We've Been Making Dulcimer Straps This Week
January 31, 2025
Good Morning, Y'all - Happy Friday!
Guess what we've been making this week? (in addition to the usual dulcimers, of course!)
Dulcimer straps. In the spirit of vertical integration, to at least a modest degree, we start out with leather cowhides. They're unwieldy when they come here to the shop, so I use the band saw to cut them to manageable 12" widths. We use really thick leather. Which can make it difficult to install the straps onto the strap buttons on your dulcimers, but also allows for the straps to be highly durable. This is definitely a trade-off we make. Ease of use versus long-lasting durability. (a heavier piece of leather won't stretch and soften like a thinner piece, so you can use it for years, not just months)
Here's a shop cart with cowhides cut into thirds:
I've looked for manmade alternatives to the hides, and have not found anything with the durability we get with this material. "Pleather" doesn't have the strength, and many other manmade materials have chemicals that react with the instrument's finish. Some suppliers go so far as to call their synthetic leather "PU Leather" (Poly Urethane Leather), which I think is pretty deceptive.
How We Make Strap Ends
We have a press, specifically designed for cutting leather, called a "clicker press." It's pneumatically driven, and we have had cutting dies made to make our leather strap ends. Here's a strap-end sitting alongside our clicker's cutting die:
At this stage (Aly's been using the clicker press all week, cutting out two-inch leather strap ends (we have a cutting die for one-inch straps, too), I'll use our laser engraver to put a Folkcraft logo on each piece of leather:
Then the leather strap ends go to Pam, who will fold over the ends, and then insert them into the YKK-brand two-inch quick release buckles:
In another step, Pam cuts and sews the webbing material (a nice, heavy polypropylene, available in all kinds of dulcimer-friendly colors), and attaches the webbing to the other half of each quick-release buckle.
Then we have dulcimer straps!
We have five colors of two-inch wide straps (which I prefer for my dulcimer) and five colors of one-inch wides straps (which I prefer for my ukulele). Here's a link:
It is a lot of work to make a strap - cutting down the leather, clicking out the shape, adding a Folkcraft logo, sewing the leather to the quick-release buckles, cutting the webbing, and sewing the webbing to the quick-release buckles. Our clicker press is dedicated to just this one job, and one of our sewing machines is set up exclusively for sewing this heavy leather and isn't used for any of our case-making activities.
Who would have thought it, right? A simple little accessory, with all of the steps involved to make such an innocuous-seeming dulcimer strap!
New Dulcimer Books Back In Stock
On a different note, we just got in a big batch of Susan Trump dulcimer books - we've been out of hers for a while, and now all four are on the shelves, ready to ship. Here's the link to all of Susan's books:
Have a great weekend, Y'all - Happy Playing!
Richard Ash - luthier-who-looks-way-beyond-dulcimer-building-to-provide-all-kinds-of-things-for-his-dulcimer-playing-friends