Chapter 21: It Is Done!

Yes! You read that right! It is finished!

At the end of my last post all that was required to do was make 37 Tangents.

Reality has proven that to be not quite the truth, but more on that later.

The wood for Tangents was supplied as four long strips of wood, one each for the G and C Tangents and two for the A Tangents. As it turned out I would only have needed the one length for the As if I hadn't broken one and my belt-sander launched a second into the murky depths of my garage never to be seen again.

The strips were first cut down to Tangent sized blocks.
G = 6.5mm x 9mm x 45mm
C = 5.5mm x 8.5mm x 33mm
A = 4.5mm x 7mm x 21mm

Here is a picture of the stages I went through making a G Tangent.
1. The blank block cut from the strip.
2. Cut the notch out at the bottom end.
3. Carve the bottom end to start making the pivot that goes in the hole in the Key.
4. Sand and press the pivot in to shape.
5. A trip to the belt-sander rounds off the back corners and tapers the front to the String contact face.

I made this tool to help with the process. It is 2mm stainless steel with three holes drilled, one for each Tangent size. When I was getting close to getting the pivot down to the right size I forced it through the hole in the metal to compress the wood to the right size. The idea is that the wood will naturally try to return to it's original shape and get a good grip on the Key.

The next task is to 'simply' push the Tangents into holes drilled in the Keys. With the idea being that they are a tight fit it's not quite as easy as it sounds. Some force is required to do this and I found that the Keyguides were flexing under the strain at the higher A Keys, so I removed those Keys and leant on the table instead. I'm sure there is potential to break something if you don't. The Keyguides are more sturdy when you get down to the area with A, C and G Keys so it was fine to leave them in. You will see that the Tangents from the G and C Keys pass through the holes in the Keys from the rows above. I have found that some of the Tangents needed a bit of extra material removed to prevent them clashing with the other Keys. It's all a bit of trial and error as you fit and tune them. For that reason I fitted one Tangent and tuned it, and tested it before moving on to the next one. This game is further complicated for the G and C Tangents as they have a Sympathetic String running behind them so that needs to be checked for each Tangent as well to make sure it is free to move when the Tangent is at rest.

Tuning a Tangent is easy. Check the String is correctly tuned first, then try the Key that needs tuning. If the Key is flat turn the Tangent towards the Bridge, if it's sharp turn it towards the Saddle.

And this is were the initial excitement of finishing my Nyckelharpa vanished.

I found that my A Tangents were near spot on, but my Cs and Gs were not. The C Tangents were all turned near as far as they would go towards the bridge and just about in tune, but the G Tangents were similarly as far as they would go but still not in tune.

After a search of the internet, an email from Sören Åhker and a photo from Vicki Swan a solution was found.  I'm told that sometimes a modification is required on the Saddle to adjust the String free length.

Here is the original unmolested Saddle.

Just under the G and C Strings I have carved out a small hole thinning down the width of the Saddle and extending the gap between the first Tangent and the Saddle. It is a bit more trial and error, take a bit off and try it, take a bit more off and try again.

And then I stained and varnished the cuts to blend in with the rest of the Saddle.

After the modification I have now been able to get my Nyckelharpa tuned much better, but I think it still needs a little more fine tuning and a bit more bow practice to get it spot on. At least it's time to put the wood-working tools down now!

So it all started in September 2016 looking like this. It feels so long ago and was only planned to take about six or eight months, but that was more the fault of other projects than this one except for the minor disaster with the original Top. Sören Åhker's kit provided everything needed apart from a bow, glue, stain, and varnish, but you do need his book and plans to go with the kit. The only specialist tools required are the cello peg reamer used to open the tapered holes in the Neck, and the cello peg shaver I didn't buy because I found it was cheaper to buy ready made pegs than the tool to make my own. A bandsaw, scrollsaw and belt-sander have proved very handy at speeding up the process in some places, along with the Japanese razor saw. The only other tools used were regular sharp knives and chisels. This has definately not been a project for the faint-hearted, or a first time working in wood. The originally imagined cost benifits of building my own Nyckelharpa instead of buying one are not that great because of the tools I have purchased, but I have learned a lot during this project. I'm not going to be rushing out to build another one anytime soon, but I am very happy with what I have achieved.

And here it is! The finished product! Now I've just got to learn how to play it.

Chapter 20: Almost there, almost there!

It's been a busy two months since my last post but plenty of progress has been made.

To start with I finished off the Tailpiece, but sadly, in my haste, I forgot to take pictures! I will try my best to explain and hope the finished picture will shed light on it all.

I first marked out where I wanted to drill the holes through for the twelve Sypathetic Strings. Three between the A and C strings, three between the C and G strings, and the last six between the G and low C string. For the two groups of three I placed them in a triangle formation with one forward of the other two. With the six strings I made three pairs and put one pair forward of the other two again. I then made a wedge of wood with a 30° angle to use as a guide for my hand drill. This allowed me to drill down through the Tailpiece and out the bottom of it so that the Sympathetic Strings pass between the Fine Tuners for the Playing Strings. Using a round file I carved two grooves across the top of the Tailpiece at the ends of these holes so that the bead on the end of each string sits in the groove.

This picture shows the finished Tailpiece with all the Strings in place. During my lesson with Vicki Swan one lady said that every Nyckelharpa she had seen had at least one heart cut or marked on it somewhere and I realised that this was something missing from mine. The open space below the Strings on the Tailpiece was just perfect for a heart-shaped artwork. I found a Celtic-knot heart design on the internet, printed it out, and stuck it on. I then used an engraving tool to carve through the paper into the wood.

All of a sudden construction work on the Body of the Nyckelharpa is finished!

To prepare for staining and varnishing it is necessary to sand everything smooth. I filled a bowl with warm water from the tap and used a sponge to wipe down every surface, then allowed it to dry as suggested by Sören Åhker. I then used a fine grade sanding sponge on every surface and found that the results were amazing.

I bought a water based stain and shellac varnish from Mylands simply because I couldn't get any sensible answers from anyone else. I chose Dark Oak for the stain and bought shellac flakes and methylated spirits to make the varnish. I brushed the stain on to each surface along the grain of the wood and 25 minutes later wiped the excess off with a cotton cloth. This left a chocolate brown colour with the grain still visible. The stain is very watery so it runs a drips very easily but the runs are immediate and cleaned up with the brush. Due to the water content of the stain it is best to leave it to dry out for a few days, but that gives time to mix the varnish so it's all good! The stain seemed to make the surface of the wood a bit furry or something like that so after it had dried I gave everything another quick wipe with the sanding sponge. If you go too hard you will find out how deep the stain penetrated so be gentle!

I mixed 25g of shellac flakes with 250ml of methylated spirits and left it for a day so the flakes could dissolve fully. There will be some bits of debris from the shellac flakes that settle to the bottom of the jar so don't disturb the mixture too much, or filter it if you have the facilities which I didn't. To apply the varnish I just used a brush along the grain of the wood again and kept the brush moving. It only takes about 15 minutes for the varnish to be dry to the touch. I left the first coat for an hour or so before sanding it back with a fine grade sanding sponge. I then allied to more coats before a quick sanding, and another two coats, another sanding, and a last two coats.

I am very pleased with the finish this gave. The varnish gives a golden sparkle in the light that compliments the dark oak stain very nicely.

With the Body stained and varnished I wanted to get the Stings on so that I could get them tuned and used to being on the Nyckelharpa. The Strings stretch a bit during their first week or two so I thought they could get through that time while I was making the keys and tangents.

So next comes the 37 Keys. I already had them cut roughly to shape and fitted to match the Keyguides but now I needed to make the outer ends all nice and neat.

First comes the seven G Keys. I drew a line across the ends and cut them to length that gave a straight line across the ends. Then we made a visit to the belt sander that provided the curved profile to the ends. Once the Keys were installed I used a setsquare to mark the space between the strings so I could drill a 5mm hole in each for the Tangent to sit in.

I then went through the same process with the ten C Keys. This time though the straight line at the ends now starts to curve outward to match the Body's curve from the Neck, and the Tangent hole is 4mm diameter.

Then repeat with the twenty A Keys. This time the Tangent hole is 3mm. There are also the three 'Bent Keys' whose ends were cut in line with the C Keys. Actually I cut mine about 1.5mm further out so there is a slight step to help identify them by touch.

Now this picture shows the 'Bent Keys' and why they are needed very well. At that end of the A row things are getting very crowded!

Now we need to provide access to the lower Keys for the Tangents to sit in. Here are the three Keys from position 4. At the bottom is the G Key with it's Tangent hole on the right. In the middle is the C Key with it Tangent hole in the middle and the big hole on the right for the G Tangent to poke throough. Then, at the top, we have the A Key with it's Tangent hole on the left and the two larger holes that still need to be opened up to make one hole for both the C and G Tangents to poke through.

Here are all 37 Keys cut and ready for stain and varnish.

And after stain and varnish.

I then colour coded the tips of the keys to help identify the notes they relate to and fitted them all.

So there we have it! My finished Nyckelharpa! Oh no... Wait... There's something missing...

Tangents! Thirty seven of the things! Hey ho. We're almost there!