THE TOP - Mountain Music Fills the Air: Banjos and Dulcimers: The Foxfire Americana Libray - Eliot Wigginton, Foxfire Students

Mountain Music Fills the Air: Banjos and Dulcimers: The Foxfire Americana Libray - Eliot Wigginton, Foxfire Students (2011)

THE TOP

Select a piece of chestnut or whatever you wish to use and cut and glue a 7″×30″×1/8″ piece as you did for the back. Place the top blank on the bottom with the two bookmatched sides on the outside. Trace the shape and saw these pieces together. By keeping the top and bottom in the same position as they were cut, you do not have to worry about the contour of both sides being the same, as the top and bottom will match. Sand the inside and outside of these parts. Cut a slot in the top under the fret board (ILLUSTRATIONS 88 and 89). Also, fix the position where sound holes are to be cut in the top. Make a pattern from paper or a thin, flat piece of plastic, cut the shape you want, place it on the top, and draw the design. Use a jig saw or coping saw: drill holes in the top, insert the blade through this hole, and cut the sound hole to the traced shape. Take care in cutting these holes. Finish the shape with a sharp knife. Get the shape of the sound hole right, as it is going to be on the top of the dulcimer and it is always the first thing noticed if it is not right.

The sides are cut from the same wood as the back. Start with a piece 30″ long and a little wider than the slots in the peg head and peg end. Dress this piece on a jointer to get it smooth. Slice a thin piece off with a bench saw—a little under 1/16″—so it’s flexible. Dress down the blank, and saw another side. Make three or four sides, always dressing down the thick blank, as the cut sides are too thin to dress on a machine. We now have all the major parts made and can start assembly.