June 2023 M T W T F S S 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 -
Blog Posts
- Painting finally begins
- Soundboard Installation!
- Installing the Rose
- The Soundboard
- Adding the hook to the 8′ cherry Bridge
- 8′ cherry Bridge steamed, bent, clamped
- Bridges and Nuts
- Color/Paper samples for Harpsichord
- Soundboard joined and fitted
- Finally some new Harpsichord work
- Building a Flute & Whistle Library
- A Guitar Foot Stool
Pau Hana ‘Ukulele
Boston Balalaika
Category Archives: Lutherie
Soundboard Installation!
Finally, after all of the preparation, the soundboard is finally installed. Now, just wait for 24 hours for the glue to cure and pull out all the nails/spruce pads. This method of soundboard installation requires a “crown dowel”, which simply … Continue reading
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Installing the Rose
Before I installed the Rose, I first thinned the soundboard a bit in the recommended areas. This was nothing more than using a small violin plane (wicked sharp as we say here!) to taper some of the bass region and … Continue reading
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The Soundboard
The bulk of the soundboard work was completed over the past 2 weeks. This included fitting all of the bridges and underside bracing. The only thing to complete on the soundboard before actually installing it into the harpsichord is to … Continue reading
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Adding the hook to the 8′ cherry Bridge
One of the more difficult tasks is making the ‘hook’ that goes at the end of the bridge because it is much too severe (and thick) to bend into shape. It must be cut at the same angles as the … Continue reading
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8′ cherry Bridge steamed, bent, clamped
The 8′ cherry bridge was soaked overnight, steamed in the box for 1 hour this morning and clamped into the form, where it will sit now for a week. It was not as wet coming out of the box as … Continue reading
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Bridges and Nuts
After getting the soundboard fitted into the Harpsichord, it was time to create the bridges and nuts. The difficulty begins with the geometry, first cut a 30° bevel along the face, which is easy enough with either a full-sized table … Continue reading
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Soundboard joined and fitted
The thing I have been most dreading is jointing and joining the soundboard planks together. I was lucky enough to get ahold of a number of extra-wide, old Italian spruce soundboard planks from a friend. It only required 3 pieces … Continue reading
Posted in Harpsichord, Lutherie, Tools, Woodworking
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Finally some new Harpsichord work
As noted in a previous entry I thought I was getting the build back on track in 2017 (18 months ago!), but alas, I was wrong. Now I really am (getting back to it). I now have a lot more … Continue reading
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A Guitar Foot Stool
Still working on finishing up a host of never-completed projects! So, I dug out the parts I had cut out a few years back. This was all leftover mahogany pieces and the only thing I had to purchase was some … Continue reading
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A Neck Routing Jig
A well-fit neck is essential to any stringed instrument. I’ve had decent success, but in order to execute this important joint it would help to have something that would make it easier to get consistent, accurate results. I recently discovered a … Continue reading
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