We begin the stretch run...

 

October 11. I cut inlays of poplar to cover my marginal joinery and then spent three hours dado'ing 3/4-inch notches to receive the poplar. I smoothed the cuts with a chisel, sanded the poplar to fit, then tapped the inlay into place along with a good dose of Titebond. I sanded the rails down to make the inlay flush. Then I sanded some more to render the side, top and bottom rails flush with the pin blocks (else how could I finish either properly? and besides, it looks neat). Finally, I relieved all the corners and edges, working toward smooth curves.

I sanded the pin blocks to 220, masked them and painted the interior corners flat black, then inverted the masking and began a series of Deft gloss coats on the pin blocks. I applied four gloss coats and will finish with a semi-gloss top coat tomorrow or later. When the last coat dries, I can start installing pins.

I glued up a block from oak scrap and installed it against the backboard inside the top rail. I am borrowing a page from Don's dulcimer: this block will receive a dowel which will let any table be a playing surface. Such a dowel hole may be handy for attaching the instrument to a dedicated stand, too. I drilled a pilot hole before gluing the block in, then drilled out through the backboard when the glue dried. The pilot hole will help me freehand a 1/2 inch blind hole to receive a dowel when I am good and ready. Glued to the backboard and the back rail, this block also serves to reinforce the marginal grip by the back rail on the backboard (see note to this effect long, long ago).

I measured the dulcimer before starting all the sanding, drilling, sawing and chiselling. I had in mind cutting the soundboard and placing the bridge braces. But I need to be really clear-headed for those steps and so far today I have not felt quite ready to take on such a critical task. Likewise, constructing the bridges requires more than I have on the ball right now. Maybe some of this can be tackled later. Or tomorrow.

Laid out the bridge patterns and verified that they fit my maple bridge blanks.

I cut the treble bridge cap from brass tubing, masked it with Scotch tape, and treated the scale markers with Brass Black. Works quite nicely. Multiple applications help, too. If you lay the tube across two supports, it's easy to wind the tape on and paint the areas to be blacked with a flux brush. Rotate the tube and make sure the whole area to be blacked is well wetted; let the chemistry sit 4-5 minutes. Then wipe off the excess Brass black, rinse the brass in water, remove the tape, and wipe the bridge cap down more thoroughly. I'll see if I can get a much brighter polish on the unblacked sections just before mounting the cap on the bridge. The lathe should be perfect for that.

Since I have to cut and finish the soundboard tomorrow anyway, I did not spray the final coat of semi-gloss on the pinblocks. Might as well leave the house smelling residential rather than industrial for Amy today. Tomorrow I also need to hit all the braces and bridges (if finished) with lacquer.

Later that same day... Damned headache last night cost me most of the night's sleep, and I was working on 2 hours this morning. Got up, read "Clapton's Guitar" until the headache went away. Then did breakfast for Amy and got to work. After an afternoon nap (which tells you how desperate I was), I drilled the treble and bass bridges. I cut larger holes (1-inch) for the treble bridge (because I like a light and airy look and because it gives me more room for error in putting the holes where they need to go). Then jigged up the drill press to cut the holes in the bass bridge at the largest size RD recommends (7/8-inch). I didn't go larger because I am running on the small side for that bridge blank. Practice helps: ran the 20-degree holes through routinely after all that worry. Then found out I had drilled them backwards. Damn! Then found out that I had also drilled them right through the middle of the underszed bridge so I could just flip it upside down and end for end and all should be fine. But check the end measurements tomorrow (they're fine). Whew!

Big push tomorrow. Cleaned up the shop this evening since I was beginning to lose more things than usual and was wading through sawdust and assorted detritus. Prepped the Forstner bits for soundboard decoration. Need to thin the tops of the treble and bass bridges, sand, cut to length, notch the top, apply lacquer. Need to glue the bridge braces in; cut, polish, and finish the side bridges; start and finish the soundboard. That's ambitious, but I want the instrument presentable late on October 16, and I'll need plenty of time for pins and strings. Note: tape over the hitch pin courses so I don't accidentally drill any of them out while installing tuning pins.

 

Here's a Photoshopped mockup of the inlay I planned to use
to cover some nasty gaps in the corners. I didn't photograph
the equivalent stage during actual construction. Stay tuned
for a shot of the finished joints on down below.

Photos to come...

 

You're on page 7

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