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Category Archive for 'Fun'

Here are some photographs of things going on in the shop that have been cluttering up my hard drive.
As a dulcimer maker I do a lot of fine, detailed work requiring extreme precision and accuracy.
Perhaps this is why I love using a mallet! Here is my often used mallet resting on top of the form [...]

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Handy Shop Tips

Some odds and ends I’ve gathered from here and there.
Some of these ideas make sense. Some make some sense. Some I’m just not sure about.

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Boing To The World!

Many of my friends know that I have chosen two possible epitaphs for my tombstone that I feel succinctly sum up certain aspects of my life:

“No One Said There Would Be Math”
“He Played The Hammered Dulcimer But Never Made A Christmas Album”

In light of the second possibility I would like to share that I love [...]

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The Okeh Laughing Record

The Okeh Laughing Record – 1922
[Audio clip: view full post to listen]

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I had a great time at Dulcimer Week 2009, a wonderful festival organized and produced by the lovely and talented Lois Hornbostel.
One evening I performed a set of three songs. I decided to “clear the palate” between two somewhat serious songs with something “a little lighter.”
The song in question was “Shame And Scandal In The [...]

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I’m starting to pack for a road trip. I’ll be setting up a booth and showing my dulcimers at The Cranberry Dulcimer and Autoharp Gathering near Syracuse, NY. I’ll also be offering a hammered dulcimer workshop. The last time I played at this festival was in the late 1980’s or the early 1990’s. Should be [...]

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I put a lot of time into choosing which pieces of wood become a finished dulcimer. Sometimes I spend hours deciding which board (or boards) will provide the top, back peghead, fretboard, endblocks and sides for a particular dulcimer.

I am currently working on two walnut dulcimers. One is curly with beautiful red, brown and orange [...]

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Make Your Own Apprentice

I’ve been busy with one thing or another and not getting enough time in the shop.  Luckily I found this helper who is ready to go to work with a plane and a board in hand. I thought some of my readers might find him useful too!

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Hand Drill Yoga

Click the thumbnails for the big picture:

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Plane Away The Pounds!

I just spent the last hour hand planing a beautiful piece of figured walnut.

I was reminded of an idea I’ve had for some time; an  exercise program for woodworkers called “Plane Away The Pounds!”
It’s really simple! You get a bunch of rough-sawn lumber, preferably locally harvested in an environmentally conscious manner and sawn by a [...]

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