Hammer Dulcimer Pinblocks

by Michael Mann

Originally published as Guild of American Luthiers Data Sheet #197, 1981



When I first started building Hammered Dulcimers I had trouble deciding just how to fabricate my pinblocks, since I could not find any maple thicker than 3/4". Taking the advice of Sam Rizzetta in his leaflet “Making a Hammered Dulcimer” (Leaflet #72-5, free from Division of Public Information and Education, 5303-B MHTB, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C. 20560), I started building up my pinblocks butcher-block style. I still make them this way, and I have designed and tried several different types.

Building up pinblocks is a little more work, but there are several advantages. First, a built-up pinblock is more crack resistant than a regular thick pieces of wood, due to the fact that the string pressure exerted on the zither pins is dispersed equally between two or more slabs of wood. (This, however, depends on the thickness of the wood that you are building the pinblocks with.) Butcher-blocked wood is stronger and more warp resistant than a single piece of wood of the same size. Another reason, and very important to some, is that butcher-block pattern, especially if made with contrasting woods, is very beautiful. Yet another reason is the fact that by building up a pinblock, one can eliminate the need for expensive tools such as a router or rabbet plane with which to make a ledge for the soundboard to rest upon. A ledge board can simply be glued to the inside surface of the pinblock (see Figures 2, 3, and 5).