Pencils in the Miter Track
Friday, day 25. April 2008Here’s a tip for any woodworkers or luthiers out there: if you’re at all like me, you’re always grabbing for a writing instrument to mark a board. Oftentimes they get “misplaced” or knocked around while working on a project. (I go through quite a number of pencils in any given week while making bowed psalteries.)
Well, […]
Tools and Equipment, How-To | 0 Comments »
Pore Filling Cocobolo with CA Glue
Tuesday, day 8. April 2008To the left you can see the two things that I use to fill the pores in various woods, (in this case, Cocobolo), before applying the finish.
1. Medium viscosity CA glue.
2. A deck of playing cards.
What I do is drizzle the CA glue somewhat sparingly over the wood surface to be filled, (a little CA […]
Building, How-To | 1 Comment »
A Psaltery’s Weight
Wednesday, day 12. December 2007So, what does all of this stuff weigh??? Here’s some of my own measurements, to help you get a perspective on things:
60 tuning/hitch pins - 1 pound, 1.4 ounces
30 wound strings - roughly 2.5 ounces
Bridge - between .5 and .9 ounces depending on the wood used
Saddle - .1 to .3 ounces
So, you can clearly […]
How-To, Experimental | 0 Comments »
A Mother-of-Pearl Rosette Strip
Friday, day 7. December 2007I was busy gluing together strips of mother-of-pearl (MOP) to form a rosette, and thought I’d take a picture of the process:
You can see from the picture that MOP obviously does not come in giant pre-manufactured rolls because it is harvested from the shells of small mollusks - so it’s more like 1″ long strips […]
Building, How-To | 0 Comments »
Gluing on the Binding
Wednesday, day 28. November 2007Here you can see how the trim that borders the top and bottom of the psaltery (also called the “binding”) gets attached.
The psaltery in the picture is a spruce top, with walnut back and sides, and hard maple binding.
You can clearly see the blue masking tape contrasting with the wood. Pulled tight in both directions, […]
Building, How-To | 0 Comments »
Glass Bowed Psalteries?
Monday, day 12. November 2007A while back I became aware of an interesting instrument: a glass bowed psaltery. (You can see for yourself here - about 3/4 the way down on the right.)
Now, reasoning that the bowed psaltery has sort of a “glassy” tone, you’d think that an all-glass psaltery would be a great idea. It perhaps would have […]
How-To | 1 Comment »
Tuning Pin Jig
Friday, day 9. November 2007When making a bowed psaltery for the first time, one of the most tedious tasks is laying out and measuring all the pins. Thankfully, there is an easy way to do this: with a jig.
Basically, I took a 1/2″ piece of plywood, cut it to the size of the psaltery, and inserted sharp self-piercing sheet […]
Tools and Equipment, How-To | 2 Comments »
Standoffs for Finishing Psalteries
Friday, day 2. November 2007 When applying the finish to a bowed psaltery, it can go a lot faster if you can do both the front and the back at the same time. Ordinarily, with a psaltery being two-sided, you’d have to finish one side, let the finish harden, and then finish the other side.
What I’ve found that is […]
How-To | 0 Comments »
Bowed Psaltery Woods: Impedance vs. Dampening
Wednesday, day 31. October 2007I just thought I’d share some of my thoughts/musings on how different types of wood and their working properties come into play when making a bowed psaltery.
Dampening - This is a term that I hear thrown around a lot. It is usually used in a bad way: “you don’t want the wood to dampen any […]
How-To | 0 Comments »
Leveling Bridges
Friday, day 26. October 2007Here’s a random building tip:
The fit between the bridge and the soundboard on a bowed psaltery is important, and should be as snug as possible. Even though all the strings are pressing down on the bridge, if the bridge is in any way uneven, firm contact will not be made.
One technique that is commonly used […]
How-To | 0 Comments »
