How to Build Parts for a Hammered Dulcimer

A professional-quality hammered dulcimer can cost thousands of dollars.

The hammered dulcimer is an instrument in the zither family. The hammered dulcimer follows the same principles as a piano. Rather than striking the strings by means of a mechanism inside the instrument, the player strikes the strings with a pair of wooden devices known as hammers. Armed with woodworking skills and tools, basic knowledge of how a hammered dulcimer works, and a hardwood supply, you can build the parts for this instrument for less than $100.

Things You'll Need

• Hardwood pieces
• 1 sheet of 3/4" plywood
• 1 sheet of 1/4" plywood
• 2 wire coat hangers
• Hand saw
• Coping saw
• Electric drill with 9/64" and 3/16"bits
• Carving knife
• Awl
• Wire snips

Instructions

Pin Blocks, Braces and Bridges

1. Procure the hardwood necessary for building hammered dulcimer pieces. White oak, cherry, maple and walnut are strong enough to use to make bridges and braces. The pin blocks must withstand much stress while being dense enough to grip the tuning pins tightly, and maple is the most affordable type that will do the job well. You can laminate several thinner pieces of hardwood together to obtain the appropriate thicknesses. You will place the pin blocks within the body of the instrument at either end; they are each about one-eighth as wide as the total width of the instrument.

2. Cut the braces from the hardwood you've selected. The bridge braces sit inside the body and correspond to all the bridges on the top. The treble and bass bridges in the example that follows are small square pieces, but the bridge braces that correspond to them are narrow lengths of hardwood. For example, you might use these measurements :

   2 side bridge braces 3/4" by 1-3/4" by 11"

   1 treble bridge brace 3/4" by 1-3/4" by 12"

   1 bass bridge brace 3/4" by 1-3/4" by 5"

3. The side bridges are long, narrow pieces that you place off-center on top of either side of the sound board. The treble and bass bridges are small blocks rather than long ones in the pattern used here, but other examples of completed dulcimers show these pieces in a number of variations. One dulcimer had a one-piece bridge with round holes cut out, through which the strings were threaded.

   In the example from Step 1, these measurements are given for the bridge pieces:

   2 side bridges, each 1/2" by 3/4" by 13-1/2"

   4 bass bridges and 10 treble bridges, each 1/2" by 3/4" by 1-1/8"

Soundboard and Bottom Panel

1. Purchase the wood needed for the large top (also called the soundboard) and bottom panels. Plywood will suffice as long as it is at least an A-C grade fir. Its strength and stability along with acoustical qualities are well-suited to the dulcimer. Using plywood for the top and bottom panels gives the dulcimer integrity and longevity. For the soundboard, you can use walnut or mahogany for resonance and enhanced sound quality. The type of wood you choose depends mostly on the funds at your disposal.

2. Decide on the pattern of the dulcimer you want to make.The sound board and bottom panel will be the same size when finished, but Mother Earth News contributor Philip Mason suggests leaving the bottom piece slightly oversize, then trimming it to fit after the adhesive has dried. The example presented here is a rectangular pattern. Many dulcimers are made in the familiar trapezoid shape.

3. Cut the pieces for the bottom and the top or soundboard. The example from Section 1 uses rectangular pieces with these measurements :

   One 3/4" by 15" by 31-1/2" bottom panel

   One 1/4" by 15" by 31-1/2" soundboard

Wire Bridge Caps, Hitch Pins, Tuning Pins and Music Wire

1. Buy or recycle some plain wire coat hangers to use as bridge caps. The bridge caps center on each of the bridges, so you must cut a shallow groove to accommodate them. Remove any paint or coating on the wire coat hanger before cutting it. Cut the bridge caps by length to fit within the bridges, using 14 1-1/8" for the bass and treble bridges and two 13-1/2" for the side bridges.

2. Purchase 28 zither-type tuning pins size 0.198 by 1 5/8 inches and 14 roundhead screw hitch pins size No.8. Recycled piano pins are a good alternative you can find as salvage. Hitch pins are stationary. Tuning pins turn to adjust the pitch of the strings.

3. Purchase three sizes of plain music wire to make the instrument playable, for example: No. 6 (0.016" diam.) for highest pitch treble courses, No. 8 (0.020" diam.) for mid-pitch treble courses, and No. 10 (0.024" diam.) for bass courses, in plain music wire. Lengths of wire for each course are at least double the length of the soundboard. Secure each course, which consists of one length of wire, to the first tuning peg. Bring it around the corresponding hitch pin, then take it to the next tuning peg in in the course and wind it securely to it. Adjust the pitch by turning one or the other of those tuning pegs. Multiply that length by the number of courses of high treble strings. Repeat for all courses.

Tools, Finishes and Other Accessories

1. Build the instrument by using handsaws and coping saws, an electric drill, several bar and C-clamps, an awl and a sharp knife. You will need a good carpenter's glue and sandpaper in grades from coarse to superfine for attaching the bridges and braces and completely assembling all the pieces.

2. Finish the instrument with some paint or varnish. You will likely want to paint plywood, while a hardwood soundboard calls for a finish of varnish to showcase the wood color and grain you chose.

3. Tune your completely assembled instrument. For this, you need a tuning wrench and a pitch pipe or the equivalent in a functioning keyboard. Play the hammered dulcimer using a pair of homemade or purchased hammers.

Tips & Warnings

• Keep extra music wire on hand since strings do break at times.

References

• "The Mother Earth News" - How to Make and Play a Hammered Dulcimer ; Sept/Oct 1983
• "The Mother Earth News" - Homegrown Music and Musical Instruments - Hammered Dulcimer

Resources

• Dusty Strings Instruments