Kantele volume

The little kanteles I made recently are fairly quiet.  But not as quiet as the practice board I started with.

Just in case anyone reading this is curious about relative volume, here's a simple video.  Please remember that I am not, at this time, a kantele player.  I hope to be able to consider myself a player before long, but I am only as far as being able to tune and sort of form a couple of chords.  A good player can get a lifetime of music out of those 5 notes, but I'm not even close to there yet.

Still, if you just want to hear the volume difference, the video will illustrate.

The strings are the same between the two instruments.  Vibrating string length is very close, and I tried to use the same amount of force in strumming the two instruments.  The volume difference should purely be due to the different construction.

I actually suspect that the new kanteles would be a little louder if I used metal tuning pegs like with the practice board.  The wooden pegs may have a slight dampening effect on the strings.  I could be wrong about this, though.  I'd have to make another with the tuning pins to find out.

2 New Kanteles

The practice board from the last post is a nice quiet way to noodle around, but can hardly be heard a few feet away unless everyone is silent.  I wanted a nicer one that actually has a hollow body and more authentic look.  So I made two.

I like to make two of anything when I am working.  Part of that is because I can correct a process if I mess up on the first one, part of it is just because if I really like what I make, I can share it with someone else and still have one for myself.  Also, there's a search for efficient use of materials that appeals to me.

These were made with wood I had on hand, using the tools I have in the shop.  The video tells the whole story, really.

The body is maple, the soundboard comes from cedar siding that was scrap from refurbishing a local church.  Hollowing the body was done with a forstner bit, which drills a flat bottom hole.  By setting the drill press table at a height of 3/32" below the lowest point the bit can reach, I knew I wouldn't drill through the wood all the way.

It is much louder than the little practice board.  I like it.

Super Simple Kantele

I love music.  I love odd, quirky, obscure ethnic instruments.  Some years ago, I got interested in the Finnish instrument called the kantele.  It is a zither and comes in many different sizes.  However, the basic small kantele has 5 strings, tuned to the first 5 notes of a diatonic scale, usually.

This is a practice instrument I made back when I first got interested.  It is nothing more than a piece of Alaska birch with 5 zither pins and a simple bridge.  The proper instrument is a more elegant piece of work, but this lets me practice without being annoying, as the volume is very low.

The picture honestly shows all that you need to know to build one.  The notebook is there for size reference.  

I plan to make a more "proper" kantele soon.  It will be 10 sttrings and have a soundbox, so should have enough volume to be heard when played.  My wonderful wife bought me a book to learn from and it should be here in less than a week.  I'll report back after I learn to actually make some music with the instrument!

Throwing Target

We wanted a bigger target for the throwing implements.  So I made one.  The youngest, at age almost-8 was actually a big help with placing all these end-grain sections of 2x3 lumber.

There are about 250 pieces of wood, each glued together.  The target area measures 33" x 34.5"

What doesn't show is the two hinged legs in the back.  They are braced against the hillside behind the target.  

I'm looking forward to trying it out tomorrow!

Sunday Project

Hooray!  No school work to do today!  Time to fire up the forge!

Lots of folks are deprived of social contact right now and after a long winter, we are looking for outdoor things to do.  The daughter of a friend has expressed an interest in learning to throw knives, which always gets me smiling.  So, today's project was making some throwing spikes for her.

I don't have any process pictures, but there's not much to show, actually.  I straighten some spring steel, forge a point at one end, and grind the surface smooth.  Then heat treat.  That's it.

Here's a picture of the 20 spikes I made today, fresh from the tempering oven:

And here's a closer look at the tempering colors:

Aren't those pretty?  I love those oxide colors.  I think I'll leave these as-is and maybe add a clear coat of lacquer on top to keep those colors a little longer.  

I prefer spikes over knives for throwing for just plain fun.  I may eventually make some more flat knives for throwing, but these spikes are fast to make, tough, and easy to throw.  They are a little "rough and ready," but I've been throwing a set of these spikes for about 4 years and never had a problem with them.  You can scroll through some of my older posts to see mine.  

New Spoon

This is one of my normal medieval spoons.  I left it a little thicker than usual in the handle.  The best part is the interesting color in the wood.  There is a wonderful dark stripe down the middle of the whole spoon and one side is slightly darker than the other.  Just Alaska birch, but a really nice piece of it.  I'm going to enjoy this one.