Hourglass Dulcimer No. 25

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Built for a competition at my local woodworking club. We were given a 4 foot long construction grade Douglas Fir 2 x 6 and told to make something. This is my entry.
I call this a full-size working mock-up of an Appellation Dulcimer.  Almost everything came from the 2 x 6. The top of the fretboard is Maple and both sides are Tulip because the Douglas Fir was uncooperative when it came to bending. The original piece still had the mill stamp so I took a picture of it and engraved back onto the book-matched back pieces. One side is a mirror of the other.

Build Gallery

Rhoots

anyone that can take a 2x6 and make this is high on my list of woodworkers ! love the bow ties !! so does it play well ?

working with my hands is a joy,it gives me a sense of fulfillment,somthing so many seek and so few find.-SAM MALOOF.

Awesome! So unique…

Ryan/// ~sigh~ I blew up another bowl. Moke told me "I made the inside bigger than the outside".

Beautifully done!  The bookmatch really is a great visual feature.
Nice, love the workmanship    

Ron

This is really impressive!
I can understand the Tulip sides instead of the fir. I tried bending DF once. I managed a gentle curve with 1/16" thick strips soaked in boiling water. Only half of those worked.
I'm curious, did the alternate woods fit into contest rules?
so does it play well ?
Nahhh- buzzes like a hornet. Probably because the bridge needs more fine tuning and the action near the nut is too low. I'm not going to mess with it because I don't play the dulcimer beyond the neophyte level and have no interest in learning another instrument right now. Also those traditional tapered tuning pegs are horribly difficult to zero in.
Steve Rasmussen
did the alternate woods fit into contest rules?
Yes, the rule was to use the 2 x 6 as the base material. Anything else is acceptable for highlights, functionality, &c.

Rhoots

And to think I'm building a bench out of dug fir 2 by.

Really cool work

Petey

Thanks Robots - I was curious since there has been some discussions about contests here.
I’m sure you’ll win the contest. The build blog was very informative. How does the Douglas fur sound as the sound board? I think it should work well. 
The first time I saw a  Dulcimer was in the 70’s and Joni Mitchell was playing it. I think the song was California.