Clavichord Day 7 - Soundboard Barring and Gluing, and Hitchpin Drilling

We didn't work too hard today, but some important things got done.
The first thing on the agenda was getting the ribs onto the underside of the soundboard. To do that, we had to transfer the outline of the ribs to the back side of the drawing, so that we could have a drawing of the reverse side of the soundboard. Then we pricked through the corners of each rib with the awl.


The drawing was then placed over the back of the soundboard, and we put a pencil dot through each of those awl holes. After playing 'connect the dots' with those marks, we had a perfect drawing of the rib placement on the back of the soundboard.


The ribs were solidly glued onto the template. As a final step, the two ends of each rib had to be chamfered with the knife into a scoop in order to flatten out these ends.

The completed underside of the soundboard with chamfered ribs glued in tight, and the builders' signatures fitting between.

With the soundboard complete, it was time to glue it in. Clamps held the soundboard in tight over the wrestplank on the right and belly rail on the left. The mouse hole in the belly rail came in handy for the clamping job. The other sides of the board were held tight to the liners with small nails near the edge. These will later be covered by moulding.


The final soundboard glued into the case.


Remember the hitchpin rails? See Day 5. We earlier marked the holes for them through the drawing with the awl. Well, now was time to actually drill the holes. Those in the short bass rail were drilled through the hitchpin block underneath, and the holes on the long treble rail went down into the guide rack. Tape was used on the drill bit as a depth gauge, so that we wouldn't go too far down.


All the hitchpin holes completed.


The clavichord at the end of Day 7. Soundboard installed! And those important hitchpin holes drilled.

Clavichord Day 6 - Soundboard and Bridge

The order of the day was to get as far as we could on the soundboard. This thin little piece of spruce is what vibrates the sound box. Without it, you couldn't even hear the strings vibrate. The first step was to trim it to size. We used the block plane to slice off one tiny ribbon at a time.


Then, we had to get the bridge onto the soundboard in just the right place. We placed the soundboard on the table, then placed the drawing over the soundboard. Finally, the bridge was matched up over the drawing, and temporary nails were run through the entire assembly. Thanks to those nail holes, we would later be able to put the bridge onto the soundboard again in exactly the correct spot.


While the sounboard was still under the drawing, it was convenient to mark the location of the tuning pins with the awl. Later on, the tuning pins will go here, through the soundboard and into the wrestplank underneath. This is where the strings will "start," and we will be able to tune each string from this location, using the tuning hammer.


The next endeavor was to mark the bridge for the location of each tiny bridge pin hole. Now, the soundboard was taken out, and the bridge was placed under the drawing, using those same nail holes as landmarks (a little tricky, because the bridge is 3-dimensional).


After marking each hole with the awl, it was time to drill for each pin hole with a small hobby-size drill bit.


Then, Kyla went above and beyond. Rather than have a boring looking bridge (see picture above), Kyla spent a good part of the evening carving a scroll design into the bass end of the bridge (see below).


With the bridge sanded and finished, it could now be glued to the soundboard, using clamping nails through our famous landmark nail holes.


The last step of the day was to hammer in the tiny bridge pins, one at a time.


At the end of the day the soundboard is looking good. Trimmed to size, sanded down, and a hand-carved bridge with a beautiful row of shiny gold bridge pins.

Clavichord Day 5 - Guide Rack, Belly Rail, Cheek Liner, Tool Box Back and Hitchpin Rails

Today was a long day, and the basic case construction is now complete! So, how did we get here?

First, we had to trim and adjust the guide to fit. The guide rack goes right on top of the backrail, and has slots carved into it. These will keep the keys moving up and down, but not side to side.

Here, the guide rack is clamped in place.


A look at the whole case, with the guide rack glued in on top of the back rail. Notice the vertical slots carved in.


Next, the belly rails and cheek liner were glued in. These pieces, forming an angled and multi-sided face, will eventually make the left-most ledge for the soundboard to rest on. Here's a look at the cheek liner clamped to the right cheek, with the standing belly rail (with mouse hole) already glued to the bottom.


What's a day without some glue cleanup?


A look at the right side of the case. The front, rear and cheek liners, the wrestplank, and belly rails--all making the trapezoidal ledge for the soundboard to sit on later.


Next, the small detail of the little piece of cherry glued to the balance rail and hitchpin block, forming the rear wall of the "tool box." One day, there will be the tuning hammer inside and a fancy lid on top!


The last big project was to get the hitchpin rails done (both treble and bass rails). This meant trimming to size, marking for the pin holes, and gluing them into place.
After trimming, we had to get the rails underneath the plan drawing so we could mark for each little pin hole (later to have hitch pins inside). After securing the rail under the drawing, we had to dimple the wood on each little X, using the awl to gouge through the drawing and into the rail.

Here's a look at the short bass rail after all the pin holes were marked.


Finally, gluing in the rails. First the bass rail, right on the hitchpin block.


Then the longer treble rail, perpendicular to the bass rail, and glued onto the guide rack.


At last! Here is the instrument at the end of Day 5. The major case work has been completed, and everything is fitting just right so far. Next comes the soundboard!

Clavichord Day 4 - Balance Rail and Cheeks

The beginning of the day was a real chore. We had to assemble a dry run of the rest of the case, and test the highest and lowest keys on the keyboard to make sure that everything would line up ok. The idea was to find the exact location for the balance rail, which will be glued and screwed into the bottom.

The balance rail will have all the pins on which the keys balance, each one like a little see-saw.

After sanding off a bit here, and gluing a shim there, we were finally able to make a pencil marking for the balance rail and mark for the screws.



The next step was to drill through the bottom with the tapered bit.



Then, the balance rail was temporarily glued in place, so we could flip it all over and drill through the same holes into the rail. Finally, we turned it back over, re-glued, and fed in the screws through both pieces from the bottom up.



The balance rail, glued in (before cleanup).



Now that all the adjustments had been made, the cheeks went in square and easy with glue and clamps. These cheeks will create the side walls of the keywell, where the keyboard will ultimately lie.



End of Day 4--balance rail and cheeks added to our case.

Clavichord Day 3 - Soundboard Liners and Backrail

Today's job was to put in the front and rear liners (which will form part of the platform for the soundboard to rest on), and also to glue in the backrail, on which the backs of the keys will rest.

We started by trimming and then gluing the front liner in place, up against the wrestplank on the right. As always, the clamps were put to good use.


Then we did the same with the rear liner.


A quick look at the case with both liners glued in.


Before putting in the backrail, it had to be sanded to fit.


Then, just as with the liners, the backrail was clamped and glued in place along the rear of the case, but up against the hitchpin block on the left end.


As usual, Kyla cleaned up after the gluey mess.


The clavichord at the end of Day 3, liners and backrail in place!

Clavichord Day 2 - Gluing and Screwing the Bottom, and Planing

We woke up with our rim upside-down; the bottom clamped to it and keeping things square. The next step was to glue and screw the bottom by countersinking the screws through the bottom and into the case walls. Here's Kyla marking for the screw holes with the awl.

And then Kyla carefully cleaned up the glue squeeze out all the way around and inside the rim.

Next, we had to plane down the overhang of the bottom on the back of the case.

A beautifully flush case with wood confetti!

The instrument at the end of Day 2: Rim glued together and bottom attached!

Clavichord Day 1 - Wrestplank, Hitchpin Block, and Rim Assembly

Today, we began construction on the clavichord! After some sanding and the like, the first step was to put the rim together with some corner clamps and lasso ties.

Then, we made sure it was nice and square.


Next, the hitchpin block on the left and the wrestplank on the right were glued to the sides of the case with clamps to keep them in place.


Finally, the entire rim was glued together. Here's the instrument at the end of Day 1:


We also started preparations for attaching the case to the bottom, and we're having to use a lot of clamps to make sure it stays square. Hope to get to that ASAP!