Category: Dulcimer Makers

The Lightbulb Goes On

~ Doug ~ 3 Comments
A dulcimer peghead ready to be glued to the dulcimer.

I’ve been using three tapered pegs as both a mechanical joint and decorative feature on dulcimer pegheads for a few years. The pegs alone would hold the peghead on very well, but the peghead is also fully glued to the support beneath it.

Until today, I glued on the peghead and added the tapered pegs once the glue had fully set. Due to the angles involved, this is one of the glue-ups that can get a little messy while holding the peghead in place with one hand and cleaning up glue squeeze-out with the other and avoiding letting the peghead slide out of place. I have gotten pretty good at peghead wrangling, but today, I had an “Aha!” moment.

I drilled 1/16″ holes where the pegs will go and used two 1/16″ bits as pins to hold the peghead in place, and the peghead happily stays exactly where it needs to be. Cleaning up glue is simple again, birds are singing in the trees, and all is well in my happy place.

I had hoped to be posting more regularly on this blog, and I still hope to do so. I began this blog in 2007, and sometimes I wonder if it has run its course. The primary obstacle to posting more is not having anything to say. That statement will amuse people who know me, but it does happen!

But I’m not giving up on this blog, and I will be posting as inspiration comes. I don’t want to create “content” just for the sake of creating content.

In the meantime, I often post photographs of what I’m working on via Instagram if you want to take a peek.

And thanks for continuing to follow this blog. Some of you have been with it since the beginning!

News From The Workbench

~ Doug
A dulcimer on the workbench.

There hasn’t been much news from the workbench lately, but I hope there will be more soon!

After completing three dulcimers a few months ago, I had to take a break from working in the shop on a regular basis due to some lower back issues that missed me and decided to come for a visit. I’ve been working with excellent physical therapists, and I am improving, so I am gently and cautiously getting back to the fun and adventure of making dulcimers!

In the photo is a dulcimer that came back for some repair a few weeks ago, and it was the perfect project to get my hands back in the game, requiring light work, much of which could be done seated.

I did work as I could here and there, so I started work on a few fretboards that are now ready for slotting and carving the strum hollow, joined some backs and soundboards and bent some sides, so I have most of the wood prepared for the next three or four dulcimers. I should be making some headway with the new batch fairly soon. How much and how often I can work is still unpredictable, but I’m thankful for as much as I can do.

As I am no longer taking custom orders, I’m trying to find the best way to make various options available, so I plan to build a variety of variations on the theme, and I can always add a few extra frets on request, set them up for different tunings, etc.

I am keeping a list of people who are interested in having one of my dulcimers, and as they become available, I will contact people in the order they asked to be on the list and give them the first look to see if I have made anything they would like before posting them for sale. If you would like to be on the list, please contact me.

That’s about it. After a long, very hot and humid day, there is now thunder, rain and a cool breeze. I am thankful for the small things, which are often much larger than they appear

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.

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.

Working With What You Have To Work With

~ Doug ~ 4 Comments
Doug Berch
Photo by Pooh Stevenson

This post isn’t about the various tools or materials I use when making dulcimers. It is about working with the body I have to work with.

I was part of a panel discussion last week about how disability affects one as an artist or artisan, and before the event, I was interviewed by a local public radio station.

You can listen to the short interview or read a transcript by following this link.