J.C. Rockwell | Mountain Dulcimer Building

SPiCYAM Syllabus: Mountain Dulcimer Building Workshop

Building Outline: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | SPiCYAM Class Syllabus |

Where: Sunday Creek Associates Office, Shawnee, Ohio (across from SPiCYAM)
Friday evenings 5:00 – 9:00 pm, April 25 – May 23, 2003

Note: The order of the steps in our SPiCYAM Syllabus differs somewhat from the Dulcimer Building outline documented for us by Adam Lawrence. (Go to BUILDING OUTLINE)

Friday April 25 Session One
Coping saw, clamps, glue, gluing molds
1. Review of what we hope to accomplish.
2. Demonstration: Bending instrument sides using the bending iron. (Note: All sides for the class will be pre-bent)
3. Demo and practice cutting with coping saws.
4. Divide group into 2 units. At least one of the units cuts backs for their instruments and glues back to sides and end blocks using molds (gluing jigs), then frees up molds for the second unit.

Friday May 2 Session Two
Coping saw, glue, clamps, gluing molds, tapping in frets
1. Demonstration: The Fretboard.(whole group) Note: fretboard will have precut fret slots, slotted tuning head already shaped (some sanding still needed), predrilled holes for tuning pegs, nut pre-cut and fitted, strum hollow pre-shaped
2. Demo: Review techniques for cutting with a coping saw
3. Demo: Using hammer to install frets
4. Unit one: Install frets (combination of tapping with light fret hammer and using a board and clamp system)
5. Level frets. File fret ends.
6. Unit two: Tracing, taping, and cutting out two-piece tops (soundboard)
7. If we can, we will glue fingerboards to tops of some instruments

Friday May 9 Session Three
Hand drill, Forstner bit, chisels, clamps, glue, gluing molds
1. Finish gluing fingerboards to tops
2. Drill soundholes (Unit 1, then Unit 2)
3. Glue top/fingerboard assembly to sides/back/endblock assembly (Unit 1, then Unit 2)
4. Demo: Using a chisel to trim overhang
5. Chisel top and back overhang, shape end blocks, etc

Friday May 16. Session Four
(Note: Woodworking glitches arise and expand to fill the time and space available, so our plan for this session may have to be adjusted)
Sandpaper, blocks, finish
1. Masking and sanding demo.
2. Sanding and finishing assigned and explained. Distribute sandpaper and Minwax.

Friday May 23 Session Five
Tuners, string pins, strings, trisquare, file, drill
1. Mark and drill 6 small screw holes in tuning head (2 per tuner).
2. Install tuners
3. Mark and drill 3 holes in end block for 3 string pins
4. Install 3 string pins
5. Install bridge and 3 strings
6. Tuning demonstration
7. TUNE UP

Session Six at Holland Center, TBA.
Playing session (maybe 2 hours) for players and new instruments. Note: We will have a teardrop instrument at SPiCYAM during the 5 building classes and will encourage folks to try them in the interim. We will be playing a bit as well as getting dulcimer info on the Internet and from Jerry’s website during the downtime within the sessions.

Building Outline: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | SPiCYAM Class Syllabus |