Ulrich, why would want this discussion to stop? It's getting really interesting. There is considerable knowledge and talent here on this forum and I think the subject of "Affordable Hurdy Gurdy Construction" is worth delving into. I guess I'm assuming that someone who is looking into building their own gurdy will search this forum and discover this thread an so it's appropriate to discuss the costs and ramifications of attempting to build one from scratch within a budget.
On Wed, Oct 26, 2011 at 7:25 AM, Kazimierz Verkmastare <[email protected]> wrote: > Alden, I hope you don't mind me using you for an example. > > Steve, will you agree with this statement - "If what you want is an Olympic > Chinook, then you shouldn't expect, unless you are Cali and Alden, to be > able to build one for less than they do. They have streamlined production > and amortized costs, and probably can't lower costs (materials + labor + > tools) further." > > I would actually say that if what you want is an Olympic Chinook then you shouldn't expect to be able to build one at all unless you're Cali and Alden. Now if you were an experienced luthier and had an actual Olympic Chinook in front of you, and were experienced and proficient at top voicing, then you might expect to be able to make a reasonably good copy, but not for less than they do. So say you want a Chinook, if you are as skilled and knowledgable as the > Hackmans, you can build yourself one for probably $1700 or $1800, real cost. > (Don't remove labor cost from the equation - your time is worth it). > I agree with almost everything you've been saying except the part about counting labor time as real cost. Now this is true if we're talking about someone who is thinking about going into business of making hurdy gurdies to sell, but if I want to spend my unpaid time on learning about and building a hurdy gurdy, and don't buy premium AAAA luthierie woods, then my total cash outlay for a Chinook-like hurdy gurdy would be around $300 or less -- even accounting for precision bushings and a shaft from McMaster Carr and a AA spruce top from Luthier's Mercantile. The expensive exotic hardwoods and highly figured woods that luthiers use in their instruments don't have anything to do with the sound quality or stability of the instrument. ( I could launch into a huge discussion proving this statement, but it's already been hashed out quite thoroughly in many forums and technical papers.) Beautiful wood is an artistic choice. [...] > > Tools? You don't need tools. A pocketknife, a piece of broken window > glass, a hacksaw blade nailed to a bent willow twig, a carpenter's pencil > and a leather punch, that's all you need, right? No. > I would contend that all you need is a bow saw with a thin blade and a thick blade, a luthier's knife (made from an old file), a steel scraper, a drill, and possibly a wood carvers gouge. (Assuming you buy the shaft, bushings, and top wood). [...] > > [...] But a player who wants a good instrument but can't afford one and > has little woodworking skills does not stand a great chance of success in > building a great gurdy fast and with only a couple of hundred bucks to throw > at the project. And those are the folks we address here. > A few years back, at a music camp, I met a very excellent gurdy player who had built his own. It had a great sound, easily comparable to the $5000 range instruments also at camp. It was the first instrument he ever built (he was about 24 years old), and he made it using only hand tools and a power drill in his apartment living room. The body was a converted $10 classical guitar, the shaft and bearings were wood, and the wheel was made from a scrap of Baltic Birch plywood. It was quite fascinating to watch the "nose in the air" disdain from other gurdy players turn to mortification when they realized that this disreputable looking instrument made their very expensive showpiece sound like a thinly wailing rodent. (their words, not mine, said in good jest I'm sure.) This kid wasn't a genius, didn't come from a professional woodworking family, had only had the experience of playing on a friends gurdy "a few times". He told me it took him about two weeks of evenings to put together and the hardest part was cutting the key guides and getting the dog to buzz right. -S -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "hurdygurdy" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/hurdygurdy The rules of posting, courtesy, and other list information may be found at http://hurdygurdy.com/mailinglist/index.htm. To reduce spam, posts from new subscribers are held pending approval by the webmaster.
