Cutting instructions - Everything Dulcimer

Hammered dulcimer adjustable Scissor stand instructions:
Cutting instructions
Not To Scale: Diagram 1 Front Short Legs – Cut 2.
Round this corner well with sander
cut for strap
Hinges will go here
| 1 ½”
| 1 3/8” |
________________________________________________________________
_|_
|
____|
1½“
. __
|_______________________________________________________________________
|
1”
|
42 “
|
|
|
| 3/8”
Top of legs are on left side.
Save 2 scraps for short pieces that go inside back legs. Cut two pieces from the scraps to 3 ½” long
Drill 12 holes 1 ½” apart starting 10 ½” from the top (left in picture). Make sure holes are centered.
Not to Scale: Diagram 2; Back Long Legs – Cut 2
Hinges will go here on inside pieces
|
7/8” |
| 1 ½”
|
_____________________________________________________________________
1½“
_________________________________________________________________________________
|
4’
|
Top of legs are on left side.
You will cut 2 scrap pieces from the short legs 3 ½” long. Clamp each of these pieces to the long legs at
the top, and cut the angles so that each leg and its’ inside piece are exact.
Drill 12 holes 1 ½” apart starting 16 ½” from the top (left in picture). Make sure holes are centered.
Scrap piece about 3 ½” long will be attached here on inside of each leg.
Hammered dulcimer adjustable Scissor stand instructions:
Items Needed:
4
4’ x ¾” x 1 ½” oak (probably labeled 1” x 2”) I purchase 2 in 8’ lengths
2
straps – leather or heavy belt web type – approximately 1 yard each
2
pieces of strong thin (about 3/8”) rope to tie the stand together, or thick leather for hinges.
I prefer the thick leather which I purchased at a hobby store in a scrap bag, which gives me
extra leather for hammers, hinges and padding on the front of the dulcimer stand.
2
2” bolts and wing nut to fit (I use the more expensive plastic covered wing nuts)
4
1 1/4” flat head wood screws (to screw small piece of wood at top of stand)
6
1” flat head wood screws and washers (to screw strap or leather to top of stand)
Wood glue; also fray check or clear nail polish if using web strap
4
1” flat head screws to screw strap onto front of stand
2
felt pads, or pieces of leather to put over strap where dulcimer touches front of stand
Rope for hinges – about 3 feet, thin strong rope, or thick leather to make hinges with
Tools needed:
Drill and drill bits (bits sized according to your bolt and screw sizes). A drill press is wonderful
for the holes needed in the legs.
Saw – I prefer a circular hand saw for cutting the angles on the legs
Screwdrivers to fit screws
Sander and sandpaper
Patience and perseverance
Cutting Instructions:
Mark and cut the pieces of oak as shown on diagrams 1 and 2. I usually mark one piece and clamp
both pieces together and cut at the same time. That way they are the same.
After cutting the angles on the long pieces, I clamp the two short 3 ½” pieces that go on the inside
to each of them and cut the angles on the short pieces so that they are exactly the same as on the
long piece.
Hammered dulcimer adjustable Scissor stand instructions:
Picture 1 – cut boards with scraps clamped and glued. This is my first design I used to cut a slot to insert
the strap for the front of the dulcimer – inserting the strap is very tedious, so I now just cut this part out,
glue and screw the strap, then cover with a thick piece of
leather.
Assembly Instructions:
Mark the holes on the legs making sure the centerline of the
hole is ¾ inch from each side (centered). The short legs
holes should start about 10 ” from the top of the leg, and the
long leg holes should start about 16 ” from the top. Drill
the holes with a bit that is just slightly larger than your
bolts. Make sure the bolts fit through the holes fairly
easily, but with not too much slack. Clamp the 2 long legs
together and drill the holes. Then clamp the 2 short legs
together and drill the holes. By drilling the legs together,
this ensures your holes will be at the same height.
Glue the 2 short pieces to the long legs at the top, making
sure to line them up exactly. I clamp tightly for a few
hours, then drill holes and screw in the 4 screws (2 per
piece) so that each piece is secure. Then sand so that the
pieces are smooth, making sure that you round over the top
nicely.
Picture 2 – drilling holes using a drill press. Note the
board clamped to the drill press behind so that every hole is
aligned properly.
If you are using rope as your hinges, you need to drill two
holes in the top of the long legs, and bottom of the short legs
through for you to tie the rope through. Make the holes
slightly larger than the rope. You will thread the rope
through to make a figure 8.
Sand all of the boards, making sure you sand around the
holes well. A dremel tool is good for this if you have one. I
make sure the bottoms of the legs are very smooth and
rounded so they will not scratch the floor. Do not sand the
tops of the long legs yet, and only the bottom of the 2 short
pieces.
If you want to stain or varnish your stand, now is the time to
do it.
If you are using rope, tie your top legs together using a figure 8, and then your bottom legs and tie fairly
tightly. You may want to look up knots for tying these as you do not want them to fail. In order to keep
Hammered dulcimer adjustable Scissor stand instructions:
from fraying, you may want to burn, use clear nail polish, or Fray Check (from a sewing or craft store).
If using leather hinges, I double hinge – put a folded piece of leather on the inside with the fold at the
back, then a piece of leather on the outside. I glue these on first, then drill a hole and screw it in with a
screw and washer. I always predrill as it’s difficult (maybe impossible) to screw into oak without
predrilling. Be careful that if you put screws in the bottom hinges that they will not scrape the floor. I
usually wait to put the screws in the hinge on the outside top until I run the strap over as that will be
attached with screws and will serve to both hold the strap and the leather hinges in place.
Picture 3 – assembled stand without straps – front view.
Note that the strap cutout on the front faces the inside of
the stand.
Put the bolts into the holes that you feel you would like
to set your dulcimer up at and attach the wing nuts,
making sure you use the same holes on each side. You
may need to adjust this several times later in order to get
the adjustment that you like. You may want to figure
out positions for both sitting and standing later on.
Make sure the wing nuts are on the outside of the stand,
and that the long legs are on the outside and the short
legs are on the inside. I find that these bolts need to be
tightened fairly often, especially when first put into a
hole, but with the plastic covered wing nuts is easy to
do.
Make sure the ends of your straps are not going to fray (I
burn the edges of mine). If using leather, you may not
need to fold over the strap, but if using strap material,
fold over so that when you attach it you are going
through two thicknesses. Attach each strap to the front
of the dulcimer stand – I use two screws, and then glue thick leather on top of this to keep the screws from
touching the dulcimer.
I use a gap of 21 inches from the inside of the bottom leg to the inside of the top leg. You can make this
longer or shorter to suit the size of your dulcimer. I cut the strap so that it is about 6” longer than this
(about 27” – cut after you have attached the strap to the front of the stand), and fold over the strap so that
it is doubled over the back of the stand about 2 ½” and will stick out about ¼-1/2 “ on the front of the
back legs. I then screw in three 1” screws on the back of the legs to secure the strap by drilling first,
putting on some fray check (sewing supplies) or clear nail polish in the hole and then inserting the screws
with washers. It is important that you ensure that both straps are the same length. Make sure the top
screw is angled so that it doesn’t stick out of the wood.
Put felt pads or leather on the short legs where the dulcimer rests against the wood. The strap at the top
will keep the dulcimer from touching the wood at the top, however if you have a large dulcimer that
actually sits on the wood you might want to put some pads there also.
Hammered dulcimer adjustable Scissor stand instructions:
Picture 4 – assembled stand without straps – side view. Where you see the slot on the front boards is
where I now just cut out to install the strap, I used to insert the strap in with some fabric glue, then run
about a 2” screw down from the top of the board through the strap.
You may want to put a piece of string, strap or rope
between the legs to keep them from spreading out.
There are other options for supporting the dulcimer in
the front. One is to use a dowel, but you then need to
put the strap through the dowel (maybe with a hole or
leather punch) and screw the strap to the front of the
dulcimer.
This size works great for a stand up stand. If you’re
tall, you might want to buy longer wood and make the
legs a little longer, but the angles can probably remain
the same. For me, the footprint on this stand is huge
when I use it for a sit down stand, but I am only 5’ 1”
so if you are taller it will not be quite so large.
Although for my first 2 or 3 stands I used standard
hinges, I no longer use these since the stand is
adjustable I was concerned that it would put too much
stress on the hinges because the angles would not be
perfect and would cause extra stress on the hinges. I
now use thick leather, shown in pictures below.
Picture of stand with leather hinges - front
picture of stand with leather hinges – back
Picture of stand with leather hinges, bottom legs (rear of stand)