Second verse: And wouldn't it be nice to eat supper on our dining room table again without having to dress warmly and eat on the porch, however charming that is when done by choice?

October 21-22. During the first half of the Tennessee - Alabama game, I designed a fold out stand for the dulcimer. Not a portable one, yet, but one for the house. The dowel sits on an existing book shelf in my office; the two lower legs tilt out and are restrained by a wire. Very Jeffersonian if it works (maybe more Jeffersonian if the first version doesn't... I'm thinking of that clock by the front door of Monticello that required TJ to cut a gaping hole in the floor for the weights to drop through). At halftime, I rushed downstairs to make the prototype in pine. Would have completed it before the second half kickoff except that I broke a screw holding that cross dowel in place and had to leave its extraction till after the game (TN 16-13, a 4th quarter comeback; thank you Erik Ainge).

After the game, after supper, I finished the prototype which is more solid than it appears. The casual appearance worried Amy, though, so I dismounted the dulcimer while we watched the first half of "Reds" then I addressed the points that concerned me. I shortened the dowel, added a second wire (simply because so much depends on the wire), and I gave one leg more to stand on, to brace against, whatever, by screwing a block to the bottom of the bookcase. I need some pictures to 'splain this thing. Maybe tomorrow. The dulcimer is on its stand now, looks solid, plays well. We'll see if the night is punctuated by a godamighty noise.

Midnight: Tuning has stayed dead on since this morning. That's progress.

October 22. I rebuilt the stand to be less precarious and more easily adjusted. After it proves out, redo it to final dimensions in western cedar, or oak, or in any case something for the ages.

 

Squint a little, and bear with me. We have two legs made of 1x6 pine, rounded at the bottom. They're linked together by a 30-inch length of aluminum tubing (conduit). At the top of each leg is a 3/8-inch (diameter) dowel, about an inch protruding. Tie picture hanging wire to the cross dowel as shown, length selected to allow the lean described in the next paragraph. Loop the other end around a pin (1/2 inch steel; it was handy) inserted in the top of a bookcase.

To deploy the stand, lean the legs back — 15 degrees is plenty — until the wire is taut and the bottoms of the legs are bumped against the base of the bookcase. Now set the dulcimer up top such that its short leg (or the short rail depending on the angle at which you want it held for playing) is resting on top of the bookcase. The long rail is bumped against the dowels in the tops of the legs. Make really for damn sure the wire is secure! I'll do a photo as soon as I get the office straightened up enough for you to make out what's going on amidst the chaos. Might be a while.

 

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Building: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15
Refinements, etc: 16 17 18 19