Setting Up Shop

Through good fortune and an acquaintance who has taken an interest in encouraging a new woodworker, I have a little bench! Since my "woodshop" is also my apartment (how many girls can say they sleep with their tools?) I needed something small for now--mostly to protect the landlord's floor from dings & etc.

This small bench is just the size I wanted and
measures 16d x 36w x 29t. The laminated top is sturdy and will provide a good surface for clamping and gluing up. I'm thinking about fitting a piece of plywood between the legs to make a shelf for storage and possibly the use of go-bars. There is just enough space under that to make a "drawer" on casters where I could store my tools . . . instead of the pizza box.

I may post a picture of my old-tool collection in the next post where I hope to cover plans and layout.




Here's what I have collected so far for wood and my intention for each.  

Maple : bridge, tailpiece, toe end and string nut
Alder: sides and neck

Walnut: I may or may not use this, but thought it might make nice tuning pegs for the melody strings.
Cherry: this will be for my keys and key box sides, and may become the back/bottom of the instrument's soundbox.  The cherry isn't quite wide enough to make a one-piece back, so I may rip it to book-match it and glue it up/plane it that way.

I "thunked" each piece and all are highly resonant. All I'm missing is a piece for the soundboard. I purchased these woods at Windsor Plywood, but they didn't have any redwood or spruce. I was encouraged to check with our other local supplier, Johnson Madison, as they "might have some quarter-sawn redwood laying around".

This blog post belongs to me and was originally published under the "Lemon Floss" blog. I am updating my blog and moving my old posts to my new blog.

The Project & Goals

The goal of this project is to build and learn to play a nyckelharpa, and in the process explore woodworking with hand tools. I plan to post weekly, unless the project moves more quickly and I have more material to share. I hope to complete the instrument by June, allowing extra time for gathering materials/ tools/ etc. and for picking the brains of local woodworkers on using hand tools and working wood.


. . . learning to play? . . . well, we'll cross that bridge when we get there!

Because I tend to side-track and lose myself in every little distraction, I have taken the time to sit down and write an outline for this project; however, I'll keep the outline to myself so that readers who miss this first entry will think I'm wonderfully organised, on-top of things and dedicated to this blog (not just checking off a list of to-dos).

Initially I'll cover the whys, whatnots and what-the-hecks which will allow me to write something while I continue collecting materials so that when I'm ready to cut and carve I can dive light in.  In the meantime, where does a girl who is new to woodworking keep her growing collection of hand tools?




In an old pizza box. Yup, it's true!



This blog post belongs to me and was originally published under the "Lemon Floss" blog. I am updating my blog and moving my old posts to my new blog.