Making a Bowed Lyre

This instrument was updated a year ago and I made plans available,  these are some pictures of one made of English plantation grown Poplar wood.  Note I have borrowed the construction technique from the Nyckelharpa here!

Note in this picture the ledge for the soundboard and its slight arc,  this is mainly done by cutting out the wood either side of the centre section :

Here is the soundboard after its first "fit"  it is temporary glued with animal glue and then location pins drilled and it is carefully removed,  holes marked and then cut and a bass bar added:

To be continued.......
for plans see here:https://payhip.com/lyreshop

Welsh Crwth completed and on Youtube!!

This was the first of the Heyward model Crwth I have made and I am very happy with the smaller size and ease of playing, either with a strap or in the viola da gamba position, This one has Baroque Savarez gut strings.

Welsh Crwth Varnished and strung

This is my antique finished model showing the back of the pegbox and the initial first stringing, the strings
are fed through to the back.

In this picture I still have the test bridge, setting the height. after this was taken I removed the fingerboard to modify the angle to be more like the plans I drew, I was trying a higher action out and getting more forward tilt helped lower it while keeping the right pressure on the bridge.

Front view!

Welsh Crwth Continued

Sliding dovetails are used to connect the arms and neck, very tricky to line up but I have done it many times now enables me lots of room for adjustment. have connected the fingerboard temporarily with animal glue.

Here the top is re-attached using animal glue, not the use of wooden location pins

to ensure line up before final sanding.

after final sanding and scraping, I apply the undercoat of linseed oil(boiled) The picture is after several coats of linseed oil applied over a week.

Welsh Crwth

My first instruments of the newer Crwth model are to be made in two halves rather than cut from the solid, This allows the adjustment in angle and fit and lets me use my very best figured maple for the soundbox rather than plain wood. So far this instrument feels like it will be very comfortable in the hand as its slightly smaller size is ideal for playing in the chest/fiddle position To join the two pieces I am still using the sliding dovetail joints I used on my other crwths and some of my Bowed Lyres. This video shows the sliding fit: My working drawings are now also available if you wish to make your own Crwth or are interested in my work. In the Download I have included the full size plans of my Crwth plus my notes for the Evans model too and some extras. £15.00 (zipped file, requires winzip or 7-zip) https://payhip.com/lyreshop More info can be found on my website at www.michaeljking.com

Making a Welsh Crwth:

The next few months will be mainly focused on Welsh Crwths with a new model for me, the Heyward Crwth, lighter and smaller than the Evans model and very popular with the leading players like Cass Meurig and Bob Evans. For this year I will be making these in two section and joining them rather than hollowing it all from one plank My working drawings are now also available if you wish to make your own Crwth or are interested in my work. In the Download I have included the full size plans of my Crwth plus my notes for the Evans model too and some extras. £15.00 (zipped file, PDF plans/notes, photos) https://payhip.com/lyreshop More info can be found on my website at www.michaeljking.com In my next post I will start to work on the body, In the meantime something to wet your taste-buds:

Chinese Erhu

http://www.michaeljking.com/erhu.htm
This is an old web page I had 5 years ago about an erhu I restored..