IT SEEMS THAT I can never complete an instrument without running out of tentalones. I must have made a thousand feet of the darned things but the drawer is always empty. Today I had to set up the jig and make Tentalones once again. Not a bad job, just a little boring. You must stand at the bandsaw pushing that clever device back and forth hundreds of times while feeding the work stock through it. I had to change the rubber bands today. The old ones had lost their zip and were not powering the spacing bolt properly.. New rubbers and it worked great as usual
Once I had made a new supply it was time to apply them to the big base. Takes a lot of them to get around this big belly
Old fashioned clothespins with a rubber band around them make dandy clamps for this purpose.
I forgot to tell you about turning a new end finial for the end extension.
the one that came with this was tapered and cheap wood painted black. I turned this from a scrap of cherry wood. It inserts untapped into the hole I had drilled in the end block. I will glue it in permanently and it will be pretty when finished. Around this is looped the "End Gut" which connects to the "End Piece" to which the strings will attach. The thumbscrew allows you to adjust the height of the instrument. This hardware came from a cello. I will be putting a decorative strip of rosewood down the crack that you now see.
the one that came with this was tapered and cheap wood painted black. I turned this from a scrap of cherry wood. It inserts untapped into the hole I had drilled in the end block. I will glue it in permanently and it will be pretty when finished. Around this is looped the "End Gut" which connects to the "End Piece" to which the strings will attach. The thumbscrew allows you to adjust the height of the instrument. This hardware came from a cello. I will be putting a decorative strip of rosewood down the crack that you now see.
