Hi Ken, Sandpaper poses some real problems for this work because it follows the contour of the wheel. From your description it would help by taking out the highest spots, but would only get you part way because it would not take care of larger problems. Chisels are *far* too aggressive for this kind of work and would tear out on almost any material. So it's not a matter of your wheel but your tool.
What you really want is a cabinet scraper and a jig to hold it firmly in place perpendicular to the wheel. The jig in such cases is mostly to protect the sound board since you can lay a scraper directly on a guard on the sound board and it will give you the right angle to the wheel in most cases. A scraper can be made from an old saw blade or you could buy one (they are just sheets of metal with a burr drawn along an edge). If you've not used a scraper before, look them up on google and figure them out. They are about as simple a tool as you can use or make and they are nice because the resharpening process involves using a screwdriver and not much more than that. When you use the scraper you will move it to the wheel while turning the wheel until you just start to take material off of high spots on the wheel. The scrapings should be a fine powder. From your description of your wheel you should hear a "ffff……ffff……ffff……" sound as it takes off the high spots. You will want to move the scraper in slowly until you have an even response and it's taking off the most minute amount of material around the entirety of the wheel. Depending on how bad your wheel is, this may take a while or it may go very quickly. Then you will need to put what seems a TON of rosin on the wheel for a while until it's built up a solid coating that has been absorbed into the wood. Since I don't know your background, I'll give a comment on rosining that may strike you as obvious or may not. Make sure when you apply it that you use a *smooth* block of rosin, not the jagged little bits most players seem to use, so that it builds an even coating. Move this block gently back and forth perpendicular to the wheel while you turn it. If you apply rosin properly with a good block in this manner, it is almost impossible to apply "too much rosin". My experience is that most players apply far too little rosin because they don't know how to apply it properly. When the try to apply it they hold a jagged piece against the wheel that leaves a trail of dusty, jagged powder that wreaks havoc on the wheel. Since I was taught how to apply rosin (something even some experienced players don't know!) I can apply rosin for five minutes if I want to and still end up with a perfectly usable wheel. Also, note that if you take off much material while working on your wheel you may need to work on your bridges to adjust the string pressure. If you regularly shim your strings up much you probably won't need to worry about this, but if you don't normally shim them you may find that you need to deepen the string grooves in your bridges... If you are worried about any of these steps, make sure you come back to the list with any questions you might have before trying them out. Best, Arle On Oct 3, 2008, at 12:55 PM, Ken of Bend wrote: > > After I got back from OTW, I decided to get the bumps, rough spots and > irregularities out of my (non-banded) 10 layer plywood wheel as it was > causing "pings" in my chanters and causing multiple buzzes on my dog > when I was trying to do an elongated buzz. I was hesitant at first as > I think I'm the only one who could get 12 buzzes out of a single > rotation of the wheel :) Anyway I went for it and built a jig to hold > my gurdy solidly, sharpened up my 1.5" chisel on a stone to razor > sharpness and went at it. Unfortunately this did not work well. The > quality of the plywood was such that for every fine shave that came > off, a new pit or rough spot would emerge. I started to think shaving > does not work for plywood! (Anyone have any comments on this?). > > I gave up on using the chisel and instead used sandpaper against a > block of wood wedged between the wheel and the wheel cover block. I > started with 120 and ended with 220 grit. I turned the wheel for at > least an hour to get the wheel where I wanted it, but I felt it only > improved the strength of my cranking hand so I didn't complain > (much). I wiped the wheel with a cotton cloth and rosined generously, > The result was much better then with the chisel, but not perfect. The > dog is decidedly smoother and the melodies sound sweeter, but alas, > there are still some imperfections left. I still get "pings" out of > the chanters if I go above a certain speed (although it's better then > it was) and I notice that the pings occur in the same rotational > position so I need to put it back on the jig and do some more > sanding. It's a lot of work but I know it will be worth it in the > end. > > Ken > > --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "hurdygurdy" group. 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