Jun 03 2016
This entry is actually several day’s work put together. Wednesday afternoon was my last day of school, so my calendar just cleared up a bit. The fretboard requires the most precise work. The board is complete, and the rough shapes of the peg head and tailstock are cut and clamped. …
May 20 2016
At last–we have reached the final stage of construction. At the suggestion of the client, I rounded the peg head and attached it. I always do the final sanding of the instrument by hand, because when the finish is applied, there’s no going back. The bottom photo is the first coat of the hand-rubbed polyurethane. …
May 11 2016
I had intended to be further along than this. Unfortunately, this time of the year brings band and choral concerts as well as my own performance in a faculty show. So I pick at the dulcimer as I can. These shots represent the weekend work and tonight’s work on the peg head.
May 02 2016
Shaped the head and tail blocks and glued them into position. Then attached the back, insuring that the flanges line up perfectly so that the sides will be nice and square.
Apr 28 2016
Used razor files to finish the sound holes and attached the fretboard.
Apr 27 2016
Finished sanding the top and began cutting out the patterns for the sound holes. Using the scroll saw, I cut out the sound holes in the top. They still need some final shaping before moving on to the next step.
Apr 24 2016
I finally had some time to work in the shop this weekend. I have cut the back and top to shape, then focused my attention on the back. The fretboard is not attached yet–the sound holes must be cut first. I thinned it evenly and attached the ribs that will hold the sides. …
Apr 08 2016
I re-sawed a plank using the table saw, finishing up with the bandsaw. Opening up the thin panels like a book gives us a nice mirror-image with the grain pattern. The gluing of these panels is decidedly inelegant, but effective. Note to self: I really should rebuild the book matching jig I …
Apr 04 2016
The fret board is finished. About the same time, however, my main computer crashed. The new Windows 10 would not boot up, nor repair itself, so it is currently “what’s on the bench”. I always use separate hard drives to store important data, so I decided to just purchase a new C: drive …
Apr 01 2016
The frets, of course, have to be as close to perfect as possible. The placement of the frets are determined by a mathematical formula. Using a fret calculator available from the Stewart MacDonald website, all I need to do is plug in the scale length (in this case 28″), choose “dulcimer” as the instrument, and indicate …