I built my own hurdy gurdy after years of longing to own one without
the means of purchase. I had some experience with woodworking, some good
tools (power and hand), and very good plans for an early renaissance model
purchased from a professional builder. Because of the bizarre grain of the
wood I had (American elm), I had trouble finding someone willing to surface
the wood (a rough plank) to my dimensions; I had to rough it on a table saw
and get final thicknesses with a hand plane and scrapers. With some patient
telephone coaching from the designer of the instrument I was able build a
simple (no trompette, single chanter, 3 drone) hurdy gurdy. Howerever, it
was a number of years before I finally got the ³finished² instrument set up
satisfactorily (This forum was a great help in the final stages!).
I am no longer sure of the material costs, but it was far less than
a professionally built instrument. I am proud of the result of my labors,
and builcing my gurdy fulfilled a desperate need. BUT‹would I do it again?
I think not‹I¹d try to save up and buy one from a craftsman/artist who knows
what he¹s doing. This is certainly not intended to discourage anyone from
trying to build a hurdy gurdy or any instrument on his own‹by all means try
it if you really want to! I learned a lot from the experience and do not
regret it‹just be aware that it requires a good deal of patience. There is
an element to instrument building that is purely mechanical, but every
collection of wooden parts is an organic entity which requires its own
peculiar tweaking to become a musical instrument.
Regards,
Leonard Williams
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[: :]
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!~¿
On 10/26/11 4:46 PM, "Steven Tucker" <[email protected]> wrote:
> 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
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