MIMF

Alan, I guess the band saw I have is basically for cutting small thin pieces, and curved things. I probably will still order several different widths and teeth combinations. I'm sure that eventually I will need a particular blade for some kind of project.

Hi Peter, Unfortunately Parkers had a fire. Right now they are closed, and in the process of fixing all the fire damage, and from what it looks like, I think they are actually going to update the store. As for Homely Despotty in Yuccy Valley, that is where I got some of my wood. I have two selection...

Bob, Thanks so much. Now I have some sources for when my skills are good enough to risk working with more expensive wood. For now I am going to use fairly cheap wood for practise. I figure that's better than ruining a $30 set of Spruce panels, or some other expensive wood. Plywood seems to be the wa...

I found a kit supplier, "Grassroots Dulcimers" that provides a 15/14 kit for $250. This seems to be the best price for a basic kit for someone learning like myself. The reason I think I will go with the kit is that I tend to goof on cuts, which usually ends up my using two to three times t...

Barry, thanks much. The closest supplier to 29 Palms, California is Cherokee Wood Products, which is 106 miles away, and that is basically a home builders wood supplier. Unfortunately there isn't much in the way of wood suppliers here in the desert. Almost everything I need for anything I order onli...

Hi there. I haven't posted in quite some time. Life always seems to get in the way of having fun creating. I am a bit frustrated when it comes to finding wood suppliers. Just about all I can find are either lumber suppliers that basically supply large quantities to those who are in the house buildin...

James, I used bronze wrapped strings on my Zither refurbishment. I had the same problem with those strings being too fat. The only solution to using the same pins is to remove the wrappings from the core music wire. What I did was pull each string taut to measure how long it needed to be. I then cut...

I finally got the Zither retuned. It's still not perfect, but it sounds better. I made a couple of recordings for your listening. Just strumming the chords, and the melody string pairs. Please forgive my horrenndous attempt at strumming the strings. It's pretty difficult for me to hit just the two s...

Steve, it is my way of saying "out of tune". Told everyone that I have no previous music experience, so my way to talking about the subject will probably drive most people nuts. .

I noticed they strings creep away from the note they are supposed to be. I have retuned it once already, but it is getting to the point where I am afraid to tighten some strings more, as I think they will snap. Maybe it is possible that these strings, being of modern make are not quite designed to t...

Barry, All of those strings are new, as are the hitch pins, and tuning pegs. The reason the instrument sounds weird is maybe because I do not know how to play a lap harp. I'm going to try to make some music sheets that I can slip under the strings, so they can guide me on where to pluck the strings ...

I thought I would post a picture of the Zither with the new strings. Sorry for the blurry photo. Just could not seem to get a good focus. I think the golden colour of the strings contrasts with the black nicely. This is a 4 Chord Zither with melody strings. I tried to figure out what the chords were...

I don't own a cell phone. The reason is that for most of my working life I was hitched to either a beeper/pager or a cell phone so I could be contacted 24/7/365. I kinda hate phones for that reason. Anyway, I have the two tuners, the cheaper chromatic that I will try to sell for say $10 plus shippin...

I've finally come to the conclusion that tines of certain thicknesses and cross sections can only cover so much of the musical spectrum, even when you modify them by filing the thickness. I purchased another roll of electrician's fishing tape, this one being 1/8 x .045. The previous roll that I stru...

Barry, I was wondering how I could use wood. Unfortunately I do not own a hand plane. Guess it is time to purchase one. I cannot afford a $100+ Stanley. Do you recommend one that is somewhat multi-purpose. The reason is I live in a very small house, and have not garage or covered patio. So everythin...

Report on fixing other loose holes. Some of the holes were so big that just CA did not do the trick. It firmed up the sides of the holes, but did not make the wood expand enough. I have done other reading, and one of the methods is to use various materials to fill things in. One mentioned using elec...

Barry, Thanks so kindly. Based on my study of the Chromatic Kalimba that was shown on YouTube, it looks like that builder used thick Music Wire for the left tines. So, I am guessing that if I pick up some of that same music wire, and tune them, that side should sound better. And I am also guessing t...

The CA glue did the job of tightening up the hole. Only problem was I put too much in, and it pooled at the bottom of the hole. Couldn't see how the glue was going in with that little tube down in the hole. But not to worry. I used a smaller drill bit than the hole diameter, and twisted it a lot, an...

I purchased a bottle from Amazon. I have a lot of those little slip on nozzles with the long skinnt neck so t hat you can place the glue in harder to reach places. I will take the pin out and stick those in the hole, then squirt some CA on the sides. I had also thought about the pin sticking. CaleyAnn

Thanks, I just ordered 2 of the .080 strings. They will have to do for the .080 and .082 strings on this Zither. I get the feeling that my measurements are probably a bit weird. The .080 actually measured about .0805, and the .082 actually measured about .08105. I wonder if that is because of the po...