The Dulcimer Exploded

(Copyright 2002 by Randy “Ardie" Davis. Excerpt from Chapter 3 in “A Dulcimer Builder’s Do-It-Yourself Guidebook." Contains helpful information about Dulcimer Design, Dulcimers Parts, and Hardwoods. For more information, please visit http://www.hamiltonardie.com/DIYBookPage.htm.)

Before cutting your first board it’s a good idea to understand how the dulcimer is constructed, to understand a little about hardwoods, and to do some simple calculations.

I’ve listed the parts of the dulcimer below, and identified the wood and hardware needed for each part.

Following that are some illustrations of the dulcimer and pin block.

The dulcimer is constructed of the following major parts:

Rails                          The rails form the frame of the dulcimer. Their primary purpose is to lend rigidity and strength to the frame.

Pin Blocks                The pin blocks  are the "shoulders" of the dulcimer and must withstand the stress of the hitch pins, tuning pins and strings.

Soundboard            The primary purpose of the soundboard  is to vibrate in sympathy with the strings. It provides the top of the sound chamber. The soundboard dictates the tonal quality and influences the volume of the instrument.

Bridges                     The bridges serve to support and separate the strings so they can vibrate freely. The placement of the Treble Bridge also provides the "Fifth Interval" tuning for the Diatonic scale .

Bottom Panel          The bottom panel provides the bottom of the sound chamber.

Internal Braces      The internal braces prevent the pin blocks  from pulling together under the tremendous strain of the strings. 

Bridge Supports    The internal bridge supports lie under the soundboard , directly beneath the upper bridges. The placement and construction of the bridge support can affect the volume and tone of the instrument. The bridge supports prevent the soundboard from collapsing.

In the table below I present all the components of the dulcimer, indicating how many there are, the material they are made of and any helpful comments I can think of.

Parts List

Dulcimer Components Illustrated

The Pin Block Illustrated (Side View)

As you can see by the illustrations, the challenge of constructing a good dulcimer is not in its design , which is not complex, but in its subtlety, in knowing what will affect sound and tonal qualities and what is purely cosmetic.

Materials List

Following is a materials  list that you will find handy. The list takes each part of the dulcimer and indicates approximately how much rough lumber, in board feet, or finished lumber, in lineal inches, is required for that part. The materials list also provides approximate measurements for each component of a part. For example, the soundboard , a trapezoid, is actually comprised of several planks of increasing lengths glued edgewise. The materials list will provide measurements for each plank.

*   These board feet estimates for walnut and maple are approximate to what you will actually use. However, since rough lumber doesn’t come in such neat measurements, you will actually end up buying more board feet than estimated here. For example, the rails of the dulcimer are 4" wide, but you will end up buying a 6" wide or 10" wide piece of rough lumber.

How Board Feet Are Calculated

Thus a board 1.25" thick by 6" wide by 96" (8’) long will yield 5 board feet.

1.25" x 6" x 96"

                     144             = 5 bf

Buying Unfinished Hardwood

If you’ve never bought unfinished hardwood  lumber before, you will need to know approximately how many board feet of a particular hardwood you will need, and then buy the size board that will yield at least that many board feet. As a simple example, take the Long Frame Rail  of the dulcimer, which is 7/8" thick x 4" wide x 47" long. This would require 1.14 board feet.

The size boards you will end up with depends on a) the size boards your lumberyard carries; and b) the clarity (quality) of the lumber you buy. Many lumberyards carry shorter-length, odd-size boards you can pick and choose from.

A Discussion of Hardwood Grades

Hardwood lumber is mostly graded on the size and number of pieces that can be obtained from a board when it is cut up and used in the manufacture of a hardwood  product. Grade is determined from the poorest face or side of the lumber. Buyers usually intend to use only the clear (defect free) material in a board, so a higher grade has a larger percentage of clear wood. But as you will see below, going for the higher-grade boards may actually work against producing a truly beautiful product.

The grades of hardwood  lumber, as defined by the National Hardwood Lumber Association (NHLA), in order of quality are as follows:

• Firsts
• Seconds
• Selects
• No. 1 Common
• No. 2A / 2B Common
• Sound Wormy
• No. 3A Common
• No. 3B Common

However most lumber mills and yards use adaptations and combinations of the NHLA grades. For example, Firsts and Seconds are often combined into one grade: "FAS"; No. 1 Common and Selects are often identified as "No. 1 Common and Better"; and No. 2A Common and 2B Common may simply be referred to as "No. 2 Common". For instrument building, we are not interested in anything less than No. 1 Common.

Boards are graded on the amount of clear wood (clarity) they contain. However you will discover that some of the more beautiful, even exotic, features of wood are found in the lower grades. Less “clear" wood often has interesting character that can be incorporated into the design  of the end product. As a result beautiful bargains are often found in the less expensive grades of lumber. If you’re smart, you will examine the No. 1 grade to discover real prizes.

Helpful Definitions

CF – Clear Face

FAS (First and Seconds)

The best and most expensive grade. Kiln dried. When clear, wide boards are required.

F1F / FAS1F

F1F/FAS1F stands for "First and Seconds one Face". The better face must meet the requirements for FAS, and the other face must be graded at No.1. Except for minimum width and length, FAS1F and Selects are virtually the same grade.

S2S (Surfaced Two Sides)

With S2S wood there is no need to surface the lumber yourself. Because it is finished on both sides, you get a good idea of the grain patterns. You will pay more for S2S hardwood .

SLR (Straight-line Ripped)

One edge of the board is ripped (cut) straight while the other edge is left uneven (rough cut).