hueforge Template.3mf file.
Drag your HueForge .stl into Bambu Studio.
Position the HueForge with respect to the top as desired. It helps to turn off visibility of the Body Top and Bridge in the Objects pane to position the HueForge. Make sure not to move the top with respect to the bridge accidentally.
If you decide to resize the HueForge .stl to make it fit better, make sure the vertical dimension (thickness) does not change. Only change horizontal dimensions.
Select both the Body Top and the HueForge (I use CTRL click for this).
Click on Mesh Boolean in the Bambu Studio tool bar, select Intersection and click Execute. This can take a while so wait for a bit.
Select both the bridge and the Top/HueForge Boolean in the Objects pane, right click, and select merge.
Slice the plate.
In the preview pane, add color filaments changes at the layer heights indicated by the Hueforge describe.txt.
Reslice, print, and enjoy.
Notes on Designing the HueForge for the Ukulele Top
For the best sound, the top of the body shouldn't be too thick. However, it also can't be too thin or the top will become too weak to hold the string tension. I use these general rules of thumb when designing a HueForge for the ukulele top.
I use a Layer Height of 0.08 mm.
Base Layer of 0.16 mm.
Base Thickness of 1.2 mm
I target a thickness for the first color (including Base Thickness) of around 1.4 mm, which is the thickness of the top of the uke without a HueForge.
I try to keep the maximum height of the HueForge at 2.5 mm or less so it doesn't get too thick.
jwnicholson
