Registration Is Open For Our 2025 Second Saturday Clinics
Good Morning, Y'all, and Happy Friday!
We're plugging away in the shop this week. We've been making dulcimer parts (more heads and backs than anything else, it seems like), assembling instruments, and also lacquering instruments.
How To Rip A Dulcimer
To make the "thin and flat" parts of a dulcimer (top, back, and sides) we generally start with lumber that's two inches thick, cut down to thirty-two inches long, and then ripped (cut along the grain) to the width we need for a finished part. Sides are ripped to either 1 3/4", or 2 1/4", backs are ripped to either 7" or 8", and tops are usually ripped to 4 1/8". Then these blanks are resawn - the process where I'll take an 8" x 32" x 2" piece, and cut a series of 1/4" x 32" x 2" pieces from the larger blank.
Then we'll take the 1/4" thick (actually a smidge less than 1/4") pieces, and sand them down to exactly 1/8", which is the thickness of the tops and backs we use for instruments. We use a nice set of calipers to get to the nearest 1000th of an inch, which is 0.125".
After we get the parts all made for a dulcimer, we get to working on assembling the various parts. I've talked about fretboards before, how they are pretty much half the work of making a dulcimer - the flat parts go quickly by comparison.
Here's a Folkcraft FSH Series dulcimer, with the fretboard attached to the bookmatched top pieces, and the top pieces glued to the body (sides, with head and tail blocks).
The orange clamp you see? That's holding the nut end of the fretboard to the body, as the glue sets up. We've left the top pieces in a rectangular shape, and they'll be trimmed to match the shape of the body in a different step. There are always variations in the way that a side set holds its shape, so we always trim the top and back after gluing to the sides, so that any minor variations (we're talking about fractions of an inch!) don't cause us problems matching to the top and back pieces.
Here's an overhead view of this walnut FSH series dulcimer:
See the void in the top wood just to the left of the orange clamp? That's part of the top that'll be trimmed away as the top is contoured to match the body. The bookmatching (two pieces of the top showing a mirror image) is pretty clear in this dulcimer!
Here's an instrument that's a little farther along - fully assembled, and waiting on hand sanding:
The DulciVox pictured above has a lot of 90 degree corners/edges right now, but after a couple of hours of hand work, this instrument will have those nice soft edges you've come to expect from our dulcimers.
New Dulcimers Ready-to-Ship
We put a handful of new instruments onto the Folkcraft.com website yesterday. The first 10 dulcimers at the top of the page were just finished last week or the week before. Just click the link below to check them out:
See 10 Brand-New Folkcraft Dulcimers
I took photos of them last Friday afternoon, sent them off to be "knocked out" (removing the visually annoying background), and got the edited images back yesterday morning, so now you can see our latest creations.
We mentioned last week that we've scheduled three Second Saturday Clinics for 2025 - here's the link:
2025 Folkcraft Second Saturday Clinics
This year's clinicians? Mandy Tyner - June, Bing Futch - July, and Dave Haas - August. All three classes will sell out, so definitely register sooner rather than later!
Thanks for reading, Y'all - Have a great dulcimer-music-filled-weekend!
Richard Ash - luthier-who's-been-up-to-his-neck-in-sawdust-so-far-this-year
FOLKCRAFT® DULCIMER PLAYER OF THE WEEK: LAURA BLANCIFORTI
Folkcraft: How long have you been playing the dulcimer?
Laura: I've been playing for 26 years.
Folkcraft: When did you get your first Folkcraft dulcimer?
Laura: I bought my first Folkcraft dulcimer in 1998.
Folkcraft: Where do you enjoy playing your dulcimer?
Laura: I love playing with a church group and also at nursing homes.
Folkcraft: What other hobbies, or interests, do you have besides playing dulcimer?
Laura: I enjoy reading, knitting, crocheting, cross stitch, crossword puzzles, etc.
CLICK HERE TO READ ABOUT MORE FOLKCRAFT PLAYERS LIKE LAURA & YOU!
HELLO FOLKCRAFT® PLAYERS - KEEP 'EM COMING!
We are pleased as punch to be able to welcome another new player, Laura Blanciforti, to our online global dulcimer community today. Hey, Laura!
Who's Going To Write In Next? Keep This Thing Growing?
It really is super-easy to join our online dulcimer community. Just three easy steps:
1) Send an email to: newsletter@folkcraft.com
2) With the answers to the four questions below
3) Attach a photo of yourself with your Folkcraft dulcimer(s)
We look forward to hearing from you and featuring you in our newsletter real soon!
1. How long have you been playing the dulcimer?
2. When did you get your first Folkcraft dulcimer?
3. Where do you enjoy playing your dulcimer?
4. What other hobbies, or interests, do you have besides playing dulcimer?
FOR JUST A LITTLE WHILE LONGER WE'RE OFFERING A $25 FOLKCRAFT GIFT CARD TO ANYONE WHO ANSWERS THE FOUR EASY QUESTIONS LISTED ABOVE, AND SENDS IN A PHOTO (OF YOU WITH YOUR FOLKCRAFT DULCIMER)
This Week's Featured YouTube Video:
Here's something for all you new (or new-ish) players out there. The third, and final, video in a 3-part Getting Started series by our very own, Bing Futch. Have fun! Just click on the image below to watch.
We have a slew (that's a fancy luthier word for "bunch") of videos for you to watch on our YouTube channel. Click here to see the full list. Be sure to comment on a video, and subscribe to the channel - either action helps us a LOT with YouTube's suggestion algorithms.
There's still time to register for one, or all, of our 2025 Second Saturday Clinics. A jam, a workshop, lunch, and a concert - all for only $44. It's a bargain for sure, so don't wait too long to sign up - these clinics fill up fast! Just click on the artist's name below to register.
June 14, 2025
July 12, 2025
August 9, 2025
HOEDOWNS & BREAKDOWNS
for mountain dulcimer
by Larry Conger
You can't have a dance (hoedown or otherwise) without some great music. You won't find any crooked tunes here - well, not many. But you will find great melodies, danceable rhythms, and a ton of fun. You NEED this book in your dulcimer music library. (All tunes are in DAD tuning)
This book is published by Dulcimerican Music, and is made available here as an authorized, licensed download.
SOME OF THE TUNES INCLUDED:
Bear Creek Hop • Cumberland Gap
Devil At The Groundhog • Forks Of Big Sandy
Golden Slippers • Hoe The Corn, Moses
Lost Indian • Martha Won't Let You Have Some Good Old Cider
Old Yeller Dog • Shove That Pigs Foot A Little Farther In The Fire
Throw The Old Cow Over The Fence
Shop Folkcraft: Mountain Dulcimers, Ready To Ship · Mountain Dulcimers, Finish-To-Order · Design Your Own Mountain Dulcimer