Hi all,
Some things take longer than others, and Part 26 was finished before Part 25. Please don't spend any time looking for Part 25 - it's still in my computer.
It’s time to make a lid for our harpsichord. The lid is the only part of the instrument that is made out of plywood, although it doesn’t have to be. Many believe that a plywood lid detracts from the tone of the instrument, but I remain unconvinced by this argument. Making the lid from planks is time consuming and expensive so, until I am convinced of the tonal evils of plywood lids, I’ll continue to use them.
The lid is made of ½” plywood. Getting cabinet grade ½” plywood in my area is about as difficult as going deep sea fishing in Arizona. In other words – forget it! So we’ll use what we can get from the local BORG, which is to say an imported 15/32” thick panel with a built-in affinity for warping. The surface has a wild figure of varying hardness which makes painting it more of a chore. On the plus side, I find very few, if any, voids in it.
The lid will be built in two sections – a smaller front section and a large rear section. We begin by using a circular saw to trim the plywood to the size of each section about 3” oversized in each direction.
The lid will overhang the case by ¼” on each side except for the long (spine) side, where it will be flush. To make sizing the lid a bit easier, we glue a ¼” thick poplar edging onto the spine side of the plywood only.
We place a small piece of blue masking tape on the top of the spine. The rear edge of this tape marks the position of the front edge of the rear lid. We place the rear lid blank in position on top of the case, lining up its front edge with the rear of the tape and making certain that the plywood’s edge (the edge with the poplar edging glued to it) is flush with the case. When the positioning is correct we clamp the rear lid section to the case on the spine side.
With the rear lid clamped to the case we trace the outline of the tail and bentside onto the bottom surface of the rear lid.
We remove the clamps and place the rear lid upside down on the workbench. Using a jig-saw, we cut along the traced lines.
Although we try to cut as evenly as possible, we always have to touch up and straighten the edges using Stanley Surform planes.
Then we place the rear lid back onto the case and check to make sure that all of the edges are flush with the case (or very close to flush). We then measure the width at the front edge of the rear lid and cut the width of the front lid to match. Then the front edge of the front lid is trimmed to be flush with the front of the case. When all is correct, we add poplar edging to all sides of both lid sections except at the join between the front and rear lid.
We now have both lids fit and the edging gives us the ¼” overhang we need. After filling any defects on the lid sections and sanding to 220 grit, we’re ready to install the lid battens. These seemingly decorative pieces of wood actually are used to stiffen the lids and to help keep them from warping. Each batten is 2 ½” wide x ½” thick. On the front lid we’ll place a batten on the top/front and on the top/rear. On the big lid we’ll place battens on both sides of the front edge. The battens are made of poplar and have a profile cut into one of their edges using a cove bit on the router table. The batten that will go on the underside of the rear lid has the profile cut into 2 sides. (the batten on the right in the next photo.)
Not counting my head, the flattest thing in my shop is my table saw table. We glue the battens to the front lid on the table saw to increase the odds of it coming out straight. I should have mentioned that the battens were all face jointed and are dead flat – the lid isn’t. The rear lid is too big so we use the worktable for that glue-up.
The batten on the underside of the big lid has some added responsibilities and is glued on somewhat differently from the other battens. First of all, it must be shorter than the topside battens or its ends will hit the case sides when we attempt to close the lid. This detail is easy to overlook until it’s too late – as I learned many years ago. Secondly, it acts as a dust catcher. The small space between the front and rear lid lies almost directly above the action (jacks) of the instrument. Dust is the enemy of harpsichord actions and can cause havoc with the tight tolerances of the jacks in the registers. This batten is glued on with its front edge protruding ¼”. This covers the gap between the two lids and catches any dust that might want to enter through this gap. And finally, a hole is drilled into the surface of the batten. A brass cup will be placed into this hole which will accept the end of the lid stick that holds the lid open.
The ends of all four battens are rounded over. On the topside battens this is done after the lid hinges are installed. The bottom side batten must be rounded over before it is glued down. This we do with course sandpaper used in a shoe shine fashion – the same way we rounded the fronts of the keytops months ago.
It’s most important to get this batten glued on at 90 degrees to the bottom of the lid. It makes adding the lid papers that we will be using much easier if everything is square. We clamp a framing square to the lid to insure that the batten is glued on at 90 degrees.
Now that all the battens are glued on we place both sections of the lid on the instrument to make certain everything lines up correctly.
Next it’s time to attach the large lid to the case. This is done using three 2” narrow butt hinges. These hinges have a loose, removable pin. We tap the pin out and reverse one of the hinge leafs. This allows us to screw into the bottom surface of the lid and the outside surface of the spine.
Once the rear lid is hinged to the case, the front lid is hinged to the rear lid using three decorative hinges.
Here’s the lid in the open position. Right now it’s being held open by a stick.
Actually, a stick is all that is needed to keep the lid up. When the lid is closed, the stick just lies somewhere inside the case. While most harpsichords are built this way, I’m not comfortable with a loose stick inside the case and its potential to damage the strings. I prefer to hinge the lid stick to the case and provide a secure place to rest the far end of the stick when the lid is closed. Here’s the assembly I’ve come up with.
The next photo is a close-up of the working parts. On the left is the lid stick rest which is screwed into the spine side of the case. When the lid is closed, the far end of the lid stick is placed into the felted rest which is sized to hold the stick securely. On the right is the hinge which allows the lid stick to rotate from closed to open position. It is nothing more than a U-shaped piece of maple with a 1/8” hole cut into the 2 arms. This piece is screwed into the cheek side of the case. The bottom of the lid stick has a similar hole drilled through it and a pin made from a piece of 1/8” brass rod serves as a hinge pin.
All that remains is to remove the lid, screw the lid hinge and lid rest into the case, and round off the ends of the upper battens. Here’s the final, completed lid.
Believe it or not, there are only four posts left in this project ... well maybe five. There will be one post on decorating the lid, one or two posts on soundboard decoration, one post on stringing and action regulation, and a final post summarizing the project. While I finish the lid, Sandy is busy painting the soundboard, so I’m not sure what will be posted next. Thanks to all of you who have suffered through my ramblings for the past 4 ½ months. You are indeed a hearty bunch and\or gluttons for punishment and I appreciate your many comments and questions.
Till next time,
Ernie
Some things take longer than others, and Part 26 was finished before Part 25. Please don't spend any time looking for Part 25 - it's still in my computer.
It’s time to make a lid for our harpsichord. The lid is the only part of the instrument that is made out of plywood, although it doesn’t have to be. Many believe that a plywood lid detracts from the tone of the instrument, but I remain unconvinced by this argument. Making the lid from planks is time consuming and expensive so, until I am convinced of the tonal evils of plywood lids, I’ll continue to use them.
The lid is made of ½” plywood. Getting cabinet grade ½” plywood in my area is about as difficult as going deep sea fishing in Arizona. In other words – forget it! So we’ll use what we can get from the local BORG, which is to say an imported 15/32” thick panel with a built-in affinity for warping. The surface has a wild figure of varying hardness which makes painting it more of a chore. On the plus side, I find very few, if any, voids in it.
The lid will be built in two sections – a smaller front section and a large rear section. We begin by using a circular saw to trim the plywood to the size of each section about 3” oversized in each direction.
The lid will overhang the case by ¼” on each side except for the long (spine) side, where it will be flush. To make sizing the lid a bit easier, we glue a ¼” thick poplar edging onto the spine side of the plywood only.
We place a small piece of blue masking tape on the top of the spine. The rear edge of this tape marks the position of the front edge of the rear lid. We place the rear lid blank in position on top of the case, lining up its front edge with the rear of the tape and making certain that the plywood’s edge (the edge with the poplar edging glued to it) is flush with the case. When the positioning is correct we clamp the rear lid section to the case on the spine side.
With the rear lid clamped to the case we trace the outline of the tail and bentside onto the bottom surface of the rear lid.
We remove the clamps and place the rear lid upside down on the workbench. Using a jig-saw, we cut along the traced lines.
Although we try to cut as evenly as possible, we always have to touch up and straighten the edges using Stanley Surform planes.
Then we place the rear lid back onto the case and check to make sure that all of the edges are flush with the case (or very close to flush). We then measure the width at the front edge of the rear lid and cut the width of the front lid to match. Then the front edge of the front lid is trimmed to be flush with the front of the case. When all is correct, we add poplar edging to all sides of both lid sections except at the join between the front and rear lid.
We now have both lids fit and the edging gives us the ¼” overhang we need. After filling any defects on the lid sections and sanding to 220 grit, we’re ready to install the lid battens. These seemingly decorative pieces of wood actually are used to stiffen the lids and to help keep them from warping. Each batten is 2 ½” wide x ½” thick. On the front lid we’ll place a batten on the top/front and on the top/rear. On the big lid we’ll place battens on both sides of the front edge. The battens are made of poplar and have a profile cut into one of their edges using a cove bit on the router table. The batten that will go on the underside of the rear lid has the profile cut into 2 sides. (the batten on the right in the next photo.)
Not counting my head, the flattest thing in my shop is my table saw table. We glue the battens to the front lid on the table saw to increase the odds of it coming out straight. I should have mentioned that the battens were all face jointed and are dead flat – the lid isn’t. The rear lid is too big so we use the worktable for that glue-up.
The batten on the underside of the big lid has some added responsibilities and is glued on somewhat differently from the other battens. First of all, it must be shorter than the topside battens or its ends will hit the case sides when we attempt to close the lid. This detail is easy to overlook until it’s too late – as I learned many years ago. Secondly, it acts as a dust catcher. The small space between the front and rear lid lies almost directly above the action (jacks) of the instrument. Dust is the enemy of harpsichord actions and can cause havoc with the tight tolerances of the jacks in the registers. This batten is glued on with its front edge protruding ¼”. This covers the gap between the two lids and catches any dust that might want to enter through this gap. And finally, a hole is drilled into the surface of the batten. A brass cup will be placed into this hole which will accept the end of the lid stick that holds the lid open.
The ends of all four battens are rounded over. On the topside battens this is done after the lid hinges are installed. The bottom side batten must be rounded over before it is glued down. This we do with course sandpaper used in a shoe shine fashion – the same way we rounded the fronts of the keytops months ago.
It’s most important to get this batten glued on at 90 degrees to the bottom of the lid. It makes adding the lid papers that we will be using much easier if everything is square. We clamp a framing square to the lid to insure that the batten is glued on at 90 degrees.
Now that all the battens are glued on we place both sections of the lid on the instrument to make certain everything lines up correctly.
Next it’s time to attach the large lid to the case. This is done using three 2” narrow butt hinges. These hinges have a loose, removable pin. We tap the pin out and reverse one of the hinge leafs. This allows us to screw into the bottom surface of the lid and the outside surface of the spine.
Once the rear lid is hinged to the case, the front lid is hinged to the rear lid using three decorative hinges.
Here’s the lid in the open position. Right now it’s being held open by a stick.
Actually, a stick is all that is needed to keep the lid up. When the lid is closed, the stick just lies somewhere inside the case. While most harpsichords are built this way, I’m not comfortable with a loose stick inside the case and its potential to damage the strings. I prefer to hinge the lid stick to the case and provide a secure place to rest the far end of the stick when the lid is closed. Here’s the assembly I’ve come up with.
The next photo is a close-up of the working parts. On the left is the lid stick rest which is screwed into the spine side of the case. When the lid is closed, the far end of the lid stick is placed into the felted rest which is sized to hold the stick securely. On the right is the hinge which allows the lid stick to rotate from closed to open position. It is nothing more than a U-shaped piece of maple with a 1/8” hole cut into the 2 arms. This piece is screwed into the cheek side of the case. The bottom of the lid stick has a similar hole drilled through it and a pin made from a piece of 1/8” brass rod serves as a hinge pin.
All that remains is to remove the lid, screw the lid hinge and lid rest into the case, and round off the ends of the upper battens. Here’s the final, completed lid.
Believe it or not, there are only four posts left in this project ... well maybe five. There will be one post on decorating the lid, one or two posts on soundboard decoration, one post on stringing and action regulation, and a final post summarizing the project. While I finish the lid, Sandy is busy painting the soundboard, so I’m not sure what will be posted next. Thanks to all of you who have suffered through my ramblings for the past 4 ½ months. You are indeed a hearty bunch and\or gluttons for punishment and I appreciate your many comments and questions.
Till next time,
Ernie
