Complelty new and a tiny bit lost

[wocket]

Thankyou all, even more for me to think about.

I'm looking for some silky oak but it's difficult to source. I can get my hands on any of these as floor boards: http://www.gardetimber.com.au/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=27&Itemid=31 and I'm leaning towards the rose gum and tassie oak.

I will be using a thicknesser to cut it so I'll try for 2.5-3mm thickness all the way around.

The workshop has a verticle drum sander (not sure thats the right name for it) and a belt sander too, so shaping from one peice should not be too problematic. I don't mind getting in there with a spoke shaver either if need be, though I have yet to try using one. If need be I'll break out the trusty dremmel.

It's all very new and it's gone fom being a very impossible task (I'm in that generation where girls we not allowed in the wood work class in school, we had to do home ec)to being one thats quite exciting thanks to this wonderful forum and a few other online recources I've stumbled across.

I wonder if any of you would mind looking over my plans to see if I've got them about right?

[mrchips]

It all comes down to how exact the fretboard was made and the proper spacing between the frets and strings. ALL else is basically your slant on how to do it.

First and foremost a fretboard must be dead level from one end to the other. Second the frets and nut must be within say 10 thou of the exact placement and also be dead level across the tops. One that doesn't match those two things will be from rough to impossible to play and wont ever sound right no matter if the rest of it looks like a real work of art.

The other thing, the string to fret spacing called action is a personal choice but there are averages that will work for others. All you need is a US dime and nickel for gauges to set one that way.. All 3 are far easier to achive than most realize. For exact dimensions and methods to get there, just ask and Some body will give you thier slants on it...

[wocket]

Yes, I'm still not sure how the fretboard is calculated, or how to put in the nut and bridge areas (or even what they should be made of!). It would be much easier if I could source some of the many book reccomened here but the only place I seem to find them is Amazon, which dislikes shipping to Australia for some reason.

[KenH]

Often the Nut is placed at the end of the fretboard, in a space between the end of the fretboard and the top of the tuning head. The other option is to cut a 4mm wide slot a few mm in from the end of the fretboard and mount the nut in that. If you use a Zero fret, then the Nut is nothing more than a spacer, and the start of the fret scale is the Zero fret itself.

I think we've given you some sources for fret spacing tables and calculators... When it comes to laying out the frets, do not use the "fret to fret" measures; instead use the "nut to fret" measures. You'll have virtually no cumulative error that way, and any error can be disasteros to proper sound creation.

The Bridge is often placed in a 4mm slot perhaps 35-50mm from the actual end of the fretboard/dulcimer body.

The nut and bridge can be made from a wide variety of materials - cross grained very hard woods like Ebony or Snakewood, Corian cabinet top material, Delrin "slippery" but hard plastic, horn, bone, even turtle shell. Generally they are 4mm wide and either triangular in cross section or rectangular, with the outside face tapered away on the back side at the top where the strings meet the upright.

[wocket]

Thankyou Ken, that clears a few things up for me.