Mountain Dulcimer

This dulcimer was on my list of things to make for a long time. My lovely Emily is a mad Joni Mitchell fan so i thought it would be a perfect birthday gift. I foudn some sections of Meranti for the back and sides, some Alder for the headstock, Spanish Cedar for the neck and some Spruce for the top and bracing. I didn't have any plans to go off and ended up just eye balling a few designs off the net and freestyling the rest.

I had never bent Meranti before so the outcome was a bit dicey but it ended up being super easy and not a pain in the arse at all. This was the headstock, i cut it too thin for the tuners so added some Meranti as a veneer either side.

I made up some old school clamping jigs for the back and top, they had to be longer than the ones i had laying around for guitar backs and top. The old rope and wedge trick is soo much easier than any elaborate clamping table.

The amount of clamping pressure you need if your joint surfaces are true is nothing, it's always worth the extra time with the plane to get it perfect.