By Dianne Glei

Instruments of all shapes and sizes fill the space of Hana Lima's classroom/warehouse in Kalihi.

Mike Chock calls himself "crazy" because he has an insatiable interest in many things at the same time.

For 32 years he was the owner of Mokehana Builders, a general contracting business, retiring in 2000. During that time he had several side businesses and started his own school. He also is a master guitar and ukulele maker, teaching others the art at his school, Hana Lima Ia (made by hand). The classroom is inside a Kalihi warehouse where he keeps all his supplies, from patterns to the spruce and cedar used in soundboards to the mahogany, koa or rosewood used to fashion the sides and back of each instrument. The walls and tables are filled with tools and instruments in various forms of completion, sawdust is everywhere, and the enthusiasm of Chock for his subject is infectious.

These pieces of wood are the kit students receive at Hana Lima Ia ukulele school. From these, students craft a four-string tenor ukulele like the one instructor Mike Chock holds.

This business is an outgrowth of his passion for guitars. "I wanted to learn to play the guitar and couldn't find one, so I decided to make one," he says. He still plays every day, but, he adds, "I'm not real good." Gradually, he began to learn about the ukulele and how to craft one. That started when he was approached by Libby Vituva, head of the vocational department at Farrington High School, to set up an adult education program for making ukuleles. He did that for two years but didn't like the large class sizes, so he started his school in 1994, limiting each class to six students.

This steamer is used to bend the wood for the sides of the ukulele which are then put in a vise to hold their shape while drying.

He calls himself part of a dying breed, because he and his students do everything by hand. "I like to teach how to do something, not tell you what to do. I'll often answer a question with a question, because I want my students to figure it out for themselves. I want to instill confidence." If students don't make mistakes, he says, they won't learn. If something breaks, they start over. "I want them to know the process," he says, from template to finished instrument.

Chock, 60, also wrote a book in 2004 that's available in most Hawaii libraries. Titled "Ukulele Construction Manual," it gives the step-by-step process for each of the 10 class sessions at his school. The book sells for $25, and he has had calls from people on the mainland asking questions while building a ukulele using his book.

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