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Here’s a couple of photos of a custom bowed psaltery that I’ve just recently completed. You can see from the back that this is the same psaltery that I had written about earlier regarding the linseed oil finish. The back is made of Canarywood with Bloodwood binding.
For the soundboard, Sitka Spruce was used, along with the same Bloodwood for the binding, bridge, and rosette. The center rose is made of Hard Maple, and closely matches the color of the Spruce top.
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Here’s a couple pictures of a custom psaltery that I just finished up. On it I used up the last of my quilted maple, which for some reason the camera always flatters. It’s funny, because usually I’m frustrated that the camera can’t capture the full beauty of the wood grain, but with quilted maple, it’s almost the opposite. The wood looks nice—that’s true—but it just doesn’t look as astounding in person as the pictures make it out to be. I just don’t want to inflate people’s expectations.
For the top of the psaltery, sitka spruce was used, and you can also see the matching custom wrench that was made too. (Please ignore the masking tape over the area where the metal ferrule is supposed to be—it is used to keep the finish off this area.) The wrench is made of quilted maple and purpleheart, just like the body of the psaltery.
Here’s a couple of custom tuning wrenches that I’m working on. The one on the left is made of Katalox, with Kingwood endcaps, while the one on the right is Olivewood, with Lacewood endcaps.
The wrenches are actually for an pair of autoharps, though the pins are the same. The style is a T-wrench, with an offset handle, sort of a middle ground between a gooseneck and a true T-wrench.
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The pictures above show the before and after shots of a wonderfully colorful and figured bowed psaltery back made of Canarywood. While it’s true that applying just about any type of finish brings out the color and grain in the wood, one of the best finishes for doing this, in my experience, has been Boiled Linseed Oil.
Actually, most linseed oil today isn’t boiled, but it’s instead just some heavy metal driers that help the oil to dry. However, I’m using an all-natural linseed oil that is polymerized—meaning it will dry on its own without the addition of the toxic driers. (Otherwise raw linseed oil tends to stay gummy indefinitely.)
Note that in the second picture, the psaltery still looks a bit “greasy” because I’ve just applied the finish, and I have not yet wiped the excess oil off. The finished surface is actually very low gloss.
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Here’s a couple of pictures of a custom bowed psaltery that I’m currently working on. As you can see, the photos were taken at an intermediate time: after I had routed the ledge for the binding, but before I had actually cut and installed the purpleheart binding. As a result, you can get a peek into what the psaltery looks like without the binding in place.
Hopefully I’ll post more picture of this psaltery when the binding is finished, so you can see the dramatic difference that only a few thin strips of accent wood can make on a musical instrument.
Now that I’ve got a carbide-tipped bandsaw blade, I decided to do something that is almost suicide on a regular steel blade: I was resawing some Bloodwood sides/back for an upcoming psaltery that I’m working on.
I admit that when I first saw Bloodwood—with its amazing blood-red coloring, and its astounding hardness, I was enamored. I could definitely see some useful applications for this wood in musical instrument building.
Yet, as a woodworker, the more I work with this stuff, the more I have grown to disdain it. This wood is so dense, it wrecks just about everything it touches. It dulls saw blades very quickly, it clogs sandpaper, and it bleeds its reddish color into surrounding wood surfaces unless extreme care is taken during its finishing.
So why am I undertaking yet another project with this annoying wood?
Well, to be honest, the color and tap-tone is simply unlike any other wood on the planet. So I guess I’ll endure one more project with this punishing wood! 
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Here’s a couple of pictures of a custom psaltery that I recently completed. As you can see it’s very dark. About the only time I can remember a darker colored bowed psaltery was the one made of Wenge, but even that had curly maple binding, so this may be the darkest colored one yet.
The top is curly Redwood, (with the Star of David rosette which I explained in a previous post), and the back is East Indian Rosewood. The binding and bridge are made of Gaboon Ebony, and are almost completely black. The bridge also has a brass saddle because the maximum sustain possible was sought.
Earlier this year, I made a “phantasy psaltery” that featured a star of david rosette on the soundboard, and I’ve got several inquiries and requests about it.
Now, I’m currently working on a special order psaltery that will have this very same rosette style, so I thought I’d take the opportunity and show the process of making this decoration in more detail.
Please reference the pictures below when reading these descriptions.
1.) First, the rosette itself, although very complex-looking is relatively simple in design, and is made of only two components. Each of these two components are assembled to form the six tips of the star. So, a total of 12 pieces have to be cut, six of each component, with half being in one color/design of banding, and the other half being of a contrasting color/design.
2.) You can see that the six assembled pieces are loosely laid out to form two interlocking triangles. Chances are, when you bring the points together, they will not fit together cleanly at all.
3.) The rosette has now been carefully glued together. Perhaps the most difficult part is getting all the pieces to fit together, as an adjustment in just one piece will affect the fit of the entire star.
4.) The last step is to inlay the completed star into the soundboard, and cut out the seven holes for the soundhole. This tends to get a bit tedious for me—I’m certainly not cut out to be a wood-carver! (No pun intended.)
 1.) The six points. |
 2.) Loosely laid out. |
 3.) Glued together |
 4.) Inlaid and sanded flush |
 Snakewood Binding |
 Figured Ash w/ Bloodwood stripe |
Due to the positive response that came with the original “Safari” psaltery that I made about a month ago, I decided to make a replica.
In case you’re wondering, the original psaltery was #PS-60, about which I raved: “easily in the all-time top five, maybe even the top three. This psaltery has excellent volume and sustain, a deep and full tone.”
Since I had plenty of supplies left over from the original, I was able to cut the soundboard, sides, and back from the very same boards as the original, making for a nearly identical sound.
The only modifications that I made were to the binding and bridge: I swapped out the original Bloodwood for Snakewood—which, if you were to calculate its cost out to board-feet, would be the most expensive wood in the world: about 100 times more expensive than oak!
Otherwise, the psaltery is as close to identical as can be. (Okay, I also added a Bloodwood backstrip, and Black Star Diopside note markers, but that really shouldn’t impact the sound in any way.) You can go take a look on the sale page.
After keeping my eyes open for quite a while, I was finally able to get my hands on some really nice Bocote locally. Currently my favorite exotic hardwood is Cocobolo, but with pieces like the one pictured here, Bocote is certainly giving Cocobolo a run for its money! I love the symmetric figuring that emerges from bookmatching.
Besides the one pictured that I’m currently working on, I hope to have a set shortly available in the Treasure Trove as well. Or, if you’re interested, you can email me directly.
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Here’s a new finish that I’m trying: it’s called Tried and True Oil, and I’m using the Varnish Oil blend. It Linseed-Oil based, and so far I’m pleased with the results. (Note, I still use Shellac as my standard finish, unless otherwise noted on any given instrument.)
One of the best things about this finish is that it is completely non-toxic both in it’s cured, and uncured states. (That’s me dipping my bare finger into the oil in the upper left picture.) It’s even FDA approved for food contact surfaces.
But what I really like about this finish is that it soaks into the wood and really brings out the figure of the grain. Seen in the upper left picture is a curly Ash psaltery that just had a fresh application of the oil.
I’ve begun to offer this as a finish option for custom instruments. It has a very down-to-earth feel. The look and texture of the wood is completely preserved.
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Here are a pair of pictures of another finished custom psaltery. As the title explains, it has a Honduran Mahogany top, and a Cherry back and sides. I posted about this psaltery earlier, and this is the finished product. It’s been a great while since I’ve done a Cherry back/side in gloss, and I really like it: it looks classy.
My latest project isn’t quite a bowed psaltery, but it’s rather an edge sander… which will help me make more psalteries.
Below are some pictures of the progress so far.
 Idler roller |
 Partially assembled |
 Drive roller (unmounted) |
 Springs/tension piece |
All this is via plans from PlansNow.com. So far, I’d highly recommend buying these plans: everything seems to be solid and well-designed.
 Chechen body |
 Pre-drilled 3/8" hole |
Above are two pictures of a custom T-handle tuning wrench that I’m working on. The body is made of Chechen, with narrow bands of Cocobolo on each side, and endcaps made of Olive. You may also notice that the 3/8″ hole for the shaft is offset for an asymmetrical wrench.
Upon closer look at the pictures above, with the great color and grain patterning, you may see why Chechen is quickly becoming one of favorite woods!
I can make custom tuning wrenches to match the woods on existing instruments, or I can make one with of the woods/shape of your choosing. See my sub-site at Archimedes’ Workshop for more information.
