Musician and Dulcimer Maker
Here are a few photos of what I’ve been up to in the shop.
The peg head is sawn to rough shape with a Japanese style saw. Japanese saws cut on the pull stroke so they are easy to control. They also cut with great precision and leave the surface of the wood relatively smooth.
Once the [...]
Making an instrument with good tone, responsiveness and projection requires making the soundboard both light and stiff.
Many types of wood can be used with good results. Often it is the unique weight and feel of a particular piece of wood that makes it suitable for a soundboard. I have had very good results using a [...]
I’m currently building prototypes of the Appalachian dulcimers I will be producing.
First I come up with a concept of what I expect from the instrument.
I prefer an even response and voicing throughout the entire range of the instrument; every string at every fret should speak well.
There is a unique quality in the voice of a [...]
Lumber starts out as a tree, usually a big tree if it is harvested for woodworking or instrument making.
The sawmill will yield boards from the log of reasonable and workable size.
Once the wood has been dried the craftsperson will resaw the wood to the dimensions needed for the work at hand.
These days this is most [...]
I love to thickness tops, backs and sides with hand planes. It’s quiet, challenging and a good physical workout. If all goes well the surface of the wood will be just about ready for finishing.
That being said, to produce instruments for sale in a reasonable amount of time most luthiers will use a thickness sander [...]
I’m currently working on a dulcimer in Cherry but I thought I’d get started on the next in line. That one will have Walnut for the back and sides and a Cedar top.
Here is some of the wood that has been up in the attic. This was resawn about a year ago.
I take what I [...]
Posted in Lutherie on Sep 7th, 2007
I can’t remember where I read something that transformed my thoughts about working with wood. In an article about the difficulty of working some species of wood someone wrote the following as best I can remember:
“Wood was not designed to be easy to work or have perfect grain, stability, or color. Wood was designed to [...]
