Phantasy Psalteries v2.0

3. December 2007 Eric

I’m in the process of revamping my website a bit, as I get time. I’m planning on adding more options, and also editing some areas for clarity and brevity. Hopefully the navigation - particularly on the Woods and Materials page, will be much cleaner and easier to use.

I’ve got several new changes to the bowed psaltery that I would also like to roll out along with the revised website. For the psaltery, some changes are cosmetic, but a lot of them are also practical and acoustical improvements. (Such as Delignit laminated pinblocks.)

Anyhow, I hope to have the new site up by the start of 2008, or thereabouts. For now, one (relatively minor) addition can be see in the attached photo: Bearclaw Sitka Spruce. Acoustically, it is identical to regular spruce, but it has a figured top that looks as if a bear has dug its claws into the wood.

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A Rear Soundhole Rosette

1. December 2007 Eric

Here is a picture of the back of a psaltery I am working on for Tim.

What is seen is a curly maple back, with a rear soundhole and an inlaid ring of Cocobolo around the rim. Since it is freshly sanded the Cocobolo looks light brown with streaks of yellowish orange, but it will soon become much darker. A combination of oxidation and simply applying a finish make this wood look much darker and more elegant.

Cocobolo is very hard, and it’s one of those woods that you feel sorry for your blades when you are cutting it, because it has such a blunting effect on the cutters.

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Gluing on the Binding

28. November 2007 Eric

Here 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, the tape does a good job of holding the binding in the slot until the glue dries. Gluing binding can be a tricky endeavor because you need adequate pressure in two directions - both downward and sideways pressure simultaneously.

Low tack masking tape is used to avoid damaging the wood surface when the tape is removed. Also, I intentionally make the binding a bit over-sized and then route/sand it flush with the surface of the psaltery afterward.

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Yes, Psaltery begins with a P…

26. November 2007 Eric

I remember telling my aunt about my website, and I wrote down the address on a sheet of paper and handed it to her:

www.phantasypsalteries.com

She gave me a puzzled expression. I said, “do you understand what I wrote?”

“It says, fantasy pee salteries? I don’t get it” she replied.

So, just to remind everyone: yes, psaltery begins with a P. I’m no etymologist, but Merriam-Webster online had this to say about the “psaltery:”

Etymology:

Middle English psalterie, from Anglo-French, from Latin psalterium, from Greek psalt?rion, from psallein to play on a stringed instrument

Now, I realize that most anyone who is reading this probably already knows this, as they have managed to find this website - with the correct spelling, but I just thought I’d include my humorous observation.

Additionally, I’m sure a lot of you psaltery players have encountered this type of dialogue:

You: I play a musical instrument called a bowed psaltery.

Them: A bowed what?

You: A psaltery.

Them: How do you spell it?

You: PEE…

Them: What!?

You: P - S - A - L - T - E - R - Y.

Them: Never heard of it.

I feel for you.

Here’s to the bowed saltery, salt tree, saltry, psaltry, psalter, and however else you can manage to misspell it! (Hint: the correct spelling can be seen by scrolling to the top of this page, bonking yourself over the head with a nerf bat, and then reading the title banner of this website.)

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An Inlaid Rosette

23. November 2007 Eric

Well, there’s not all too many exciting things going on in the shop right now, so no finished products to display as of yet. Instead, I’ll share an in-between picture of a work in progress:

This is a Western Red Cedar top with an inlaid 10mm width rosette. This is the same top that can be seen in the post of Sharon’s Psaltery. The rosette has been assembled into my standard 5-sided shape, and inlaid and sanded flush with the soundboard. I have also done another one almost exactly like it except in a spruce top for Lois and Jerry’s psaltery. (Sorry, no pic of that one - use your imagination.)

This picture was taken during the brief time after the rosette has been inlaid, but before the soundhole has been cut.

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Happy Thanksgiving

21. November 2007 Eric

I’ve been sick for the better part of this past week, so I’ve not been able to make a whole lot of progress on building. I hope to be back in full swing right after Thanksgiving. But nonetheless…

Happy Thanksgiving

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New Bow Size Available

19. November 2007 Eric

I’ve been getting a lot of positive feedback on shorter bows, and I’ve decided to include 1/32 size violin bows as an available bow option. As a result of this, I am shifting everything to the shorter end of the spectrum. Now, the 1/16 size will be standard, with the 1/32 being the small size, and the 1/8 size, (which was previously the standard size), will now be the large size. I will still continue to carry 1/4 size bows as well, which I would now consider to be size XL.

The 1/32 bow is about 13 to 14 inches long, several inches shorter than the next size up, the 1/16 bow. For more info, see my updated Extras and Accessories page.

The newest edition to the family of available violin bows: a 1/32 size bow

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Grapejuice Dragonfly

16. November 2007 Eric

All done.

Well, in case you can’t see from the pictures, this psaltery was made with both Purpleheart sides and trim - which reminded me of grape juice. The rose is a laser-cut plywood circle in the shape of a dragonfly.

This was my first time buffing Purpleheart up to a high gloss, and I was surprised at how good it looked. It looks really elegant.

Also, I tried to find the greenest opal I could, though it still is sort of aqua under some angles, but does have strong flashes of green at the right angles. You can take a closer look at the opal and moonstone markers in the bottom picture.

I haven’t had a chance to hear how it sounds yet, but the body sure did humm when it was being buffed! It seemed to have a good response.

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Lois & Jerry’s Psaltery

15. November 2007 Eric

Here is another psaltery I am working on, with the back and sides made of black walnut.

The bookmatched Walnut looks great, with a lot of character. The hard maple binding has not yet been added, but you can still see that this will be a handsome psaltery.

So far I just have the frame and the back assembled. I still have to finish the top and trim, etc.

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Sharon’s Psaltery

14. November 2007 Eric

Here’s a quick update on one of the psalteries I’m working on.

It is made of cherry for the back and sides, and a western red cedar top (still unattached) can be seen sitting next to the frame.

I tried to find the darkest, reddest cedar I could find to match the cherry. Cherry will darken and get redder with age. Overall, I think it is a good match.

This combination of woods is probably the lightest and most responsive available. I weighed the frame, (minus the top or bottom), and it only weighed a mere 15 ounces.

You will also note that she opted for the rear soundhole in the back, as can clearly be seen in the photo.

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Glass Bowed Psalteries?

12. November 2007 Eric

A 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 a sort of “mystical” sound to it that nothing else could match. (According to the builder, the psaltery linked to above was made from both glass and acrylic.)

Well, as luck would have it, I used to work with both glass and acrylic when I built aquariums as a hobby. And so, I decided to try this out myself, just as an experiment. Actually, I only used a glass top, so I was able to convert an existing wood psaltery into a glass-topped one by simply removing the soundboard and making a few modifications.

I used a wetsaw and cut out the triangular shape, then I made a circular soundhole with a diamond-tipped holesaw. Just for effect, I used a dremel and etched patterns into the underside of the glass. I set the glass into the psaltery (it was simply held in from the pressure of the strings/bridge, rather than glued/siliconed), and prepared to play this “mystical” instrument.

The result?

more…

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Tuning Pin Jig

9. November 2007 Eric

When 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 metal screws where all of the tuning pins should go. It takes some extra time to make this jig, but once it is finished, it greatly accelerates the pin layout process.

Since the screws I used were 5/8″ long (in 1/2″ plywood), this leaves sharp 1/8″ long points at all the exact locations of the tuning pins.

All that is necessary is to carefully align the jig on top of the psaltery, and lightly tap on the jig with a mallet.Viola! 30 pin locations are instantly and perfectly transferred to the top of the psaltery. And since it is an actual indent, and not a pencil mark, it is that much easier to align the drill bit with the dimple.

You can see this jig at work sitting atop a psaltery that I recently finished. (I use a different jig for the hitch pins to allow more flexibility in the positioning, but this one works great for the tuning pins.)

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Tim’s Psaltery

7. November 2007 Eric

Since I forgot to update this blog on Monday, I guess I’ll make up for it today by making two posts!

I finally got my thin-kerf bandsaw blade in the mail today, and I was finally able to saw up the curly maple board I had wanted to use for the back of this psaltery. Since the blade is so thin, I was able to get two full bookmatched sets out of the one board. (Tim - just in case you needed a second one to match.)

I dampened the back with mineral spirits to make the figure more visible for photography purposes. This is probably one of the best pieces of maple I have right now.

As you can see, the frame is assembled, and I simply set the back on top of it to show how it will look. I still have a ways to go though.

more…

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Becky’s Psaltery Pt. 2

7. November 2007 Eric

I thought I’d give one last update before I finish this psaltery.

Basically, all the building is done and all that’s left is the finishing, buffing, and stringing. (This usually takes between 7 and 10 days.)

Here’s a shot of the quilted maple back, with a centerstrip of purpleheart.

Hopefully, if there are no hiccups, the psaltery should be ready to ship by the end of next week. (That dragonfly tail is really nerve-wracking to work around! =) If you look at the picture in the previous post, you’ll see what I mean. But I really don’t think it is as fragile as it looks, since it’s plywood.)

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