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Hello trying to find plans / info for building mountain dulcimers any help would be greatly appreciated.All the best Rob.

Hi Rob,
I've built a fair number of mountain dulcimers over the years and still build a few. Dulcimers come in many different sizes and shapes, but can be divided into two separate "camps" of construction - "zither" type and "guitar" type. The more traditional form is the zither type with the saddle located over the end block. These tend to be quieter because much of the energy is transferred to the back plate as happens with a zither, but on the dulcimer the back is damped by the players legs. The "guitar" type moves the saddle off the end block and on to the top plate, which allows it to become the main soundboard. Since it is not damped by the players legs these dulcimers tend to be louder.
Both types have the "fretbox" mounted directly on the top plate. In the interest of keeping weight off the top plate the fretbox is often hollowed out which also helps the volume of the instrument and when glued to the top plate this forms a box beam construction which forms a rigid structure to counteract the string forces wanting to "fold up" the instrument.
Dulcimers come in many shapes and sizes. A popular tuning is Dad, and with the availability of guitar strings scale lengths typically used by guitars are common. A guitar fret calculator can be used, with the accidentals removed to produce a diatonic fretboard (often the 6+ step (6 1/2 fret) is retained to provide an accidental in modern instruments).
A wide variety of woods are used in their construction and I have even used HPL (formica) for backs and sides. The typical scantlings are similar to those used for guitars. The size and depth of the soundbox is quite variable, over the years the tendency has been to make them wider (19-22 cm) and deeper (6- 8 cm) but all sizes and shapes are still being built as googling images will show.
If you have any specific questions feel free to ask.
A traditional and not so traditional sound sample:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=INu3UQ35yVk
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yqHPaZZlEcs

The first instruments I built back in the 70s were mountain dulcimers. The book, Foxfire 3 (still available on Amazon), has a fairly long section on making dulcimers and mountain banjos. This book is what really got me started.

Dave

Thanks for the great info guys, just ordered the book from amazon Dave,Clay when you refer to the fretbox is this a solid peice of wood that is hollowed out or can it be made by glueing three peices together and is there a seperate fingerboard glued on top ? Cant seem to find any plans online.Thanks again Rob.

I've seen the fretbox made both ways--a solid piece that's routed out underneath or one that's made up of three pieces.

Here's a link to a set of plans--there are several others out there too:https://www.folkcraft.com/products/hourglass-dulcimer-plan-traditional

As Dave mentioned the fretbox can be made either way - built up from separate pieces, or hollowed out from one piece of wood. You can install the frets into the hollowed out box or add a thin piece of harder wood as a fretboard. In either case you want to make the fretbox light and stiff.
I usually dado out a solid piece on the table saw, but a router will work also. When hammering in frets I put a piece of wood in the hollowed area as a support to keep from cracking the box. I will add a relatively thin ebony overlay (1/8th in.) to provide a smoother surface on the fancier dulcimers, but again try not to add too much weight to the soundbox.

If you want a plan to get started, go to Rockler and search dulcimer. They have a one dollar downloadable plan. I used it when I built mine.

Google "mountain dulcimer plan" and you'll see a bunch. Click on "images" in the search and you'll literally see a bunch

There's a more curated collection of them here on Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/billmackenzie ... mer-plans/

I like what Clay is saying about the "guitar" style of dulcimer that's louder. They traditional style seems to get drowned out pretty easily when playing with other instruments, so if I ever get around to making one (kinda want to, but I have too many projects now) I'd try that. I guess that means that, for me, I'd want to look for plans that were guitar style, though I guess it wouldn't be too tough to modify other plans.

Clay, how about a picture of one of yours?

_________________
Tim Allen
"Never hurry, never rest."

Hi Tim,
Happy to oblige,
Here are some pictures of dulcimers I have made. The one on the left is more typical of what I call the "guitar type". The peghead is a little different than what I normally use (which is a "reverse" Stauffer design with the tuners aligned a la Fender). It was the "scrap" left over from my normal style peghead - I hate to waste anything!
The dulcimer's fret box is hollowed out past the fretboard portion but the hollowing ends about a half inch before the saddle so there is good saddle to soundboard contact in the "bridge" area. The sides of the fretbox act as long braces, and with a couple of lateral braces across the upper and lower bouts constitute the total bracing on the soundboard. The fretbox is glued to the soundboard along it's entire length and this adds a good deal of stiffness to counteract the string pull.
The peghead is "scarph" joined under the hollowed section of the fretbox and also glued to the top of the soundbox in the endblock area. This forms a relatively strong construction.
The soundbox is 8 1/2 inches wide at the widest point of the lower bout and is 2 3/4 inches deep. It is fairly typical of what I prefer to make, but I have made some narrow ones similar to an old Capritauris dulcimer I have, and also have used the teardrop shape on occasion.
The "dulcimer" on the right I made some years back for a MIMF challenge. It is larger than the typical dulcimer and has 8 strings. The fretboard has diatonic fretting under the melody strings and chromatic fretting under the basses. The fretboard floats above the top to reduce weight on the soundboard. It is also removable and can be raised or lowered to adjust the action. The tuners are a set of Grover F style mandolin tuners with the tuner shafts rearranged. The tail piece has a screw passing through it and the soundboard to the back and can be raised or lowered to change the down bearing at the floating bridge. For top purfling I split the herringbone to give a more subtle line.
I've probably given you more than you asked for, but if you have any questions or would like more pictures feel free to ask.

For a little more about the dulcimer in the hippy dippy days (when I built my first dulcimer):
https://vimeo.com/67041715
Joellen Lapidus built some truly inspiring dulcimers.
Searching the net I noticed Howard Rugg is building dulcimers under the CapriTauris name again. It appears his dulcimers have Gotten a little "fatter" over the years (like many of us! )

For those who might be interested in building a dulcimer here is a peghead design I developed for some kits I sold many years ago and which I still use today. It's kind of a Fender meets Stauffer design. It uses one side of 4 on a plate mandolin tuners, which gives a cost effective and compact tuner arrangement. Notice that on the two templates the tuner holes are in slightly different positions. For tuners that can't be reversed this allows the left or right set to be used without interference of the tuner knob with the end of the peghead.