West Dean 2008, day 8

After leaving the glue on the pirouette and fontanelle to set overnight, it is now time to wrap the lower end of the staple (now glued into the pirouette) with lapping thread to make a good air-tight fit into the top of the shawm body.




All that remains is to fit and fettle the keywork.

Here is the "touch" laid onto the pins for a first trial fitting.



Touch and flap interlinked in a trial fitting.



With the bell fitted to check for clearance under the fintanelle.



From this angle it can be seen that the mechanism sits too high and would foul the inside of the fontanelle.

We decided to lower the height of the action by removing the pins, filing the tangs to be longer, and then refitting them.



First trial fitting of the spring. Again, it sits too high and would foul the fentanelle, so it is gently re-shaped to lay flat on the touch.




Final job is to hammer the ends of the pivots flat and secure them with small brass screws.



As can be seen, now the whole key mechanism is much lower and no longer has clearance problems.



Two views of the completed instrument.






And finally, some pictures of the music that went on inthe bar this evening:

West Dean 2008, day 7

Here are all the brass components finished.



Buffed up the brass ferrules ready for permanent fitting to the fontanelle.



Glued the staple into the pirouette (I also glued the ferrules to the fontanelle, but forgot to take a picture if it)



Buffed up the remaining brass components



Stitched a pad to the key flap. This is made of chamois-leather and is lightly stuffed with lamb's wool.



Inlaid cork strips to the joint between the body and bell, and also onto the lower fontanelle mounting. This latter place shouldn't really need a cork insert, but when I turned it, I sanded it a little to much and it is marginally undersized - hence the inlaid cork to secure the bottom of the fontanelle.




Here are the two main key components (the 'touch' and the 'flap') laid in their approximate positions on the body, ready for fitting.



And finally...
It is a tradition of the Making Musical Instruments course to hold a boat race on the river that runs through the college grounds. In reality, it is little more than a giant game of pooh-sticks. The rules are simple: all boats must have been built on the day of the race, and they must posses a mast and a keel. Other than that, pretty much anything goes.
There are 2 prizes: one for the best boat, and one for the first boat to emerge from under the finishing bridge.

Here is the boat that won the best boat prize:



A couple of scenes from the start:




This was my entry (it came 2nd to last in the race).

West Dean 2008, day 6

A day of fiddly jobs...

First, blocking-up all the holes in the body and bell in order to seal the bore against moisure. The holes are blocked up with plasticine and masking tape, and the bore is filled with a 50/50 mixture of finishing oil and yacht varnish. This is allowed to soak into the wood for 10-15 minutes and then poured out again. The same mixture is applied to the outside of the instrument and then wiped off with a rag, and then the whole lot is left to dry thoroughly.





The remainder of the day was spent doing brass work.
Making the staple - this is a tapering tube that joins the reed to the instrument. It starts out as a piece of sheet brass:



It annealed by heating to red-hot and then allowing it to cool slowly back to room temperature. Then it is formed to shape around a tapering steel mandrel, initially being pressed into shape using leather-faced jaws in a small vice, and then shaped on the mandrel with a plenishing hammer.







After silver-soldering, the staple is cleaned up with a file and then sand-paper, and then finally some notches are filed into the staple to help anchor it when it is glued into the shawm body. The notches also help to prevent the cord binding that will be added to the staple from sliding up the taper.





Having finished the staple, I turned to the keywork. These pieces have been drilled, and folded, ready for attaching to spindles and mounting on the instrument.









And finally, a selection of some of the other instruments being built on the same course...

A clavicytherium (similar to a small spinet, but turned on-end)



A tenor viol





Lute-backed hurdi-gurdi



Bluegrass mandolin



Lute



Acoustic bass guitar




A theorbo (like a lute on steroids)