Comment

Comment by Roadkill a.k.a. John Maw on April 18, 2011 at 11:58am

Hi Rand.

I used to make bows for violin, viola and cello. Traditionally the sticks were bent using heat from a bunsen burner. I found that a hot air gun did a better job (there was a wider margin between the heat needed to bend and the heat that caused the wood to burn). It might be easier than steam. If you try it let me know how you get on. As I said, I have plans to make something similar at some stage.

Comment by Rand Moore on April 15, 2011 at 1:14pm

Hi John.

Yes, I'd be interested in seeing his formers. I wonder if he steams or boils his wood before he bends them and wedges in the tail piece. On mine, I bent them dry, so it's possible to do. However, the tail piece wants to shoot across the room if you're not careful (it happened to me several times). That's why I used a few screws to hold on the tail piece when gluing it up. I didn't have enough hands and clamps. Will have to check out his site. Thanks for the tip.

-Rand.

Comment by Roadkill a.k.a. John Maw on April 15, 2011 at 7:28am

Hi Rand. Lovely looking instrument. I have had something similar in mind ever since I saw the ones at Tiny Guitars. Have you seen the website of Michael J King? He has some plans for making a stick dulcimer and that involves making formers. You might find it interesting. Anyway love the instrument. Hope you get the tail piece worked out. It will be worth it. How does it sound?