Construction has begun
After several months of study and design calculations, the drawings have been completed and building of the harpsichord has begun. Many thanks to Ernie Miller's answers to my many questions and his expert posts on the North Carolina's Woodworker site (Ernie's first part).
Following the practice of my internet mentor, I chose to build the keyplank first. The keyplank is a flat board from which the individual keys are cut. The keyplank shown above was made from edge-gluing 0.5 inch thick x 5.5 inch wide poplar boards purchased from Lowe's. The instrument design calls for a compass of 51 notes (C to d''') with an octave span of 6.25 inches. Plastic shopping bags under the plank kept it from sticking to the work table as the glue dried.
Figuring out the width of the keyplank is easy after deciding on the width of an octave. The two traditional choices are 6 1/4 inch and 6 1/2 inch octave spans. The length of the keyplank depends on several factors. First, the builder can choose the length of the natural keys and the length of the sharps to suit the player's needs. After choosing the playing lengths of the naturals and sharps, the key levers need to be long enough to span the thickness of the name batten, the name board, the wrest plank (or pin block) and the register gap or gaps. My keyplank is about 14 1/2 inches long for a design having a single register.
Following the practice of my internet mentor, I chose to build the keyplank first. The keyplank is a flat board from which the individual keys are cut. The keyplank shown above was made from edge-gluing 0.5 inch thick x 5.5 inch wide poplar boards purchased from Lowe's. The instrument design calls for a compass of 51 notes (C to d''') with an octave span of 6.25 inches. Plastic shopping bags under the plank kept it from sticking to the work table as the glue dried.
Figuring out the width of the keyplank is easy after deciding on the width of an octave. The two traditional choices are 6 1/4 inch and 6 1/2 inch octave spans. The length of the keyplank depends on several factors. First, the builder can choose the length of the natural keys and the length of the sharps to suit the player's needs. After choosing the playing lengths of the naturals and sharps, the key levers need to be long enough to span the thickness of the name batten, the name board, the wrest plank (or pin block) and the register gap or gaps. My keyplank is about 14 1/2 inches long for a design having a single register.
