Another productive day

Even though is was still bitterly cold, and we had grocery shopping to do today, I managed to get some more done on the xylophone. Today I ripped the 6" board into 5 pieces each 1 3/16" wide. The wood is hard enough that it got some burn marks on the edges while being ripped, but they are really cool. Instead of turning black like oak or maple does sometimes, it is a really deep purple.

Then I used dad's home made router table to round off the corners. I did not round them much, mainly just trying to knock the sharp edges off. It took quite a while for me to get it up and ready. I finally had to ask dad to come out and show me all his little secrets. Router tables always make me nervous because the bit is spinning so fast that one little slip can really cause some problems. Most commercial router tables/shapers have some nice guards on them, but the guards can sometimes cause problems as well.Luckily it all went just fine.

Once that was all done, I was finally able to cut out my first "blank" It was 10 3/16" of an inch long and will be the A below middle C. I am only cutting one blank at a time in case I mess it up. If I tune it above the A, I can always cut it shorter and try for a higher note. It will probably be next weekend before I can drill the holes and cut the arch in the blank. Then I will have to make something for it to rest on so that I can begin the actual tuning process. To see more photos you can go to Xylophone Pictures.