I'm here now.

It has been a wonderful month since I last posted. Val and I have been up to a lot of getting our house and life straight. I've been thinking that there is some end to our efforts, but we are living our lives. I told Val the other day that I don't want to be in a great life twenty years from now, and I'm sure that it will be great because we are working so hard at it now! I want to be here now.

I'm building away on several instruments, and I'm designing two others. I'm having a lot of fun taking the skills and techniques that I learned from Dwain and mixing them with own art sensibilities to create stuff. Not just the musical instruments, which I love. But I'm also using what I learned to make the toys that we've always made. But now with my new shop and skills it takes me so much less time to cut. Designing them is still loads of fun, but even this takes less time. I'm not sure if it is a confidence thing or an I've been doing it a while thing. But I designed this one, cleaned up the wood, cut it out, finished sanding it, and then oiled it up in about two hours. Do you need a puzzle--sunshinewave.org?

I'm not just working away on the instruments but also building up my tools and supplies. I could not do this without the largess of some wonderful and kind people. Not only are others buying my instruments, which is really a gift to me in so many ways, but others are giving me what I need when I need it!

This fine looking fellow has been really helpful with advice, suggestions, and even some tools, like this Shopsmith. I've got all of the major tools that I need minus a table saw. So the Shopsmith will be my table saw--and I'll work on getting the rest of the components on the tool working.

When I was up with Dwain he had two great saw stands, which I first used to cut down the wood that would make my first three dulcimers. They were really cool looking and had rolling pins for rollers. I loved them. Anytime I'd walk by them I'd spend a little time with them. Well on page 12 of my new owners manual for my new thirty year old tool lives the directions to build the stands!

Bill Taylor is a wonderful builder and kind, gentle man. His wife Barbara does much good in the world, and Val and I are lucky to have met them at the Chattanooga Dulcimer Festival, which was a blast! I met and got to spend some quality time with great people like Dan and Angie Landrum and Butch Ross. And I got to reconnect with two of my favorite players, Stephen Seifert and Aaron O'Rourke. Kind and wonderful people to hang with and play music, all of them!

I've been spending a little time in Bill's shop, and just rubbing elbows with him is a treat, for sure. But then he tells me about his life and adventures and about building. I told him I want to teach poor kids who have an interest in building in playing how to do so, and Bill, who is also a teacher, wants to do the same thing. Partnership maybe? How lucky would I be!

I'm just giving Bill another set of hands and he is giving me life lessons coupled with building tips. Really, how lucky am I!

This experience comes at a great time because I got a commission that will challenge me when it comes to wood, like this gorgeous ambrosia maple--which a friend describe as the wings of an angel. So the new instrument will be made out of purpleheart because the guy who ordered it runs a music education company that is geared towards kids. So bright is right, right? Richard Ash, another wonderful and kind human being who I met in KY is helping me with the wood. Folkcraft is wonderful for so many reasons, and Richard is truly a gem!

So I'm getting some confidence in experimenting, but I'm building the new instrument to the same specs I use now. In fact, it will be just like this one that I'm working on now--except for the wood and sound holes. 

Sonam of my last blog post saw this one and wants one just like it. So I'm working on that one now!

Anyway, this one for the rabbi in FL is nearly done. The varnish is on, and now I have to dull it up a bit and wax it. Then the pegs go in and the intonation gets set. I'm stoked for this one.

The new commission will be a teardrop with three pegs and custom sound holes, which I'm designing. And I'm going to make it all purple and orangish. I'm even going to carve the end pins.

I just touched up Sonam's pehead, where I had to reach it to Dwain for some advice--it's for life, Dwain! And I reworked the soundholes a bit to make them smaller. The carving will be tougher, but you've probably seen Dwain's Celtic knots. Well I am working to be at his level, right? So challenge accepted.

And if I screw it up, well, I've always got this critic to keep me straight.