Dulcimers, LAP-JOs & Ukuleles In The Works
Nothing out of the ordinary going on in the shop this week, just a lot of instrument building. Several batches of dulcimers, LAP-JOs and ukuleles in various stages of construction, some blanks being prepped for future instruments, and some hammered dulcimer stands being built. I've added a variety of pictures below showing some of the stuff in the works.
Just a quick little video showing a rough trim on a mountain dulcimer. When we make our blanks for the soundboards and backs of the dulcimers, we leave them square. We only trim them after we have assembled the instruments. This trim was done on our smallest bandsaw - with just a 1/4" blade which makes it easy to cut curves. Our medium bandsaw has a 1" blade, and our big one has a 4" blade (and also weighs over a ton).
Some of this week's instruments. Lots of cherry and walnut!
The blanks on this cart are destined to become necks on LAP-JOs. These need to be sanded down to size, hollowed out and have fret slots cut.
Here is another batch of LAP-JO necks that are farther along. Heads have been added, frets installed, the necks have been hollowed and the cap that covers the hollow has been added. The necks are attached to the rim with a bolt (and glue), and the hole you see at the bottom is where we have access to the nut.
This is a picture of our fretsaw. We only use this tool for our kits, but it still sees a lot of use. It has a blade for each fret, so it can cut all of the frets in one pass.
Some parts for our hammered dulcimer stands. We make these pieces on our router table, and then assemble them. The puzzle joints make for a nice looking finished product.
A selection of our bar and pipe clamps. We use a lot of these clamps, and have them hung in three different places in the shop. As any woodworker will tell you, you can never have too many clamps!
A selection of our spring clamps. These are the go-to clamps for small projects, and we use them all over the shop.
And even more clamps! This wall is usually close to empty since the clamps are almost always in use. I had to quick snap a picture while this many were on the wall!
