Days 49 through 51: Dulcimers Bounce!

Okay, fans. It's been four or so days since I've posted last, and boy has there been some stuff going on. If you are looking for a recap then here you go.

I've finished putting on three coats of shellac and eight coats of varnish on my first machine. On the fourth coat I dropped the instrument. Did you know a dulcimer can bounce like a basketball? I've started my second instrument, and I'm really digging on the carving part. Dwain and I had an important conversation about the information that he will give me in the final session. Gretchen returned home and brought lots of great food. I put my foot through the crotch of a pair of underwear. I went to the "Strong Museum of Play," where I got to play "Galaga." I ate a a place called Mark's, and was served by a beautiful girl that I swear I've known. I found out where the rattle that was born out of my dropping the dulcimer came from, and I glued again the top to the ribs. I

learned what a too-wet brush does to a shellac job. I've learned that some summer nights here in Rochester are a lot like the winter nights in FL--and I wasn't going to pack my hoodie. I love to make art using Photoshop, and I hope that I get to teach it somewhere in TN. I've run ten miles in four days, and I really love to run as a meditation. I've learned the VA is a fucked-up system made up of people who care. And I've learned that my love for reading has diminished absolutely zero since I was a child!

Day 49: With the top stuck to the ribs, I had to clean up the fiddle edge. Dwain offers the choice to those building their first instrument: fiddle edge or smooth edge. I really like the fiddle edge more than the rounded edge. I think it makes the instrument more interesting and old. It does take a bit more work, but for me it is worth it. One of the reasons that I chose Dwain as a teacher (who has since turned into a sifu, or teacher, father master) is that his machines looked like how I wanted mine to look. I could not know when I started this search that Dwain was looking to pass on the mantle that he took on when Walt quit building.

And then there was a lot of clean-up to do to get it ready for shellac. I've really got to train my eye to see the nicks, scratches, and other blemishes that are in the wood because once the finish goes on they become clearly evident. Dwain calls some of them heart-break spots because they don't become clearly visible until after the shellac is put on and there is a coat or two of varnish. Needless to say that my machine has many of these. In some ways I like the blemishes because they are a record of what I don't know, can't have known. Dwain said that on the next one he'll teach me to go back and fix those spots, and I would do so for a client. But I like them on my first machine, my beginner instrument.

Generally there are two coats of shellac put onto an instrument, unless the wood just calls out for more. Mine only needed two, but there were spots that needed some extra attention. So I had to go back and put three coats on it. After each coat dries the surface is broken and the grain taken back down with a light sanding.

I got the instrument ready for its third coat, but we started working on the peg box again. I started by carving out where the box itself. This is pretty tricky because the walls have to be a certain width. Well, as you are aware, I'm sure, once wood is taken away it cannot be easily reattached with these carving methods. But sometimes repairs can be made, as you'll see with the tail block.

So I had to keep removing wood until the scroll head is down to the wood that will be removed using a knife, gouges, and chisels. Using the bandsaw to remove extra wood after a lot of work has been put into the peg head is a bit nerve racking, too, because there is no coming back from this is there is a mistake made! Dwain showed me how to do it, and then turned me loose on my own. I didn't have any issues with it because I really do like the bandsaw and can use it pretty well. The setup on this one is different than mine, but I have to learn to get the setup down in order to make sure my cuts are square and true.

The peg box really starts to take shape after I removed wood from the sides using the bandsaw. But from here on in it with hand tools that will do the work--I get to push or pull them, though. There are so many steps to get the wood off of the peg box that it will take me a few times to get there. Plus, with different instruments there are different steps. Sheesh!

Then it was just chipping away to get the wood off. I'm having a lot of fun learning to use the carving tools, and I think I will be fine doing so. I can generally get the wood that I want to come off to come off. It will take some time to figure out what the specific tool for the job is, but I intend on making a list of tools for all of the processes and steps before I'm don.

This was a really long day, but we were making so much progress that we didn't want to stop working. I was still going to add one more coat of shellac to my instrument, but we decided to go eat first. I had a swiss and mushroom turkey burger and a load of fries. It was so good! Then we went back to the shop and without any supervision I put a final coat of shellac on the instrument. Well don't use a wet brush means don't use a wet brush. I got home after 9pm, so it was a twelve hour day, and I was exhausted.  We wouldn't find out until the next day, but I did a crappy job.

Day 50: The day started with the realization that my shellac job was just poopy. Dwain said time and again not to use a wet brush, and when I showed him my work he said that some things just have to be experienced to be learned. Well I got that lesson down. I will never rush a shellac job, and I will not use an overly wet brush--ever!

There are a few other odds and ends to do before the instrument gets its varnish coats. First, I had to make feet. This was really tough becuase Dwain explained four different times and ways how he wanted the feet done. But I just couldn't or wouldn't do it his way. He finally drew them out a second time and said just do it and shut up and then you can do whatever you want--in nicer language, though. So I finally got them the way that he wanted. For some reason I just didn't understand his teardrop.

Then I had to fix some tear out on the fret board. I got to use shellac sticks and a heating iron for this. He just let me go to town, and I did pretty good for my first try. I had to do it a second time to get it right, and I still did not. But, as I said earlier, I like that it is not perfect. It does not look shoddy, it just looks old, well-worn, and loved.

Then, after I cleaned up the messes I made, it got its final shellac coat. I saw later that I didn't clean everything up, but it is too late at this point--not to repair, because I can always go back. But it is too late because I love it the way it is, with all of its blemishes. So he got to hang up and wait for the varnish coats.

The varnish is a water based one, and it dries really quickly. Plus, the method that Dwain uses to put it on is a wiping method. He uses an old piece of cloth from a monk's shirt. Dwain didn't say how he got it, but I'm just going to imagine Dwain sitting on the monk and tearing it off, you know, in a Zen rage. The instrument gets hung up between each of the eight coats.

On coat four I was inspecting my job and I dropped the dulcimer, and it bounced--more than one bounce. I was upset at myself when it first happened, but I was not going to carry that around with me when there was so much other work to do. Dwain did a tap test to determine if anything inside came loose. He got a big rattle when he really pounded on it, but when I tapped on it there was nothing loose. So we decided everything inside was fine and just moved on. I did put some nice dings in the fiddle edge.

There are fifteen minutes between each coat, so we started on the scroll carving of the tail block because that is simpler than the scroll on the peg box. Dwain really likes this part, so it was important to me that I got it quickly and did well with the carving, which turns out to be what happened. Dwain had to go to Attica today, so I was left on my own to carve the tail block, after a few lessons from Dwain, of course.

Dwain told me that he developed this technique for carving the scroll himself because Walt would just take up the wood and his knife and carve away until he finished the scroll.

I cannot imagine doing it with a knife, so I'm glad that Dwain has the process worked out so that he can use his gouges and chisels, with a knife thrown in every once in a while.

The trick is to take off just the right amount of wood. To watch Dwain do it seems to me magic because he works so quickly and easily. His deft touch comes through years of practice, but I'm going to go ahead and say there is some magic in there too.

So I just kept sawing and carving and carving and sawing until I got a scroll that I was happy with. Mine didn't look exactly like Dwains, but I really was answering the call of the wood. They just moved differently, the wood grains in his and mine. Of course with such sawing and carving there is sure to be a mistake or two. Which is how many that I had: two.

The first one was when I was chiseling out a piece of wood, but I knocked it the wrong way. Instead of knocking it towards the scroll, where the strength of the wood was, I knocked it away and was rewarded with a huge chunk of my scroll going away, too. But Dwain said it happens. So I just repaired it with glue and a clamp and moved on. The second time was when I went right under my scroll button with a chisel. Why'd you do that, Mark? you ask. I don't know, but it was stupid. So I fixed that one, too. And I moved on. I've had some great lessons in screwing up and moving on.

Eventually I was done as much as I could do because I had some questions for Dwain. He was really pleased with my efforts, and so am I!

I got home around six, and I planned a seven mile run. But there was some road construction, and I chose a slightly shorter route; it was six miles. It was really nice to go that far because I could really go away inside myself. I don't know when I realized this, but I really like to run for this reason and the fact that when I'm low I can use the endorphin boost.

So I meditate when I run. There are a number of types of meditation that I do when running, like breath counting or visualization. I particularly like the visualization because it is like being on drugs and going into another world. I've had a few close calls, like a car that came too far into the crosswalk or I tripped on a raised piece of cement. But the risk is well worth it. I also do a mantra type meditation, where I repeat a thing over and over, sometimes to bury it and sometimes to manifest it.

Day 51: It is Friday, this day, and WooHoo! am I glad. This was a tough week. There is a lot of information and processes coming at me. It is not too much; it is just a lot. I will have to do more reflection after the day is done so that I can recall what had even been done.

I've talked about Dwain's setup, where he has a tool to do everything so that he always gets the same results. He buys banjo tuners, and then he cuts the heads off of peg tuners to put on the banjo tuners because the wood is prettier than the mother of toilet seat that comes with the banjo tuners. I helped him to document that process for him.

We worked on dulcimer stuff all day, and then I went home. Noel and Dillon were taking me to the Strong Museum of Play, and play we did!

The museum started as a doll collection and grew into this great hands-on museum where kids can come and play. There is still a great collection of toys on display, and they have a great arcade full of old games--and we found one of my favorites, "Galaga"!

I got to play, and I went pretty far for not having played in years. Some of it came back to me, and much of it was a surprise. It was really fun to go back with this time machine.

There is a great collection of action figures and dolls. I got to relive playing with the Star Wars figures that I played with as a child.

The doll collection is really creepy, though. I took a picture of a Cupie Doll, and I swear it looked right at me. I think I yelped! I worked the picture in Adobe Photoshop, and I really came up with a creepy image. But the original picture and whole event of taking the picture was pretty creepy!

The museum was mostly happy memories for me, and I cannot even tell you how much fun I had looking at all of the original board games and other toys that the museum has. And much of the toy collection is not on display because they are working on the main galleries where the toys are displayed.

But I did get to see a lot of really cool stuff, like this Monopoly game. Who knew that the original was a round board. And I won't tell you how much time I spent alone with Wonder Woman as a boy growing up.

There is a lot more that we did, but you get the picture. I went back in time. And the elevator even says that, Your going back in time! it says. And I did.

Noel and little Dillon took me to Mark's, which is the greasiest of spoons in Rochester, I think. But the turkey sandwich and fries were wonderful, and I swear that I knew the server. But I'd have remembered her. So it was weird because I kept looking to see if I could figure it out, but I didn't. And she grew up and lived here and has her family here. So who knows.