Popular Post Chet Posted January 24, 2017 Popular Post Report Share Posted January 24, 2017 My wife enjoys playing anything that looks like a keyboard. She currently has a piano and organ and when we first met she was playing an accordion which I thought was cool but her not so much...mom made her do it. About 4 months ago she said that it looks like it would be fun to play the xylophone and then about a month after that she saw a small kit in Lee Valley's catalog for making a two active xylophone. So I ordered the kit which was the metal keys and screws for the keys and some cheap foam rubber for under the keys. Oh and some really crapy directions on how to construct the thing. Because of the directions the first thing I did was build a mock up out of some scraps to get some design measurements from. After that I built the real deal out of Cherry. The project is simple on the surface but did have its challenges. Mostly mental if you are OCD in your work patterns. 1. I used lap joints for the construction. There are two side pieces which are basically the legs and then four horizontal pieces that support the keys. The two center pieces are just a regular 90 degrees to the side pieces but the front and back pieces are angled joints and no two are alike, so no way to set up a jig to cut them. So on the two side pieces I laid out the joints and then decided to cut them with my carcass saw and chisels to hone the hand tool skills. Then I cut the joints on the horizontal pieces on the table saw with the miter gauge. 2. This next 3 items are for all you all with OCD. You would think, when you look at the keys that they desend in size uniformly but they don't. So when you drill the holes for the screws that hold the keys in place and then you look down the rows of holes they are not in a straight line and it leaves you with a pain in your forehead area. 3. This next one goes with the holes. After you finish the wood you have to apply a strip of felt just to the inside of he holes but right at the edge of the holes so now you not only have a crooked row of screw hole but a crooked strip of felt next to it. I chose to use felt here instead of the cheap foam rubber they send with the kit. The felt is 3/8 inch wide and 3/16 inch thick 4 And finally, when you attach the keys you can't clock the screw. Too tight and you don't get a tone out of the key, two loose and the key gets a metallic vibration to it, so you just have to turn the screw until you get the best tone. It was a fun project though. Here are some pictures of the final result, the first one is the mock up I did. 10 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
..Kev Posted January 24, 2017 Report Share Posted January 24, 2017 Very cool! How about some video of your wife playing? You can let her know I requested it 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Chet Posted January 24, 2017 Author Popular Post Report Share Posted January 24, 2017 1 minute ago, TIODS said: Very cool! How about some video of your wife playing? You can let her know I requested it I asked her, I told her it was for you Kev and I can not repeat on this family friendly forum what she said. 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shaneymack Posted January 24, 2017 Report Share Posted January 24, 2017 Cool project, Chet ! Did you also make the mallets ? Sent from my SM-N910W8 using Tapatalk 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tpt life Posted January 24, 2017 Report Share Posted January 24, 2017 I am around xylo kits all day in my day job, and that is beautiful. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post wtnhighlander Posted January 24, 2017 Popular Post Report Share Posted January 24, 2017 Chet, maybe you could alleviate a small part of the OCD anxiety by using Torx (star) head screws to hide the fact they aren't 'clocked'! 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chet Posted January 24, 2017 Author Report Share Posted January 24, 2017 2 hours ago, shaneymack said: Cool project, Chet ! Did you also make the mallets ? Sent from my SM-N910W8 using Tapatalk Well sort of. It is a wooden drawer pull that I drilled a hole in an glued a length of walnut dowel, wiped on some shellac and sprayed with rattle can lacquer. 3 minutes ago, wtnhighlander said: Chet, maybe you could alleviate a small part of the OCD anxiety by using Torx (star) head screws to hide the fact they aren't 'clocked'! That would have been a good idea. The ones that came with the kit were Robinson (square) and I thought it might not be too bad, but there they are starring at me. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wdwerker Posted January 25, 2017 Report Share Posted January 25, 2017 Heaven forbid ! The screws must be clocked . My grandfather taught me that when I was a teenager. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TerryMcK Posted January 25, 2017 Report Share Posted January 25, 2017 Great work Chet. I hope it brings your wife many years of pleasure. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arbiterr Posted January 25, 2017 Report Share Posted January 25, 2017 wow thats a significant improvement in looks and detail. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marmotjr Posted January 26, 2017 Report Share Posted January 26, 2017 Nice work Chet. Take a look at this: http://www.makeamarimba.com/ Now there's a rabbit hole to fall down. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chet Posted January 26, 2017 Author Report Share Posted January 26, 2017 I actually ran across that site while I planning this. We may already be heading that way. This is the reason for making this one... to see if it is something she wants to pursue on a larger level. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marmotjr Posted January 26, 2017 Report Share Posted January 26, 2017 I used to play the marimba years ago, and the ones he's made (or at least demos), sound beautiful. My mother was a pianist (as a hobby), and one of her prized possessions is the upright piano Dad got her for one of the anniversaries or birthdays or whatever long ago. If she really takes to the smaller bell set there, then a full sized one might be right up her alley. And given your woodworking background, you could easily end up with a Marimba that could become a collectors piece. That and the mellow harmonics of a Marimba are much easier to tolerate listen to, rather than the head piercing ding of those bells. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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