Barbara Thank you for the nice comments and encouragement to stay with the group. I accidently deleted the email so must thank you, publicly, on this forum. Your antique gurdy and new commission sound fabulous! I can appreciate the wealth of knowledge this group has and know, if I keep my ears open, I will learn alot. Take care, Tim
On Nov 1, 5:20 am, timw <[email protected]> wrote: > I think Alden's proposal for a construction topic rocks!!! > > I would like to share photos and ideas and shopnotes on an amateur > build. I have made several luthier tools and would encourage others > that it is possible and can save a beginning luthier money (you still > pay, but in time and sweat equity). Sharpening tools is one of the > most basic skills you need to learn for good results in carving a > peghead (or any form of woodworking, for that matter). There are so > many sharpening methods out there, that sharpening would be a good > topic for an amateur construction topic. > > I am constructing my wooden mold, or form, for gluing up the body of > my first lutebacked gurdy, using Graeme McCormack's jiri plans. I have > his plan and believe it has all the info on it needed to build the > entire gurdy from scratch. I would also recommend making permanent > full-sized templates of each part to use on future builds. > > Alden's approach to a construction topic sounds good to me. Remember > the saying growing up, there is safety in numbers? Home shop builders > would learn alot from each other, and avoid pitfalls and mistakes by > sharing each builder's experience and frustrations. > > A construction topic would benefit all of us. Those that are > constructing a gurdy would have an area on the forum to exchange > information. Those that are bothered, for whatever reason, discussing > building, could just ignore the construction thread. Builders that > have the patience, skill and time will have an instrument of their > own. Builders that find they cannot make their own instrument would > still learn alot, but would be more likely to purchase a finished > instrument from a professional luthier. > > My vote would be for using Graeme McCormacks Jiri, but I am willing to > contribute in a construction thread building any gurdy the host of > this forum would decide on. This is a wonderful opportunity Alden is > proposing. If you have any interest at all in allowing a construction > topic, please let him know. > > Sincerely, Tim > > On Oct 31, 5:45 pm, Alden F M Hackmann <[email protected]> > wrote: > > > > > As I see it, most of us agree on the following: > > 1) Hurdy-gurdies built by professionals are expensive. > > 2) An amateur can build a hurdy-gurdy from a kit or plans. > > 3) To do so, the amateur needs to invest in some tools and (if building > > from plans) some supplies. > > 4) The amateur also needs to invest a substantial amount of time in the > > building effort. > > 5) The amateur should not reasonably expect to create a > > professional-quality instrument on the first try. > > > With all of that said, I am very interested in what can be done without all > > the big tools, basically starting with nothing. There's a lot of room here > > for discussion, sharing our experiences. > > > I propose the following thought-experiment: let's choose a set of plans > > that's available to everyone, and discuss the building process step by > > step, tool by tool, piece by piece, to build the instrument as shown in the > > plans. Consider how we would approach each problem, what tool(s) we would > > need to get to do so, and keep a running list of the (virtual) costs. If > > something in the plans is unworkable (such as the Varquin's bearing system) > > we can discuss what to do instead. > > > I would suggest Graeme McCormack's "Jiri", but the plans are for a modified > > lute, not an instrument built from scratch. I don't know of any full plans > > available free on the web - if you do, this is the time to speak up. ;-) > > > Alden F.M. Hackmann [email protected] > > > "Beati illi qui in circulum circumeunt, fient enim magnae rotae." -- 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.
