Preparing A Dulcimer Fingerboard For Fretting

~ Doug

Most dulcimer makers fret the fingerboard before gluing it to the soundboard, and then glue the soundboard to the rest of the dulcimer.

There is a good reason for this; it is much easier than fretting the fingerboard on the finished dulcimer, and many dulcimer makers get good results this way. I found I often get acceptable results when I’ve tried this, but sometimes, the fingerboard is no longer exactly as I want it to be. Wood tends to remember it was once a tree and likes to move a bit long after the end of its life, and by the time I have started putting finish on the dulcimer, anything that might move, has moved.

I only know of a few other dulcimer makers who fret after the dulcimer is assembled, and all have said they do it for the same reason; it assures the fretboard will be perfect and never just good enough.

Here are the tools I use when preparing a fingerboard; a straight edge, a level used as a sanding beam, a scraper, a square, a feeler gauge, and a four-sided sanding block with four different grits.

The tools I use for preparing a dulcimer fingerboard before fretting.

When checking the fingerboard on this dulcimer, everything was just as I like it from the get-go, and because I’m a vegetarian, I made a burnt offering of lentils and broccoli to the Dulcimer Gods to show my appreciation.

Checking the fingerboard with a stright edge and feeler gauge.

On this dulcimer, the fingerboard was close but not quite the way I want it to be, so I used a scraper to level a high spot and add some relief from around the 2nd fret to the 7th fret. I use approximately .002″ of relief so low action won’t cause buzzing and rattling of the strings against the frets in the lower positions. I check the work as I go with the straightedge and feeler gauge.
Adding some relief to a dulcimer fingerboard with a scraper.

In a situation when things are just too wonky, I use the level as a sanding beam to assure a flat fingerboard from end-to-end before adding the relief.

The last step is to sand using all four grits on the four-sided sanding bock to even out any subtle irregularities left by the scraper and to prepare the fingerboard for finishing.

As a final step, I use the square to make sure the fingerboard is flat across its width. It almost always is, but I will always remember the one time I didn’t check before putting in the frets! 

All this work is done before I apply the last coat of finish to the dulcimer, or if I’m feeling brave, before the last coat is rubbed out. This way, if I accidentally create a little scratch somewhere, I have not yet past the point of no return for making it go away.

Here’s the fingerboard after a light wipe down with oil. Next come the frets!

A dulcimer fingerboard ready for fretwork.

As I mentioned in another post, since starting this blog in 2007, some of the titles of my posts can be a bit repetitive, but my methods of work are always changing, so there is usually something new in the content, or at least I hope there is!

Thanks for stopping by and visiting. I tend to post photos of work in progress on Instagram more frequently than I do here.

I’m Still Here!

~ Doug ~ 6 Comments

Dulcimers by Doug Berch in progress.

It has been almost a year since I have written a blog post.

There are several reasons for this, one being it has been very easy to post photos of work in progress on Instagram, and the ease of doing so, as well as reaching a larger audience than this blog tends to reach, superseded writing blog posts.

Also, after 13 years of blogging, some of my posts began to seem repetitive, but I recently thought of how my methods of work continually evolve and change, so though the titles of some future posts may seem like reruns, the information shared in them will be new, fresh, and hopefully of use to others.

I have also long desired posting more about music, in part by sharing videos and recordings of myself. What had prevented this from happening was the learning curve for making decent videos, but doing so has recently become easier for me.

Perhaps the most important reason I have decided to revive my blog is that times have changed, the United States has changed, and the world is changing. Meta, the corporate entity that owns Instagram, Facebook, and Threads, as well as Alphabet Inc, which owns YouTube and Google among other holdings, have chosen to support and pander to our current Fascist government, a government that claims to defend free speech while also banning the sharing of information and erasing history that goes against its authoritarian, racist, nationalist, and homophobic agenda.

In light of this, I am wanting to avoid dependency on these corporations, but it will take time to find alternatives, and that begins with reinvigorating this website and blog.

In other news, I stopped taking custom orders a while ago but kept letting some slip through the net, but at this point, I am no longer taking any custom or advance orders. I can always add an extra fret or two to an existing dulcimer if someone desires, but I will be building the dulcimers I am inspired to build and will be offering dulcimers for sale as they are completed, or to whomever says “I want it!” first when I post photos of work in progress.

The three dulcimers in the photo are the latest I’m working on. One is already sold and another has a potential owner waiting to hear it after completion to see if it suits them.

On the drawing board are some radically different dulcimer designs that I have been wanting to get around to making for many years. Some of the features of these dulcimers will reference design elements of European instruments like the Citera, Epinette des Vosges, Langeleik, etc.

Thanks for following my blog, and I hope you enjoy the posts that are to come.

,

What’s On The Bench, And What’s New In My Dulcimer Making Adventure – February 29th, 2024

~ Doug

On the bench is what will be a 3-string cherry bass dulcimer with walnut binding. The back and sides are complete, and I’ve started work on the fingerboard and soundboard.

A bass dulcimer under construction.

This cherry bass dulcimer is also last on the list of advance and customer orders I have been working through for several years.

I had attempted to stop taking advance orders a few times before, but always failed to do so, but the time has come, and it seems like the best way to move forward.

In 2007, when I started making dulcimers again after a 25-year break, I was productive enough to usually have 3 or 4 dulcimers available for sale on my website while working on a similar number of custom instruments. This worked out well, kept me busy, and it meant someone could purchase a dulcimer from me immediately, but if they wanted something different from what I currently had available, I could make it for them within the next 6 months or so.

In 2012, I developed back issues that impaired my ability to work as much or as often as I would like. People waiting for dulcimers have been wonderfully patient and understanding. Since prioritizing making dulcimers for people who were waiting for them, I have rarely had time to make dulcimers available for immediate sale. The ebb and flow of dealing with physical challenges has made it difficult to predict how much and how often I can work in the shop, and as I’ve learned to accept that, I’m going to embrace what I consider the best way for me to remain both productive and happy.

My plan is to continue making dulcimers as I am able and offering them for sale when they are complete. There are also new ideas I want to try and styles of dulcimer and dulcimer-like instruments I hope to be making soon.

Even when I was most productive, I was not a production-oriented dulcimer maker. I’m always trying new ideas and new methods of work, and though not the best way to turn out a larger number of dulcimers, I find it is how I thrive and do my best work. 

So the adventure continues, and I do hope to have dulcimers available for sale during the next several months.

I post photos of dulcimers in progress on Instagram far more often than I post here, so please take a look if you find that sort of thing of interesting!

My Most Recent Setup For Sharpening Scrapers

~ Doug

Sharpening scrapers

This is my current hi-tech setup for sharpening scrapers.

The chalk helps keep the file from clogging, and the little Japanese rust eraser helps scrub swarf from the pores of the stone.

I have a big burnisher for big scrapers and a small burnisher for small scrapers. Either burnisher would do the job on all sizes of scrapers, but using a small burnisher to turn the burr on a small scraper feels less like driving a nail with a sledgehammer.

I started making little cardboard or heavy paper sheaths for the smaller scrapers a year or so ago. I use the small scrapers much more than the large ones, and the sheaths let me keep them out on the bench without worrying about the edges becoming damaged.

The larger scrapers are kept wrapped up in a piece of cloth, though I still occasionally use pieces of plastic paper binding clips to protect the edges when they turn up while cleaning the shop.

I like having multiple scrapers on hand. They often look identical, but some are sharpened for very fine work and others for more aggressive work, and like my drugstore reading glasses, if I have enough of them lying about, I can usually find one when needed!

Tools I Use To Make Dulcimers – A Miller’s Falls No. 9 Smoothing Plane

~ Doug

A Miller's Falls No. 9 smoothing plane

“TOOLS I USE TO MAKE DULCIMERS – IRON SMOOTHING PLANES”One of my favorite tools is a Miller’s Falls #9 plane, which is the Miller’s Falls take on the ubiquitous Stanley #4 plane.

When I first acquired a Miller’s Falls No.9 smoothing plane, I found the feel in my hand, the weight, and the balance, to be very pleasing and comfortable, however, the seller on the online auction site where I found it did not mention it had been “improved” by cleaning the rust off the body using coarse sandpaper, possibly with a belt sander! The blade was also rusted and pitted, making it unusable. It was quite a mess!

I soon acquired another Miller’s Falls No. 9 plane, I think at an antique mall, with yet another rusted and pitted blade and some missing parts, so I cannibalized parts from both planes and created what some woodworkers refer to as a Frankenplane. In addition, I replaced the useless blade with a Hock plane iron and lever cap. After a little oil on the moving parts and some lapping to remove a slight twist from the sole, I had what has been one of my favorite smoothing planes for the past 20 or so years.

Every wooden part of the dulcimers I make has been touched by this plane.

I once wrote a post about another smoothing plane I referred to as a favorite. Well, when it comes to planes, I am polyamorous, and each plane has a function that is best for particular situations. When it comes to difficult hardwoods that want to tear out, I reach for this one.

I sporadically add a post to this blog, but I regularly document the thrill and adventure of making dulcimers on Instagram.

Random Musings From My Happy Place

~ Doug

When I started blogging in 2007, it was easy to have something I thought interesting enough to inspire writing a post once or twice a week. As time passed, it was not as easy to come up with something I hadn’t shared before, so blog posts became less frequent.

Instagram has made it easy to share a random photo of a work in progress, and that platform seems more suitable for such things, and that has also made finding something to post here more difficult.

This is a common problem in any form of specialized serial media. I have let go of subscribing to most woodworking magazines because though often informative to some degree, there have already been many articles about sharpening a chisel or setting up a plane or learning about the latest and greatest tool or device I should run out and buy, and they no longer held my interest.

I chose not to write blog posts for the sake of creating content, as I am interested in sharing information about making dulcimers and playing music, rather than posting for the sake of promoting a blog.

All that aside, here’s an update on the latest adventures.

Dulcimers in progress on the workbench.

I recently reorganized my workshop, which was akin to combining the fields of archaeology, waste management, and ergonomics into a three-week adventure.

The primary reason for the reorganization was to make working in the 10-foot by 15-foot room “where the magic happens” easier for the parts of my body that do not work as well as they once did. Bending, twisting, and reaching aggravate my back and legs, which in turn aggravates me, and I am trying my best to minimize those motions in order to optimize the amount of time I am able to work at the bench, which for about 12 years, has been less than I would like it to be. My hope is that the new layout will allow me to have a few more hours a day of time in the shop, which I also refer to as “being in my happy place.”

This is also the reason that, at least for now, I am no longer taking advance or custom orders for dulcimers. I think I will be able to make more dulcimers by just making them as I am able, with all the choices of materials and design left up to myself. I enjoy custom work, but for various reasons, it always takes a lot longer. There are also new designs I have in mind for dulcimers and dulcimer-like instruments that I am excited about developing, and I need time for that as well.

Please know that if you are reading this and are waiting for a dulcimer you have ordered, you are indeed on the list!

For some time, I have wanted to post videos of the music I play, and I am almost comfortable enough with the technology to make that work; almost, but not quite! Sometimes, the video and sound quality come out well on the first try, and at other times, several hours of exorcising poltergeists seems to be required to create a simple, presentable video.

In other news, a lone tom turkey wandered through our yard this morning, most likely looking for love. Grass and wildflowers are growing, and days are brighter and longer.

I hope all is going well for you!



Dulcimer Making – My Process

~ Doug ~ 2 Comments

My workbench, or as I prefer to call it, my happy place!

My dulcimer making process is consistently inconsistent.

Maybe a better way to say that is my methods and design are in a constant state of evolution.

There are certain measurements and features that need to be precise; fret placement, fretwork, setup, action, bridge compensation, string spacing, etc., but when it comes to exact body shape and size, bracing, thickness or thinness of the top, sides and back, and just about every other detail, they are unique to each dulcimer.

My methods of work suit my temperament. I like to work by feel and intuition, and most of the work is accomplished using traditional hand tools. I like to get intimate and personal with my work, and I let the wood dictate a lot of where the final design is heading.

Because of how I approach dulcimer making, I don’t make parts in bulk. I tried that for a short time, and I found it creatively constraining. I prefer to make each part for each dulcimer, and the proportions of each part are based on all the other parts as the dulcimer comes together. Making a dulcimer is like watching a plant grow.

That’s how I do this. My methodology would be ineffective if I was trying to produce dulcimers in a more economically viable quantity, but anytime I have tried doing production work, even on a small scale, I don’t enjoy the process, as it feels like I am manufacturing rather than crafting, and it is the process of crafting I enjoy and love.

My blog posts have become infrequent, but I regularly post photos of the thrill and adventure of being a dulcimer maker on Instagram.