Dulcimer sides

[Barry Daniels]

The L-shaped base is made from 3/4” MDF and the movable fence is 3/4” oak.

[Allyson Brown]

Too late now, but another good option for thinning dulcimer sides is something along the lines of what is sold as the Luthier's Friend Sanding Station, which is basically a drillpress-mounted sanding cylinder with a bottom bearing and an adjustable block next to it. Very easy to make if you don't want to buy one, and the cylinder/bearings are easy to find. I made one and have used it for dulcimer, mandolin, and violin sides. Not very useful for larger sides, but great for these smaller instruments.

The Luthier's Friend Sanding Station sounds like a handy DIY solution for thinning dulcimer sides. It's fantastic that you've applied it to dulcimers, mandolins, and violins—versatility in tools is always a plus. Have you come across any other useful DIY solutions for instrument crafting?

[Jim McConkey]

I make a variety of instruments and don't specialize on any one (well, dulcimers if anything), so versatility is necessary. But the instruments I build are all very roughly the same size. The same principle would work for guitar sides, but they are wider, and the tallest normal sanding cylinders are only about 3", which is too short. In general, I build most everything by hand, and only rarely use power tools, but there are plenty of other useful jigs that people who do use constantly. There are plenty of examples in the Tools discussions and in the our Library.

[Allyson Brown]

Too late now, but another good option for thinning dulcimer sides is something along the lines of what is sold as the Luthier's Friend Sanding Station, which is basically a drillpress-mounted sanding cylinder with a bottom bearing and an adjustable block next to it. Very easy to make if you don't want to buy one, and the cylinder/bearings are easy to find. I made one and have used it for dulcimer, mandolin, and violin sides. Not very useful for larger sides, but great for these smaller instruments.

Additionally, the fact that it's relatively easy to make, with readily available components, makes it an accessible option for luthiers and instrument builders who prefer DIY solutions or want to save on costs.