Days 43, 44, 45, and 46: I Have a Great Life.

So blogging is hard, and it is such a commitment. There has been much going on in the last four days, but I've just not had the energy to write about it. Each blog takes hours to do, literally hours. But I've committed to doing this for several reasons. One of which is so that I have a record of what I'm doing and can refer back to that as often as I need or want. Another reason is so that Val can keep up with my comings and goings. We talk, of course, and we communicate throughout each day. But there is nothing like story to keep others involved in my life, even if just passively. Which leads to the last reason, and that is to keep those interested in what I'm doing informed. Even if I don't hear from others I just trust that they are out there sucking up my words and sentiments.

Day 43: The instrument is really coming together, and there are so many steps to finishing them up that I hope that I'm recording everything. I'll build three more with Dwain, so hopefully I'll have the process down by then. But I'm certain that it is only through practice that I will become proficient  and efficient in the process. But isn't it the same with anything, really? There is, though, a lot of other stuff that we are doing on top of building dulcimers. A major reason that I'm here is to learn how to make the materials to make dulcimers and to learn the business of selling dulcimers. So when we had to pick up the 14 cases yesterday, some shown here, that took time. But it was time that was spent talking to another luthier and learning the business of selling the stuff that goes with selling dulcimers.

And tools. I've got to learn what tools to use when and how. Dwain has this great setup for making his fret boards. But I will not have that rig for a long time. So we had to figure out how I will make my fretboards. Dwain showed me his mobile method, and this is the route that I'll take. So $400 later I'll be able to make accurate fretboards for my machines.

Which is what I worked on most of the day. I had to accurately cut my diatonic11 1fretboard, and then chamfer the edges of the cut so that the frets would live in their holes just right. Plus, if the frets need to be wrked on down the road they could be take out without tearing wood from the edges.

Then I had to press t he fret material into the holes. Dwain has a rig for this, too, and it was pretty easy to get the materials to live together as if they'd been there for ever.

And after a lot of meticulous work my fretboard was born! I then had to file down the edges of the frets so that anyone who plays the instrument doesn't cut their fingers moving up and down the fretboard. This took a lot of time, too, but it is necessary. At first I thought that doing so was overkill because I'd just run the cut metal over the Scotch-Brite wheel, and that really rounded the edges. But Dwain ran his fingers down he side' I'd  not completed and showed me how it tore up his skin. So more time really refining the instrument means a happier machine and hopefully a happier client!

There were still other refinements to be done, like at the tail block, where Dwain saw that the two sides were asymmetrical. So I went back in and cleaned that up a bit.

And I had to get the sound holes designed and on a template. I knew what I wanted to do because Val and I had discussed this some time ago. Dwain saw the design and liked the idea, and he said it was doable.

And, of course we ate a breakfast and a snack. Can a guy ever get enough garlic, really?

Dwain had to leave to go to Attica and do his thing there. So I stayed and worked on milling down the walnut that we started seemingly so long ago. I got one side of each board milled down, but I there is a problem with two of the boards. I got hungry at 6 because we didn't have our normal afternoon meal, so I stopped working and headed home to get some food. I was in bed by nine, and asleep just after that.

Day 44: Val and I were singing the Friday, Friday song--I think we made it up, so don't go looking for it. This has been a tough week for me because there is so much to making a dulcimer. I'm sure that there are simpler methods, but I don't want to make a dulcimer shaped object. I want to make fine machines worthy of the lineage into which I've bought. So I wanted to go to bed early today, too, but I'm getting a bit ahead of myself because we started with one of my favorite breakfasts!

I had a full day of work to do. I had to finish filing down the frets, which took some time. Again, this is the meticulous stuff that has to happen to make a good instrument. Plus, wouldn't I feel horrible if one of my machines cut a musician's playing finger. I don't want to be that guy!

Sometimes Lala the parrot gets to be in the shop with us. But he hates me. I'm not sure why. I've never just been hated. Normally I'm a dick to someone and then they hate me, which I totally get. But to just be hated because I look different then you, Lala; well, that is just mean.

Today's focus was the sound holes, I'd say, although there was quite a bit of other work to be done. I had the design and template, which I made in Photoshop--the template, not the design--so thank you Alice for all that you've done for me. I made some marks on the top board and lined up the template. Then I used rubber cement to stick it. This is very much like the process of making puzzles, so I get this.

But the process is a bit different, in that I used a razor knife to let the wood that I was removing show through. Here in Dwain's shop we used a router to remove the wood, but there is a lot of cleanup with this process. So at home I think I'll use my scroll saw to cut the holes so that the wood gets sanded and polished while I'm cutting. And if I cut in a straight line then all will be right in the sound hole world.

The last step in the process is to burn the lines that needed to be added for context because the sound holes alone don't quite mean much. This was a bit tougher than I thought it would be. I've used a wood burner to draw for a long time, but this was the first time I've used it in this way. So there will be a learning and confidence curve, for sure.

Did mention I mention garlic? This is a main staple for a snack. Since I've been running hard, though, I'm going to need more protein to function without being an A-hole. Val can tell when I'm a bit deficient because she tells me to go eat something. Now, she says. Go eat something NOW! And I do.

Dwain and I have a new plan where I will bring in protein for snacks so that we can work longer. Starting Monday we begin at 8am.

Remember the other day when I said that Dwain builds model boats. Here is the one that lives in the shop. You can see the scale by comparing the boat to the CDs. Do you recall that I said there were so many nails meticulously placed to make the ship look real. Well, here it is in the flesh of wood. I cannot imagine doing this. Really.

So all of the major components are done-ish and ready to go together. There is still more work that will be time consuming, like the six hours it will take for the fret board to be attached to the top, and this is before the top can be attached to the body. But there is an end in sight!

We had one of my favorite dinners, too. We had tofu sausages. Val and I eat the same type, but at home
we nuke them. Here they get pan fried. This is definitely a change that I will make at home!

I got home a bit after six, and, as I said I had every intention of going to bed early. In fact, I talked to Val on the phone and told her my plans for napping. But then I probably wouldn't sleep soundly. So I said screw the nap. During the day I decided to take the wood burner home to practice drawing on wood over the weekend. So instead of a nap I decided to draw on wood.

And I was thinking about what designs I would put on my instruments. For me dulcimers are a very feminine looking instrument. I see them like I see the Venus of Willendorf--both are symbols of fecundity. Perhaps the Venus is for creating people--were they people back then?--and the dulcimer creates music. But there is love and sweat and dancing in both the ritual of making babies and making music, right?

So I think the decoration should tie into the notion of natural curves and beauty. Of course next week my thinking will have evolved, but here we are now. In art I love flat planes of color, much like Paul Gauguin's work. One of my favorite paintings is his "Vision After the Sermon." In part I love the metaphor of Jacob wresting with the Angel, but the composition, movement, and colors make this painting great. But I will not take such a painterly approach to the work on wood. There will probably be less modeling, too.

Art Nouveau is a style of artwork that really tickles my fancy for several reasons. First, the use of planes of color and line are emphasized, as a great portion of this work was made for print media. Plus, the idea behind the movement is that the artist's work should be a direct reflection of nature, especially curves, and not just those of flowers. The style is about harmonizing with nature. So all of this adds up to pretty for me. And I do want my machines to be pretty.

So I started working on a drawing on Sitka spruce, which will be one of two types of wood that I will use for the tops of my machines. After several episodes of "Orange is the New Black" and the clock turning midnight I decided to go to bed. But I finished the piece the next day, and I'm really excited about the possibilities.


Day 45: Saturday is always market day because I can get such good and tasty food for cheap! Plus the people watching is just too good. I'm sure that there are others there buying groceries and watching folks, so I feel pretty comfortable going there. Lately it has had a real flea market kind of feel, and I've always loved a good flea market. When we were kids I'd sometimes get my hair cut at the flea market. Let that settle in for a minute.

Then I went for a run on the same four mile path that I've been running for a couple of weeks because I want to break eight minute miles. I'm close, so close. I just have to trim less than two minutes off of my run. That is only 30 seconds off of each mile. But damn it is hard. I think I'm going to do a six miler on Wednesday so that I can keep building stamina. The accidental seven mile run last week was good for me, and I guess I can do seven or eight miles to keep it fresh. I really do get lost in my running moments, and this is my favorite moving meditation because I can really work on my visualization, which is important to my work and the other facets of my life that require using my imagination. Plus I work on my drive, which helps me get through a bunch of my life's moments.

Not that I'm busy, because I'm not. But I'm being very productive. And productive beats the hell out of busy any day of the week. Life happens to me when I'm being productive, but when I'm being busy I'm just living.

And now that I'm thinking about surface design more I'm drawing more, and I love to draw. I remember as I child that we wrote a book about UFOs, and I illustrated it. I don't recall, but it seems to me that we, my brother and me, did more then one. I think he wrote the stories. But that is a fuzzy memory that I'm probably mis remembering.

Once, I took a bag of pot and stolen gum from some boys. One of the boys called me and said he wanted it back. I told him to meet me at Hogan’s Corner, which was the local convenience store where neighborhood issues were worked out. I showed up at Hogan’s Corner, and there were four boys were waiting. I resigned myself to the beating I was about to take. Then a car sped into the parking lot and skidded to a halt near the picnic table where all of the problems were to be laid out. My brother and some friends jumped out of the car. Two of the other boys threw up their hands and stepped back. I turned to the guy who called me and asked, “Well?” He said all that he wanted was his pot and his gum back.

I said that I didn’t have it, and I hit him in the jaw. We punched and kicked and bit one another for several minutes until he got me in a choke hold and choked me until I was unconscious. I woke up to the sight of my brother smashing a boy’s head against the oak tree by the picnic table. The boy who choked me silly was gasping for air on all fours like a tired dog. He had boot marks on his chest and face. My brother looked at me and smiled.

I kept the gum and the pot.

I was talking to my brother about this story. He said there were some problems with my version, but he didn't say what they were. So yeah, I could be remembering the book thing differently than another. I've asked my family to give me stories about me as a child, but I've not gotten any yet. I'll learn who I was soon enough, I guess.

So I've finished the drawing and painting part of the wood. I'll still have to figure out a way to use colors to that the wood grain doesn't rise up. The make a bunch of colors of shellac, so I may use that. but I'm not sure, to this point.  So on my instruments I'd want to get rid of the raised wood grain and edges of the burning, but I think I'll let this be until I can figure out what I'm going to do to put a finish on the machines.

Day 46: Today was a great day. It was chill (Val is chuckling right there.). I woke up early and did some work around the place. I had to do my laundry. I also started this blog since I knew it would take all day to finish. It is now 10:15, and I'm getting ready for bed. And I'm finishing up the blog.

I worked until lunch time because I was craving chicken. There is a KFC between here and the Wegman's store that I walked to. So I got a meal, and it was terrible. I must have been really drunk when I last ate there to think that this stuff is good. I was sick. Literally. I won't make that mistake again.

I got my supplies and walked home. I walked through the Eastman house, as in Kodak-Eastman. That kind of opulence makes me as sick as that crappy meal I ate, but at least the house is now a museum. The gardens are really nice, too, and they are open to the public. So I walked through the gardens.

I spent the rest of the day playing music and watching "Orange is the New Black." Now I'm crawling into bed with my book. I have a great life!