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The brace placement is a critical part of the instrument design. they have to take the load of the bridges and distribute. the string pressure puts quite some stress on them. If glued and placed properly they actually help amplify the sound by keeping not only the top but also the bottom of the instrument in resonance.

thank you for your kind words

Even I have questions about the same, as I too have one with me. Really want to know.

Thanks , if you could keep in touch, and share any link, as I cannot understand why it is soooooo difficult to get the tuning chart that is needed,

i reference the book that i used as a guide when building the instrument. it is in german language, but it includes pretty good plans, can recommend it even if you dont speak the language

you can find the name of the book in the video description

hey, thank you so much! theyre from an old book in german language. you find the book in the video description. enjoy the build!

yess handcrafting a musical instrument and slowley realizing that it starts resonating is an amazing experience. highly recommended!

hey claudia, i bouht them through a piano technician, who got them from a them german distributor jahn pianoteile (www.pianoteile.com/)

thank you!! I appreciate the kind words. i dont exactly know the name of those little pins. i purchased these a while ago for 6mm size, however for other sizes i have made them myself by simply putting a threaded screw of the dowel size into a drill and then flexing off the screw head while having the drill on, until you have a nice pointy tip.

awesome tip and awesome instrument. Can't wait to do mine

if your interested drop me a pm on instagram/solitude_woodworking

@solitude_woodworking

thank you, william!

Hey Matt, these are nickel-plated 5mm tuning pins, I used a 4.8mm Drillbit. I drilled all the way thru the pin blocks, as the pins will slowly but surely make their way deeper down into the hole when the instrument is tuned.

hey mark, thank you for your feedback. i might consider this for future builds. i hope you can still follow along the process. if you have any questions feel free to put them here, i will be happy to answer.

if i remember correctly its around 30mm although i removed quite a bit of material towards the edges.

@@solitudewoodworking8431 thank you.

hey tal, sorry for the late reply. so with oil finish you just want to be careful, as it might affect the grip of the pin inside the pinholes. i confirmed the oil i used with a friend who is a piano technician and he suggested longterm testing because of that reason. the finish on my instrument has fully cured by now and i am very pleased with the result. i cannot find any negative effect on the tuning or the stability... however i have not tried any other finished yet. let me know what you ended up doing!

@@solitudewoodworking8431 thanks for answering.. I decided not to risk things and ended up using polyurethane varnish, the mahogany sound board goes over the pin blocks so I used colored grain filler then several thin coats of satin polyurethane varnish, I am really happy with how it turned out, especially the way the light plays off the strings reflecting onto the wood grain :). I will continue to use danish oil on my harps as the tuning pins are larger and the oil nicely evens the colour of the European Walnut I use, as you suggest I need to apply carefully around any holes and allow to cure fully before adding hardware.

it uas been out for a while, you can check all parts on my channel

@@solitudewoodworking8431 thanks!

thank you so much!!

Sometimes I enjoy using handtools over power tools. Usually it takes a bit longer though..

Thank you!! I have been using the red and blue titebond for all glueups and have been very pleased with the results

@@solitudewoodworking8431 Alright! Seems like TiteBond is universally loved for woodworking, how does it compare to Ponal or Pattex if you have experience with them?

thank you!! Yes the left bridge is tuned in a minor 6th, the additional bridge below is tuned as a 5th, therefore it is separate to the main left bridge.

The ply wood I used for the pin blocks has rather thin layers compared to some of the cheaper plys you sometimes find in hardware stores. However there are some defects in it, which I figured later in the buld. Next time I will most probably laminate my own ply wood for this kind of build to ensure high quality and zero defects also in the invisible layers.

solitude woodworking , thanks for replying. I did wonder if birch was hard enough to hold the tuning pins tight enough.

So far it seems very rigid. The holes are 0.5mm smaller in diameter than the tuning pins, which results in a tight fit. The instrument stabilizes more and more, it has been finished for three weeks now and barely detunes when temparature and humidity are constant. I believe that most of the detuning in the early stage is the wood settling and most of all the loops at the end of the strings tightening. For now however the birch ply seems to do a great job

Thank you aaron! This is my first build of this kind, glad to see, that you enjoy watching this.

I might add some in the future, but for now I will go without. Do you think they will be necessary?

@@solitudewoodworking8431 No, it was just wondering. I never seen how to make them in detail.

Thank You! I live in Germany. The hammered dulcimer has a large tradition in our and neighbouring countries.

solitude woodworking Wow I didn’t know about that instrumental fact!

The positions are relative to the bridges ontop of the soundboard. However they mustnot be right below, as that would prevent the soundboard from resonating, but then again they must be close enough to provide stability. I worked with dimensions that i found after long researches in the book im referencing (see video description). As this my first dulcimer build I cannot yet tell, if the placement is good or if i would make any changes in furthrr builds..

@@solitudewoodworking8431 I see. Thank you for reply!

Youre so right! How would you suggest to do these cuts?

@@solitudewoodworking8431 I would glue a sheet of foam on a piece of wood used as handle for push the piece you have to cut..

yes, please use a push block with your table saw.