First off, forgive me if I ramble, but hopefully you'll understand. I recently lost my father this week. One of his great passions in life was woodworking and he was one of the most incredible craftsmen I knew. He is the one who got me started trying to work with wood, but I just don't have his talent. For those of you who may have heard me rant about being frustrated with woodworking, this is was the type of standard I set for myself. Anyway, knowing that he was extremly talented and that regardless of whether the person was a member of the forums and known or not, everyone here appreciates a great build. So with that said, I'd like to share with you his last work as I think it was one of his best.
He had started building cigar box guitars as a hobby and a co-worker asked if he had every considered building a dulcimer (for those of you unfamiliar, you can easily find examples). He agreed and without any plans, he began to "layout" the dulcimer in his head as he never used a single drawn plan that I can remember. The results are in the pictures below and the sound is as good as the images.
A few points about the dulcimer:
All of the wood started as 10+ year old storm fallen trees that were sawmill slab cuts
The sides are black walnut
The top is cherry
The fretboard is black walnut with inlaid cherry fret markers
The strip in the middle of the back is white oak, used as an accent.
The sides were re-sawn on the bandsaw and then planed down to approximately 1/8" using a jig that he had build to allow his 12" planer to achieve that thickness. The sides were then steamed in a home-made wood steam box and then clamped into a home-build jig until set.
The headstock and tailstock were laminated up from black walnut and the scroll patterns on the cherry top were hand drawn and cut out.
The entire instrument was sanded to 300 grit and finished with a hand rub. poly finish (forgive me as I'm not sure of what brand).
I should also mention that this was the first dulcimer he had ever built and I take comfort in knowing that it will be actively played by the owner, which was his hope. I'm sure I'm leaving out many important details, but this is what comes to mind at the moment. The entire build is documented in pictures that I have for my memories.
This post is meant as a tribute. Hopefully you will appreciate the craftsmanship and thank you for listening.
David
I am trying to get the pictures now
He had started building cigar box guitars as a hobby and a co-worker asked if he had every considered building a dulcimer (for those of you unfamiliar, you can easily find examples). He agreed and without any plans, he began to "layout" the dulcimer in his head as he never used a single drawn plan that I can remember. The results are in the pictures below and the sound is as good as the images.
A few points about the dulcimer:
All of the wood started as 10+ year old storm fallen trees that were sawmill slab cuts
The sides are black walnut
The top is cherry
The fretboard is black walnut with inlaid cherry fret markers
The strip in the middle of the back is white oak, used as an accent.
The sides were re-sawn on the bandsaw and then planed down to approximately 1/8" using a jig that he had build to allow his 12" planer to achieve that thickness. The sides were then steamed in a home-made wood steam box and then clamped into a home-build jig until set.
The headstock and tailstock were laminated up from black walnut and the scroll patterns on the cherry top were hand drawn and cut out.
The entire instrument was sanded to 300 grit and finished with a hand rub. poly finish (forgive me as I'm not sure of what brand).
I should also mention that this was the first dulcimer he had ever built and I take comfort in knowing that it will be actively played by the owner, which was his hope. I'm sure I'm leaving out many important details, but this is what comes to mind at the moment. The entire build is documented in pictures that I have for my memories.
This post is meant as a tribute. Hopefully you will appreciate the craftsmanship and thank you for listening.
David
I am trying to get the pictures now
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